Roofer Profile:

Joe Westra

Summit Point Roofing Co.

Experienced roofer, Joe Westra, answers questions about snow retention systems for his roofing projects.

Joe Westra, co-owner of Summit Point Roofing Co. based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, installs dozens of snow retention systems each year. Working throughout the western half of Michigan, it’s a routine part of his company’s business. Summit Point Roofing tackles both residential and commercial projects. They’re comfortable installing composite, metal and steel roofing… and the top-quality snow retention systems needed to go with those roofs.

Why does your company need to be knowledgeable about snow retention systems?

Western Michigan can get heavy amounts of snowfall each year. And, the roofs we install in northern Michigan, especially the commercial roofs, really need snow retention systems.

So what type of systems are you relying on?

For the past nine years we’ve worked with Rocky Mountain Snow Guards. Their customer service is excellent and they’re truly the experts in the area of snow retention. We lean on them to provide us with a layout that is dependent on the geographical location, type of roof, pitch and size of each facet.

Can you give us an example of a challenging roofing project your team has done using a snow retention system?

Sure. I’ll give you two. First, we completed a project this year where we installed Camera Natural Slate on the upper sections of a roof and Copper Standing Seam on the lower sections. Then, we soldered copper flat stock for the window wells/dugouts, and installed copper gutters. We used ST18 snow guards in copper. The copper all tied together and made the roof pop.

The second project is a 12/12 pitch Standing Seam Metal Roof installed during a really snowy December for a property management company based in Grand Rapids. We added the S-5!® bar style system after getting a take-off from Rocky Mountain Snow Guards.

Sounds like you use the free architectural snow retention plan service offered by Rocky Mountain Snow Guards.

EVERY SINGLE TIME! The team at RMSG engineers a snow retention system specifically designed for your project. They take into account things like snow load for your region, pitch, roofing material, and a variety of other factors when putting together an architectural snow retention plan.

Then they send you detailed quantities, installation instructions and diagrams. Once you have all that, installation of the snow retention system is as simple as following their instructions. It gives us peace of mind knowing a professional designed the system. We have never had a failure when it comes to one of their snow retention systems. I’m certain it’s because of the design work that they do.

As a company, Summit Point Roofing takes great pride in our reputation for quality. And, as a business built almost entirely on referrals, we can’t afford to have failing retention systems. That’s one of the many reasons we keep coming back to the experts at Rocky Mountain Snow Guards with our snow retention business.