Up on the Rooftop

Spray Foam Magazine – Late Summer 2021 – Cassie Gale Newcomb works for ETRU Insulation & Coatings, a family-owned business located in Southern Illinois. She describes herself as a jack of all trades and handles Sales, Scheduling, and Customer Service. She’s a go-getter and doer of all things that need to be done.

What has been the most out of the ordinary job you/company has been involved in and why? One of the most difficult and out of the ordinary jobs we have been involved with was a roof repair in La Salle, IL. We were subbed through a contractor due to their time restraints. We looked at the job and accepted it on a Thursday and had to start by Monday.

The job was close to Chicago, aka the windy city, and it was quite a learning experience. I personally drove over 36 hours in 2 days to get material and bring it back to the job site. It was November and we dealt with dew points, winds up to 45 miles an hour, and being in and out of proper spraying temps the entire time. The customers were beyond pleased, and we were able to complete the repairs in the allotted time frame, but it was killer.

What has been the scariest moment for you when working on a roof? My scariest moment on a roof would be the same job in La Salle, IL. We had less than an hour of daylight and had to get silicone down before a storm rolled in through the night. I was on the hose while my husband, Ryan, was spraying. I stepped back and tripped mere inches from the edge. Thankfully we were following all OSHA regulations, I was safe with the harness, but it was frightening, nonetheless.  

Michael Wiltshire is the owner of Wiltshire Urethane Foam Co. and only uses materials from General Coatings Manufacturing Corp. He is a contractor for foam roofing and wall insulation.

What has been your scariest moment when working on a roof? When I was dragging a 50x50 tent around on a roof and I tripped on a skylight curb. I fell in but landed on the tent and curb that broke my fall and a couple of ribs too.

What has been the most out of the ordinary job you/company has been involved in? Spraying the Cal Poly Rose float which is a joint effort between Cal Poly Pomona and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo universities to enter a student-built float in the annual Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association’s Rose Parade.

What has been your funniest situation when working on a roof? My funniest situation was working on a nudist colony club house roof near the pool...some things you can’t unsee.  

Daniel Riccomini is the president of American Commercial Roofing Inc., a residential, multi-family, commercial roofing contractor. They provide full replacements, repairs, maintenance, coatings, spray foam, shingles, TPO, and more to provide great roofing systems.

What has been the most out of the ordinary job you/company has been involved in and why? Working in a restricted area on a nuclear power plant. We were escorted by armed guards and every move was monitored.

What has been your funniest situation when working on a roof? At the nuclear power plant job one of our new guys reached into the cooler and got the equivalent of a paper cut on his finger.... how we will never know! He got sent to the infirmary and will never live that one down.

Scariest moment when working on a roof? Working around 600 degrees pipes on a roof at an oil refinery.

Describe a recent unique job. We recently completed a new construction addition to a school. The roof needed to be dried during the middle of the winter so interior work could progress while we waited for the right weather for a foam roof application. So, we put on a temporary roof system to dry it in for a few months. It worked out great!