Roofing Learning Center
About the Learning Center
I noticed a while ago that when you want some particular information about roofing and you do a Google search, almost all of the top search results are from roofing contractor website blogs. Google thinks those are authoritative sources. They mostly aren’t. Or even worse, you get results from big general interest or home improvement websites that are just content mills that crank out vague, inaccurate articles about everything they can think of, where the writers clearly know little about the subject.
A lot of contractors do know what they’re talking about, but then they hire content writers who don’t, just so they can keep publishing articles on their blogs that might bring visitors to their websites so they can sell their roofing services.
And really, when it comes to getting unbiased roofing information, roofing contractors are not typically a good source. They ARE biased; they’re trying to sell you something. And they’re often poorly informed. I’ve heard roofing contractors claim that roofing slate manufacturers don’t offer material warranties. I’ve heard roofing contractors insist that the average service life of an EPDM roof is 12 years. I’ve heard some very wrong things. (This is one reason roof consultants have jobs.)
And now that everyone is using ChatGPT to write articles, this whole situation has really gotten out of hand. ChatGPT is not a roofing expert; it just regurgitates the bad information it got off the internet. And there’s a lot of bad roofing information on the internet.
I’ve been a professional roof consultant for over 20 years, researching all kinds of roofing topics, solving roofing problems, designing roof systems, and correcting roofers when they do things wrong. I also spent some time working as a roofer many years ago, for my dad (who was a residential building contractor and remodeler) when I was in high school, and also in college for a couple of other bosses. I’m not anti-roofer, I just know that you should take a lot of what some of them say about roofing with a grain of salt.
Providing unbiased, accurate, expert roofing information and advice, for the benefit of the building owner who hires them, is one of the things that roof consultants do for a living.
I thought it might be a good idea to start writing roofing articles. Maybe improve the quality of the roofing information people can find on the internet by just a little bit. The articles on this website are based on my own professional experience and continuing education, supported by careful research, and I generally fact-check my articles using reliable roofing industry technical literature.
– Jack Gray
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About Jack:
Jack Gray spent 20 years as a principal roof consultant with the Moriarty Corporation, an award-winning building enclosure consultant firm founded in 1967. Mr. Gray has worked in the roofing industry for over 25 years, with training and practical experience in roof installation, roof inspection, roof safety, roof condition assessment, construction estimating, roof design & specification, quality assurance, roof maintenance & repair, and roof asset management. He was awarded the Registered Roof Observer (RRO) professional credential in 2009. He also served as an infantry paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division and has a B.A. from Cornell University.