“Our community has always embraced the history of this setting while looking toward protecting its future,” says Lane Murray, general manager at Fleur du Lac Estates. “That’s one of the key reasons we wanted a roofing product that has the look of real cedar shakes, but with man-made advantages like resistance to fire, impact and high winds.”
Superior Roofing Installation
Despite a variety of challenges with removing the old roofs and prepping for the new synthetic shake tiles, the team at Bruce Olson Construction has successfully tackled their first DaVinci Roofscapes installation project at Fleur du Lac Estates.
“The roofing surface for the Yacht Club and Boat House were in bad shape and very uneven,” says Taylor Greene, general manager of Bruce Olson Construction in Tahoe City, Calif. “We had to plane these into workable surfaces before getting started. Once we got started the product installed beautifully. We added flashing material to cover some valley locations, which made the project look exceptional. To achieve the realistic look, gable end flashing that concealed the manufactured edge of the DaVinci product was added.”
The company, which does residential and multi-family new construction work in several, states including Hawaii, has already started work on several additional roofs in the Fleur du Lac complex.
“The Bellaforté roofing looks amazing,” says Greene. “Best of all, these polymer shakes are perfect for this geographic area. Traditional wood shakes ‘hold’ the water from melting snow. Those saturated shakes weigh more and cause the freeze line to be a part of the shake. With the DaVinci product, the water is not absorbed into the tile, so snow melting is faster and more efficient. This can also help reduce the ice damming effect in many locations.”
Laughing at Mother Nature
Nestled amidst stunning mountain peaks and world-famous ski conditions, Fleur du Lac Estates can experience heavy snowfall during the winter months. The property is just five minutes from Homewood Mountain Ski Resort, and the area usually sees snow in excess of 180 inches total. That’s one reason why the community decided to have the Bruce Olson team incorporate snow fences and snow guards from Rocky Mountain Snow Guards into the structures.
“In our area it’s very common to use snow guards and fences to help keep snow from falling on individuals and property,” says Greene. “The previous structures at Fleur du Lac Estates didn’t have any type of snow retention system. We believe having these products in place now—which were very simple to put in during the polymer shake installation—will make life much easier for property owners no matter how much snow Mother Nature delivers each season.”
Rocky Mountain Snow Guards custom designed the snow retention system for Fleur du Lac Estates incorporating both their Drift III+ snow fences and the company’s Rocky Guard RG10 snow guards. The system was developed to handle the 180 PSF snow load that can occur in this geographic location.
“The snow guards are attached in a pattern above the snow fence that creates friction to hold the snow ‘slab’ in place while the snow fence provides a barrier beyond which the snow slab won’t slide,” says Lars Walberg, president of Rocky Mountain Snow Guards. “Using the combination of snow guards and snow fences gives this project a balanced snow retention system that has the ‘look’ the owners desired.”
For homeowners, the new Bellaforté roofs on the Yacht Club and Boat House are tempting reminders of what will come on their own homes within the community in the years to come.
“Now that the Yacht Club and Boat House roofs are complete we’re hearing very positive comments from our residents,” says Murray. “Folks are eager for the work to continue in the common areas so that their individual homes can soon get these terrific-looking new roofs!”