The Roofing Games ™ Showcase Speed and Skill

The annual competition challenges participants’ knowledge and skill set for installing roofing systems.

The Roofing Games are the roofing industry’s “first official set of competitions sanctioned by a roofing association” and are produced in conjunction with the Western Roofing Expo and sponsored by Malarkey Roofing Products. Participants compete in a series of events that challenge their knowledge and skill set level pertaining to equipment, materials, and processes used in the roofing industry. The Western States Roofing Contractors Association (WSRCA) first introduced The Roofing Games at the 2014 Western Roofing Expo.

The games have steadily grown in popularity and are held on the tradeshow floor in front of a boisterous crowd. Participants have only two minutes of prep time to ready the work area and then they are timed in roofing a 32-square-foot mockup of a residential roof. They are competing not only for time but also on the quality of the installation with shingles needing to be flush with the platform and the correct number of nails being used within the nailing zone.

This year the association invited the winners from the previous two years, Sean Johnson and Brad Schmautz, to defend their titles but the competition crowned a new winner this year in 54-year-old John Miles of Wicks Roofing. Miles owned his own roofing company for 22 years before joining Wicks Roofing this year as an estimator and supervisor.

Miles was interviewed by Engineering News Record about why he decided to compete, what the experience was like and what he thinks are some of the challenges facing the construction industry today. Read the full interview here.

WSRCA says it will host the competition again on the second day of the 2017 Western Roofing Expo. Participants will be judged on accuracy, aesthetics, speed and workmanship and the winner receives a $500 prize. Contractors who want to compete should attend the expo and visit the Malarkey Roofing Products booth to enter their name for a chance to participate.