I work for a small architectural office in Boston that does work along the seashore. We sometimes design buildings with low-pitched roofs. When we do, we specify elastomeric membrane roofing because of its good performance overall. It comes in big black rubbery sheets.
Recently we were surprised to see a small rectangular hole in one of our newly installed roofs. It was located next to a seam in the roof where two pieces of membrane had been glued together. We called a few manufacturer’s reps, figuring it was some kind of a defect, and found out much to our surprise that it was just another seagull attack.
As it turns out, seagulls are attracted to newly installed membrane roofs. Perhaps the black color and elastic consistency reminds them of whale or fish skin. The gulls like to pick at the seams, especially where the softer flashing sheets overlap the field sheets. After about four or five days, the flashing material cures to its final hardness and the gulls leave it alone.
If you are planning to install an elastomeric roof, take advantage of the seagulls’ phobias. They hate snakes. Synthetic rubber snakes are available at most joke shops, Even better are the big inflatable jobs (try the Nature Company, P.O. Box 2310, Berkeley, Calif. 94702). You have to weight them down, but they look pretty lifelike wiggling in the breeze. If you can’t get a snake, we were told that an owl might also work.
William F. Roslansky, Cambridge, MA
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