New Roof Put on Horicon Veteran’s Home

BRH Enterprises and Owens Corning teamed up to help a U.S. Marine Corps veteran get a new roof on his family’s house in Horicon.

On Wednesday, Sept. 9 the crew stepped out at 8 a.m. to put up the new roof on Chad Swetmore’s house. There were around 12 workers on the roof working to strip the shingles that had been damaged by countless storms, wind and even a tornado.

“It means a lot to me actually, the roof needed to be replaced about five years ago,” Swetmore said. His insurance company said that they would no longer insure his roof due to it being so old. He lives at the house with his wife and two children.

Chad served as an artillery mechanic and was stationed in Camp Pendleton in California from 2006 to 2008.

This project was done as a part of Owens Corning’s Roof Deployment Project.

“To us it’s more than just putting on a roof, it’s taking care of our community members. And giving back to those who gave so much by serving. By doing so, they allow us to do what we do everyday,” President and Founder of BRH Enterprises, Bryce Hanke, said.

They saw a need in the community to put a roof on the house and were looking for a candidate for the project in the area and the family checked all the boxes.

In order to put a new roof on, first the old shingles and felt have to be torn down. This allows them to see the roof deck, the board underneath the shingles. If those have to be replaced, they do so then. For this project about 10 sheets of plywood will have to be replaced.

An ice and water barrier is put on the roof before the shingles go on to protect it from the elements.

They are able to offer warranties through Owens Corning for the roof including lifetime coverage. With this, the Swetmore family will not have to worry about the roof again as it will be covered for life. BRH Enterprises or Owens Corning will cover any costs that arise in the future.

“We’ve done other volunteer projects in the past. We do focus a lot on giving back to the communities but this is our very first roof deployment project,” mentioned Rachelle Hanke of BRH Enterprises. “This is our first one that we’re doing so we’re very very excited.”

Another community project BRH Enterprises did was the Mayville Legion’s gutter guards. They also send care packages to active duty military members overseas. Those packages are put together by their staff as a team project.

Swetmore said, “Thanks to BRH Enterprises, they’ve been awesome to work with. Owens Corning, I really appreciate them getting all the materials. And I’d like to thank Purple Heart Homes, they were awesome to work with as well.”

Purple Heart Homes plans to help fix up 1,000 veteran’s homes and the Swetmore’s are around number 700.