S-5! ColorGard

A snow guard is a device or system that increases friction between roof and snow, retaining a snow pack on a roof, so that it evacuates in a predictable and controlled fashion (evaporation and thaw) rather than by a sudden and dangerous rooftop avalancheWhen snow avalanches off of a rooftop, it can damage anything in its path. This sudden release of snow can be dramatic—dumping tons of snow all at once. This can have dramatic results -damaging gutters, vehicles, and landscape. Once piled up below, that same snowbank can go on to cause additional troubles, like structural or cosmetic damage to the building walls. In any event, the removal of avalanched snow from walkways, entries and parking areas is a constant maintenance nuisance.

Falling snow forms a temperature-sensitive bond to the surface of a metal roof. As that roof is warmed, (through an invisible spectrum of sunlight or from building heat loss), the bond with the snow is broken and a thin film of meltwater lubricates the roof. This causes a sudden release from a rooftop that can dump many tons of snow below the eaves in a matter of seconds, endangering building elements, landscape, vehicles and pedestrians.

Because of the perfect color matching that lasts the life of the roof! It is no trick to achieve a perfect color match to the roof initially; numeric computer matching has made that task simple. The challenge is to keep it color-matched over time and exposure because different pigments, paint resins and application technologies result in different aging characteristics. One paint fades much more rapidly than another, resulting in a very unsightly mismatch after several years. The premium paint finishes used on metal panels are “coil-coated.” This paint application method utilizes state-of-the-art technologies, chemical pretreatment, primer and finish coat application, and controlled oven curing. Only through this lengthy process can high quality Kynar and Hylar (PVDF) finishes be applied and warranted against color fade for 20 years and longer. ColorGard is the only product that uses the same factory applied (coil-coated) finish and inorganic pigments as the roof itself. We do this by incorporating a strip of the actual roof material in the ColorGard system, for a perfect match of the roof and snow guard—forever!

ColorGard presents architecturally clean lines. It is unobtrusive in appearance, blending into the roofscape. When compared to plastic alternatives that have highly reflective characteristics, ColorGard is the clear winner for complementing the roof. What manufacturers neglect to say is that these plastics are petroleum derivatives that change as they age. The sun’s ultraviolet rays draw out the oils and plasticizers leach out of the material causing the material to yellow with time. A few short years in the elements causes clear plastic to dramatically discolor. Because these products generally have low load-to-failure values, they must often be used in a very redundant fashion to avoid overload and failure. Because of ColorGard’s Herculean strength, less ColorGard is required. Based upon lab tested load-to-failure data, it can take up to 10 plastic parts to equal the strength of just one row of ColorGard.