roof/ gutter deicing labor units?

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I'm bidding a job to install about 750' of Raychem Wintergard roof and gutter deicing tape and realized I really dont have a clue as what to expect in terms of labor. It's been years since I've installed anything like this and I'm hoping someone may be able shine some light on this.

Thanks
 

krisinjersey

Senior Member
Too much of this stuff

Too much of this stuff

I've put up so much of this stuff the local roofers put it into their estimates as an add/alt. I put about .15 per foot of roof line for a shingle roof that's less than a 12 pitch. Steeper bump it up. Slate should be about .20 per foot of roof line with less than a 12 and that's mainly because of applying the adhesive and coming back a week later to install the cable. Rubber membrane cut it to .10 and those are usually flat roofs. That labor unit will cover the roof loop and gutter/leader line up from your J-box . Add for your valley's but since it's usually one clip and takes about 15 minutes total I don't go by length, I just add .5 for the valley as a unit. Don't forget about time for holes into the leader if you have gutters. There are 2 really nice upsells I push. One is a snow sensor and the other is a low temp sensor. You can use either one to trip the contactor. That way the customer doesn't have to worry about forgetting it's on until the power company sends them a truck with the bill inside:D . The control work can be time consuming so be honest about your control wiring skills and the time involved. Avoid T kits because they take about 30 minutes each to install and you have another place to troubleshot if there is an issue. And don't forget the basic difficulty of either being on an extension ladder, a lift or harnessed on the roof all day. Oh one major thing with this stuff is out warranty. We DO NOT warranty animal damage. Squirels love this stuff and it's not fun to replace.
 
That is excellent info, thank you. I needed to get a number on this so I kind of guessed just based on how long I thought it would take 2 men to this. According to your figures I'm light so I'm hoping that if I get this there is a little slop in your figures. Almost all of this will be able to be done from step ladders so that should definately cut down some.

Thanks again.
 

satcom

Senior Member
That is excellent info, thank you. I needed to get a number on this so I kind of guessed just based on how long I thought it would take 2 men to this. According to your figures I'm light so I'm hoping that if I get this there is a little slop in your figures. Almost all of this will be able to be done from step ladders so that should definately cut down some.

Thanks again.

Just don't forget when you get a labor unit for a task, it is usually for the task itself, it does not usually include your time to get there, set up equipment or conditions, like how high, or do you have to move anything, or gain access, and clean up, non productive time, or any hold ups working with multi trades, just cover all your bases.
 

krisinjersey

Senior Member
Step Ladders?

Step Ladders?

How low is this roof? The labor units are only for the tasks. No travel, set-up, troubleshooting, or getting the circuits outside. With your number of 750, is that feet of cable or feet of roof? Raychem draws 7 watts per foot and if you exceed the length they spec, it gets cold spots. We have the option of scanning it with a thermal camera, when we are done. It may be something you want to look into renting and include it in your price.
 
My actual calculated cable length was about 660'. I threw 10% slop on and than stepped up to what I could get the spools in. Certainly I understand about nonproductive time, set up, clean up, smoke breaks, political debates, analyzing local sports teams etc.

The home is primarily one story with a porch around the majority of the areas we are treating so we will be able set up step ladders to get to the majority of the work.

This homeowner already has heat mats in front of his garage and has some provisions prewired for the roof. There is a subpanel below a box where the contactor is going to live and there is already a wall switch in place to control the coil. Getting outside should be fairly straight forward.

Really the only curve ball I see is that the downspouts we are covering go underground and run across the driveway before they daylight. One of them is about 80' long. According to the manufacturer it is not a problem to pull it in the pipe and leave it there. My concern is that the HO (who is generally on top of things- I've worked for him in the past) doesn't remember the path of the pipe and it's either 30' longer than he remembers or that there are 37 90s and we won't be able to pull it.

The other potential issue is the roofing material. From a distance it looks like regular asphalt shingles. When you get up close and personal it is actually metal shingles designed to look conventional (not a standing seam room) with a grit on it to mimic asphalt. Securing those clips strike me as a bit iffy.

The actual layout and running of the cable should be fairly low impact.
 

krisinjersey

Senior Member
Downspout Drain

Downspout Drain

If the drain line runs underground, and it's a 4" pipe you souldn't have to run out the full length. You aren't going to be moving an incredible amount of water. It runs at a steady trickle. We would generally put the end seal on and push it in until it wouldn't go anymore. The cable has a pretty good amount of stability so pushing it is pretty easy. And you're trying to prevent an ice damming issue with this cable so once the water is off the roof and into the ground, you have addressed the problem. I don't know how deep you need to be for freezing in Denver, but we go down 50" I think before water stays above here.
 
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