Terry Anderson, President of TRA-MAGE in American Fork Utah, receives his second patent for a new roof product - The Ridge Riser®.
American Fork, UT December 15, 2011
Most people don't bother to look up at their roof except to hang their Christmas lights. However, if a piece of roofing material ever hit you in the face or snow and ice crashed down on your head, you might look up a little more often. Terry Anderson, President of TRA-MAGE in American Fork, Utah, is making it easier to ignore your roof! His creative thinking has resulted in two patents that offer innovative ways to solve safety issues while also saving the homeowner money.
Folks who live in warm climates and want to save on energy costs benefit from his latest product known as aRidge Riser®. It's a very simple roof concept that enables air to enter at the eave line of a roof, naturally move upward and vent out at the top of the roof at the ridge. The patenting process began in 2007 and completed in October, 2011.
Anderson states, "One of my reasons for coming up with this Ridge Riser® design was because the accepted way to attach roof tile to a ridge is dangerous. A roofer toe-nails a 2 x 6 or 2 x 8 to the peak of the roof, wraps some black roof paper around it, then nails the tile to that. In a wind storm that wood and tile easily blows off. If you're in the vicinity when this happens, you'd better watch out." The Ridge Riser® has been tested in Dade County, Florida and passed Wind Uplift tests with flying colors. It is made of galvanized steel and requires nothing but nails and a 2 x 2 to create the ideal solution at the ridge.
Besides the safety concern, Anderson's Ridge Riser® saves both the installer and the homeowner money. It elevates the ridge board so that there is air movement from the eave all the way up and out through the ridge. This cools the attic and roof system and extends the life of the underlayment. The homeowner saves on his home air conditioning costs because his roof/attic area is cooler due to the constant venting and he won't have to replace his roof as soon. The installer now only needs to inventory 2 x 2's instead of multiple lumber dimensions, keeping his cost down and saving the labor and expense of wrapping underlayment around the wood.
The inventor's other patented product, the "Snow Bracket", is for roofs in cold locations. It too focuses on roof safety issues. A Snow Bracket keeps snow and ice in place uniformly on the roof and solves the problem of snow avalanching off and killing someone underneath. Anderson received that patent on June 6, 2000.
Anderson points out, "You can create a safer roof in a snowy environment by using both the Ridge Riser® and the Snow Bracket. The Ridge Riser® helps prevent hot and cold spots due to the constant movement of air in the roof system which helps prevent ice dams from building up. The Snow Brackets keep the snow and ice from falling off and causing damage or injury."
Terry Anderson will keep looking up at roofs so the rest of us don't have to.
Anderson is the President of T.R.A.-MAGE, Inc. of American Fork, Utah and specializes in roofing accessories for sunny and snowy climates and flashing products for tile roofs.
T.R.A.-MAGE, Inc., located in American Fork, Utah, manufactures engineered roof accessory systems: solar mounting systems for both photovoltaic and thermal applications, roof snow retention systems including snow guards and snow fences, and roof flashing and ventilation systems. All product lines are easily installed on nearly any style of roof or roofing material.
