News Updates, What's New And More - Meerkat Roofing & Exteriors

Meerkat celebrates 10 year anniversay of Casa Alto Refugio

Meerkat has sent staff down to Puebla Mexico to celebrate the orphanage’s 10th anniversary. We’re proud to be attending the celebration on Mar 20, 2010.

Meerkat Roofing has been a supporter of the organization since before the orphanage was built, so we feel this is an exciting milestone for us as well.

Congratulations on 10 years to everyone at the Casa Alto Refugio!

Playhouse for raffle at Home + Garden Show

Meerkat contributed and installed the cedar roof and hardiboard siding on this adorable little playhouse that is going to be raffled off at the Calgary Home + Garden Show.

Designed in neutral colours so as not to be boy- or girl- specific, this quaint playhouse can be yours for your children and their friends/family in time for Spring.

Visit the Mix 97.7 booth at the Home + Garden Show in the BMO Centre (Stampede Grounds) this Feb. 25-28 to enter.

Winter discount now in effect

Be sure to contact Meerkat Roofing & Exteriors now to have your roof and exterior done by April 1 to take advantage of our 10% Winter Roofing Discount. We are still in full swing and only the most stormy, snowy, or severely cold days can slow us down! Remember, this discount only applies to work completed by Apr 1, 2010 so you have to call now to ensure there is enough time to complete the job. Phone (403) 226-2700.

Winter Roofing Issues resolved

The main concern with installing shingles in the Winter is when there is a lot of moisture, as in rain and melting snow, and the Southern Alberta climate is mostly dry and cold enough to keep water frozen, preventing it from seeping into an exposed work surface.

Another factor affecting a Winter roof job is installation practices. Meerkat ensures that installation is done properly, including temperature (as indicated above), nail location, number of nails per shingle, and hand-tabbing (extra tar under each shingle) if needed, especially if your home is in an exposed location subject to a lot of high winds.

Perhaps the simplest factor in the ability to do roofing in Winter is the product itself. Meerkat primarily uses 30 year shingles which are heavier and thus more wind resistant.

Once the install is done, it doesn’t take a lot of sun warmth to seal the shingles. Here’s where our climate really "shines"! Calgary (and area) is fortunate in that we are treated to many calm, dry and sunny days, creating ideal conditions for a roofing install.

If you have other questions or concerns about doing exterior work in the Winter, feel free to call us to inquire and we will find you the answers you need. Meerkat always offers a warranty on our installation so in the uncommon circumstance that a problem arises, we will tend to the issue promptly. We are committed to our customers!

Casa Alto Refugio 2009

Puebla, Mexico, location of the Casa Alto Refugio orphange

Meerkat to send staff support to orphange

Meerkat Roofing is pleased to be sending one of their staff members to the Casa Alto Refugio orphanage in Puebla, Mexico during Christmas 2009.

The staff member will be accompanied by their spouse and together they will spend two weeks running the centre to provide relief for the regular workers employed there, so that they may enjoy a Christmas break with their loved ones.

Meerkat has been a supporter of the orphanage since 1997, before it was built, and provides staff support every year, often twice a year.

Meerkat at the Calgary Home & Garden Show

Feb 25-28, 2010

Hall E, BMO Centre, Stampede Park

Come see the Meerkat Roofing & Exteriors booth at the Calgary Home & Garden show this February. This year our booth will be much bigger than last year so we will have much more space to share all of our services with visitors.

Meet our team; see some shingle and siding samples; and learn more about what we do and where we are going with our current growth.

2010 booth

Wind, wind, blow away

Meerkat responds to service calls for wind blow offs

Roof damage - shingle blow off from wind When it gets gusty outside, most people just find shelter indoors and emerge later to clean up a few odd items that blew into their yards. However, some people come outside to find that a row of shingles is missing off the roof; a piece of fascia blown off; or even a piece of eavestroughing now dangling from the roof edge, swinging in the wind, threatening to fall on the next passerby. Worse still, sometimes people don’t notice a newly exposed patch on their peak, and their first clue is a leak coming in though their ceiling next time it rains or snows.

After a windy spell like the one that much of Southern Alberta experienced yesterday, Meerkat encourages homeowners to do a visual inspection of their homes to see if the building has remained intact:

Verify that there aren’t any shingles missing
Check that your eavestroughing is still secured in place (gutters)
Confirm that any fascia remains tight against the wood (along the faces of gabled roofs)
See that you aren’t missing any soffit (the vented surface under your roof overhang)

Lots of home owners don’t know that wind damage may be covered by their house insurance, and if your home has suffered damage, it can cost more than your deductible to repair. Of course, if yours is a newly installed roof, any blow offs may be covered under warranty.

If your roof (or exterior) was installed by Meerkat, be sure to call us at (403) 226-2700 and we will attend to your home as quickly as possible in the order your call was received. If you have a current leak or emergency situation, we can temporarily remedy the problem until a permanent repair is done.

Winter Roofing

When other renovation companies are slowing down for the season, Meerkat is gearing up for Winter roofing. Here at Meerkat we roof all year, and our workers have successfully done so for over 20 years, thanks in part to Southern Alberta’s dry climate.

Our roofers are trained in winter roofing techniques and utilize the safety measures they learn in their training (i.e. Fall Protection). We will sweep snow off your roof and ensure that your roofing material is secured in place and leak-proof.

Get your roof done now to take advantage of the Home Renovation Tax Credit. Ask about our 10% Winter Roofing Discount for work done from Jan 1 – Apr 1, 2010.

Demand spikes due to Summer Hail Storms

Meerkat is working hard to keep up with a sharp increase in demand for repairs to roofs, siding, eavestrough and downpipes due to pelting hail storms North of the city of Calgary. We have hired new crews to keep up with repairs, and hired new behind-the-scenes staff to better administer the flow of work.

Our goal is to not leave our clients waiting any longer than necessary in anticipation of their repairs and renovations.

Real Team Building

On this particular Saturday when most people were doing their weekend chores the Meerkat Team (including office and sales staff) assembled together in front of a new construction site at Drake Landing in Okotoks at 9:00 A.M… The mission was to remove and replace a perfectly good roof. Now why remove a perfectly good roof someone may ask. Well unfortunately due to an error by one of the team members in Meerkat’s estimating department this house had the wrong color of shingles installed and because of color controls the roof had to be replaced.

When the staff heard about this error the Meerkat team decided to take action led by the subcontractors the employees decided to donate their time and labour to replace this roof and help the owner reduce the costs. It was a great team building experience and by 4:30 that afternoon the right colour of shingles were on the house. (I don’t think an estimator has ever worked so hard)