It’s an infinity edge pool, 55 stories above the ground, spanning the 3 towers of the hotel.  There are also quite a few rooftop bars, some fairly low level ones around LoDo, with the Sky Bar at Sirocco in Bangkok, taking top prize as  the world’s highest open air bar at 63 stories.  In Dubai, where they apparently spend a lot of time building things just to prove they can be built, there’s a tennis court 211 meters above the ground, about the same height as 1801 California (the “Century Link” building).  Although the infamous roller coaster atop the Stratosphere in Las Vegas is gone, there are still some rides on the roof, and other rooftop roller coasters elsewhere.  In densly populated Copenhagen, architects created a rooftop “playground”, really a rooftop hill covered with grass for inner city kids to frolic upon.  Somebody with a lot of imagination came up with the idea of a rooftop trailer park, the Grand Daddy Hotel in Capetown, South Africa features 7 vintage (and imported) Airstream trailers, customized and featuring hip custom décor, are parked on the hotel roof and available as guest rooms. In Melbourne, Australia, you can see a movie at the Rooftop Cinema, 6 stories up and open to the sky above.  And it seems that everywhere folks are growing things on the roof- at Ford’s River Rouge plant in Detroit, which was first built around World War I, sprouts the world’s largest “green” or vegetated roof system, over 10 acres of soil and sedum, a “ground cover” type of plant that is proving itself especially viable for rooftop conditions- not only does the roof provide greenery and relief from the acres of industrial roofs all around, Ford expects the roof to last twice as long as a conventional installation, due to the waterproofing membrane being protected from UV and temperature swings by the mass of soil and plants on top- and skipping a roof replacement on a building this size will save millions of dollars.  And co-op gardeners and chefs from Brooklyn to Chicago to Vancouver are growing vegetables and even chickens on rooftops, so you can eat “local’ even in the heart of the big city.  Perhaps the most innovative of all, I have heard of a company that painted a “QR” code that can be scanned with a cell phone on their roof, so that when someone looks at their building using GoogleEarth (or, I suppose, happens to be flying over) they can instantly access the company website- who knows what we’ll be sticking on roofs in the future!

WeatherSure Systems is proud to be a Silver Sponsor of the 2012 Courage Classic, a fundraising bike ride that benefits Children’s Hospital.  I’m already nervous about the challenges of riding over 150 miles through the Colorado high country, but it’s also always good to have a goal.  Here’s some of the official background from Children’s Hospital:

Courage Classic fundraising supports Children’s Fund for Children’s Hospital Colorado. Children’s Fund gifts allow the hospital to quickly improve the care we offer to every child who walks through our doors. Children’s served more than 158,000 patients in 2010, and we expect to see even more infants, kids and teens in the years to come.

Your support for Children’s Fund helps us:

• Focus on care that supports parents, family and siblings as they navigate the medical, emotional and social needs of patients
• Offer financial access to care for children in need
• Help parents find federal and state resources for their child’s care
• Provide Children’s expertise close to home through clinics around the Denver Metro and the Rocky Mountain region
• Make groundbreaking strides in research leading to more effective treatments and cures for childhood illnesses

A portion of Courage Classic fundraising also goes to the Hospital Sports Program, which helps patients with physical disabilities experience freedom from physical challenges through activities like skiing, snowboarding, fishing and cycling. 

You can go to the Courage Classic website to learn more, or donate- www.couragetours.com , the WeatherSure team is named “New Riders on the Storm”

Click on the article to view the PDF.

I’m going to take a minute and explain how we go about replacing the roof on a ballasted EPDM roof system. Ballasted EPDM Systems are among the most popular commercial systems of the last 40 years or so, and with good reason.  A ballasted system is a very economical way to cover a big roof, and the vast majority of warehouses, “big box” stores and the like feature ballasted EPDM systems. Insulation boards are loose laid directly on the structural deck, the EPDM membrane is unrolled over the insulation, utilizing the largest sheets possible, in some cases 200’ x 50’, and round river rock is spread to hold the assembly in place. The walls and rooftop units are flashed and that’s about it.

The great news for building owners is that a couple decades down the road, when it’s time for a new roof, the simplicity and economy are still there. WeatherSure Systems has perfected a technique known as the “ballast swap out." Our technicians start at one end of the building, removing ballast on a section of a size that can be completed that day, rolling up and removing the old membrane, then reballasting and completing the flashing details- re-using the insulation whenever possible, only replacing insulation that is wet or has been damaged. 

It’s simple, it’s “green”, inexpensive, and most of the time it’s the best choice for owners with an existing ballasted EPDM roof. 

Happy Holidays from everyone at WeatherSure.

Let’s have a great 2012 together!

And, of course, the Holiday Season is fast approaching- for many years WeatherSure has participated in the Denver Metro BOMA Holiday Toy and Gift drive- last year over 110 buildings participated, placing donation boxes in the lobby and over 20,000 toys were collected and distributed to the less fortunate.  You don’t have to be a Metro Denver BOMA member to be a part of this wonderful event- call or e-mail Dave Homerding, and he can arrange for a box in your building, boxes will be “out” in the next couple weeks and Toy pick-up is scheduled for December 8^th& 15^th. Father Woody’s Christmas, the Jeffco Action Center, the Delores Project and many other charities benefit.

Now is a great time to think about what condition that parking garage is in going into the winter months!  Winter takes a heavy toll on a typical parking structure, snow is tracked in even on the normally protected levels, mag chloride and other snow melt products accelerate corrosion and deterioration of the concrete, snow plows tear up expansion and caulk joints, and the freeze-thaw cycle means that the whole structure is moving more than in warmer months.  Call today and have WeatherSure Systems evaluate your garage, and put together a long term comprehensive plan to protect and preserve your important asset!

Contact Us at (303) 781-5454