As we reflect on the past year, there are many roofing projects that stand out to us. Whether it was an especially large-scale job, or simply one that presented unique and interesting challenges, we always like to share the most interesting projects with our readers. This year, one project in particular really stands out as our “roofing project of the year:” a beautiful Denver home that we came to call “The Castle.” So today, we’re taking a look back at this project, the unique challenges it presented, and how Elite Roofing made this project a success!
The home: A truly unique Colorado “castle”
It’s sometimes said that one’s home is one’s castle. And if you look at this Denver home, you might think that’s literally true! Designed by famous Denver architect William Lang, this beautiful home was completed in 1892. Lang designed more than 150 homes for upper-middle-class families in the Capitol Hill area between 1888 and 1893. A Romanesque Revival, complete with elegant stonework, parapets, turrets and large pieces of metalwork running along the ridges of the roof. The roof also features a steep 12/12 pitch. The combination of all these factors results in a roof that cuts a truly impressive profile.
The project: Restoring and replacing this elegant roof
The Elite Roofing team was tasked with restoring and replacing The Castle’s unique roof following an insurance claim for wind damage. Originally, the insurance carrier paid these homeowners $5,000 for damages. It was clear the assessors never set foot on the steep roof, however, and we helped the homeowners prove much more significant damages, to the tune of an eventual claim of more than $90,000! In addition to the extensive wind damage, many portions of the roof had deteriorated over time, including the decorative metalwork.
The challenges: Tricky footing and metalwork
The Castle presented the Elite Roofing team with a variety of challenges. The 12/12 pitch of the roof meant our team members needed to be tied off at all times on the roof. In addition, parking was very limited around this property. This led us to set up scaffolding all around the property and rent a forklift to load shingles onto our material landing zone.
Of course, the castle-inspired design of the roof presented its own unique challenges. The decorative metalwork had not only seen extensive damage from rust over the years, but several portions were missing, having been weakened and ultimately knocked off by Colorado’s unforgiving weather over the years.
Getting to work: Tearing down and building up
With all these challenges outlined, the Elite Roofing team drew up a plan and got started with this replacement and restoration project! To begin with, we installed Catch-All tarps around the entire perimeter of the property, allowing us to protect the property and landscaping surrounding the house ensuring no damage would be sustained during the roof tear-off process. With the Catch-All system in place, we were ready to tear off the old roof. The original roof actually included several layers of roofing that had been installed over many years, making the teardown quite a project. We carefully removed the decorative metalwork, then tore down two layers of asphalt shingles and a layer of wood shake roofing. Once this was done, we installed a new layer of roof sheathing over the existing space decking, per code. For this roof, the new shingles were GAF Camelot II shingles in Royal Slate—a fitting name and color for such a regal roof!
For the metalwork, we wanted to make absolutely sure that we could restore the original spirit of the design to its original glory. That included restoring the rusted portions we had while replacing the missing portions. In the end, we sent the metalwork to a custom metal shop in Buena Vista. They wound up needing more than 800 pop rivets to reconstruct the metal—and we have to say, their work was stunning! We installed the newly restored metalwork, and our most challenging roofing project of the year was complete.
The Castle: Our Elite Roofing Project of the Year!
In the end, Elite Roofing was able to rise to the occasion and meet all the unique challenges thrown our way. Our customers were delighted with our work, and of course our team was proud to call this roofing project a success! The professional roofers at Elite Roofing have been roofing the Front Range of Colorado for more than a decade, and we live by our motto of “Roofing Done Right.” If you’re in need of a roof repair, restoration, or roof replacement, Elite Roofing is ready for anything. And who knows, you may even see your roofing project featured in our next project profile! To see more of our work and keep up with the Elite Roofing team, be sure to follow us on our social media channels: Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
