Challenges when working with historical roofs

By Emma Peterson. 

Learn from the company that has worked on the U.S. Capitol about best practices for restoring a historic roof. 

In this AskARoofer Podcast episode, Megan Ellsworth and Lauren White spoke to Bob Kraft from Wagner Roofing Company about all things historical restoration. Bob is a project executive and Wagner has been working in the Washington D.C. area for more than 100 years now. He explained their role in the industry, “We specialize in historic restoration, from steep-slope slate, copper, wood shake/tile, to custom copper ornamental sheet metal fabrication for cornices, finials, gutters, and wall panels as well.”  

When it comes to historical restoration, Bob and Wagner Roofing Company are the experts. He explained that he’s “been on a number of iconic buildings that you guys probably learned about in school.” A standout of this is a project he just wrapped up on the U.S. Capitol Building. Bob explained, “We did approximately 600 lineal feet of copper water table replacement that wrapped the West side of the building. Being able to be on scaffolding, being able to touch the building and being right next to it, and look over, see the Washington Monument, it was pretty wild.” 

Working with historical projects is full of rewards and benefits, but it comes with its own challenges. One key factor is the neighborhood, municipality or jurisdiction the building is within. Bob explained, “Every one of those is going to have a different requirement to what you have to do to go back with. There are different trusts that are involved that can come in and decide what you have to do.”  

Beyond the different requirements that historical projects have in terms of material usage and changes that can be made, there are often specialized skills needed to succeed. Bob elaborated, “It is a unique challenge in terms of actually finding or teaching. It could take years to actually teach somebody coming up through the company to actually be able to perform some of the things that are necessary on a historic roof.” Bob went on to explain that it’s not only the learned skills that are needed for historic roofs – adaptability is also key due to the unexpected surprises that come with working on a building that holds centuries of history.  

Read the transcript or Listen to the podcast to learn more about working on historical buildings.