Chuck Howard, P.E., president of Metal Roof Consultants, was in the metal roof contracting business for almost 30 years, and he now serves as a consultant to contractors, architects, engineers, and building owners. He gave a presentation about metal retrofit roofing at METALCON titled “Do it Right the First Time.”

Chuck Howard, P.E., president of Metal Roof Consultants, was in the metal roof contracting business for almost 30 years, and he now serves as a consultant to contractors, architects, engineers, and building owners. He gave a presentation about metal retrofit roofing at METALCON titled “Do it Right the First Time.”

In 1979, he added pitch and installed a metal roof over an existing flat roof in Wilmington, Ohio. That roof is still functioning perfectly today - and may well be the oldest one of its type in the country. Howard used that project and a 2008 application in Ocean City, Md. as examples of the proper way to install a metal retrofit roof.

The example showed just how productive a seminar at a trade show can be. As for the 2008 case study, Howard related that the job came about as the result of another seminar Howard gave at METALCON 2003, in which he detailed the 1979 project. One of the attendees, John Martindale, president of Brothers Services Company in Baltimore, approached Howard after the seminar and they talked about the market potential for metal retrofit roofing. “There are great, great opportunities out there, and they’re easy to sell,” said Howard. He recommended school boards as just one avenue for metal retrofit roofs.

Howard detailed a Virginia School board meeting in which a board member claimed he did not understand why schools were designed with flat roofs and urged the board to add pitch and a metal roof. If you’re in the business of providing metal roofs, this might be a good idea to convey to members of school boards across the country.