Roofing Craft and Customization - PODCAST TRANSCRIPT

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of a live interview with Tim Garrison from River City Roofing Co. You can read the interview below or listen to the podcast.

Intro: Welcome to the AskARoofer Podcast, where all your roofing questions find their answers. Your hosts, Megan Ellsworth and Lauren White, peel back the layers of the roofing world to reveal the knowledge, tips and  FAQs you've been curious about. From shingles to skylights, metal to asphalt, we are here to demystify the system above your head. So get ready to ask, learn and  explore the fascinating world of roofing one question at a time on the AskARoofer Podcast. 

Lauren White: Hello, everyone. This is Lauren White with the AskARoofer Podcast. We're here with Tim Garrison from River City Roofing Co. and  we are going to talk about craft and  customization and  some fun projects that they have been working on. So Tim, great to have you on here. Why don't you introduce yourselves and tell everybody a little bit about River City Roofing? 

Tim Garrison: Yeah, Tim Garrison. Based out of Peoria, Illinois. I started River City Roofing around 2002. Really started focusing on roofing in 2005, so I'd say 20 years of strictly roofing. Grown from residential to residential, commercial, industrial, multi-states. We take on complex jobs, but we still do the basic ones. We're still 70% residential, I would say 60%-70% of our revenue is residential. The rest is commercial, which we're focused on growing. And it's great to be here, I'm glad you extended the offer [inaudible 00:01:26]. 

Lauren White: Yeah, yeah. I'm excited to talk more about this project and overall what you do. But, so I understand that recently you installed a roof with an American flag design on it. So can you tell us a little bit about the background of that project and  what inspired you to create a custom rooftop flag design? 

Tim Garrison: Wow. So I saw a project done by who now I know is Scott Riopelle, Interstate Roofing, out of Denver area, but this was done in Colorado Springs. I guess it was 2015, I think, you guys aired a story on them. That was the one I saw. And so I've just had in the back of my mind, "That was a really cool project." I thought, you know, it's not that much harder. That's the actual membrane, they did the roof, so as far as really adding. So that sparked me to do some stuff with red TPO on white roofs a few times. One's local tire company down by the bridge on the river of Peoria, Illinois, called Plaza Tire. It's a barrel roof. We did a TPO membrane on the barrel and  I took five-foot roll of red TPO to a sign shop, had them cut out Plaza Tire in five-foot letters. 

So when you come over the bridge that thing's probably, I'd have to go to our Facebook page, 12 years or 10 years, I guess, shortly after I saw that. I think I did that after the flag. But anyhow, then I drove by it with a very well known GAF commercial inspector. And I said, "Yeah, we did that." And he goes, "Oh, that's coating." And I said, "No, that's red TPO," and this is the GAF technical guy that inspects our flat roofs or the commercial at the time. And I said, "No, that's TPO. I just laid letters, red, on top of the white, fully welded so it wouldn't get staining coming through it." 

So anyways, did some projects like that with just some enhancements that you could see from the ground on certain TPO roofs. And then, 2017, I bought an old K-Mart building. It's 72,600 square foot of flat roof and  I said, "We're budgeting," and like any contractor working on it, as in between our own projects. So we kind of did some different... On our roof, we have RhinoBond, mechanically attached, fully adhered, fleece back, all kind of different sections, so we could kind of showcase clients, if they want to walk a commercial roof before they purchase one or trying to make a decision on the types of attachment or application. We've got some pavers up there. We're going to do some live roof as well, but we did a penthouse, little patio and  I saved the last section for an American flag, so it kind of sat there. 

'17, '18, we started working on this building, because it did have roof leaks. It was built in '84. And saved that last section, which was a perfect section closest to the airport, where we're about five minutes from the Peoria Airport. There's also a National Guard right there that does a lot of flyovers with the big C-130s and  so we'll get some military planes almost weekly over top of it. And I had one skylight that we had put in there and  I said, "Let's remove that and make sure it's super clean, so there's nothing on that section." It's our warehouse for our steep slope of materials, really and  our trucks and trailers kind of run through and  saved it and  made it through COVID, trying to get the material. That was tough. 

We were also trying to work with GAF to do some marketing, if they wanted to. We thought about doing that. They were going to come out, do a care training, a video, because the roof at that point, that was the only section left and  it was leaking. And ultimately, it came together last year, had all the membrane and  we did some cool marketing videos with it and  got the flag done right before Veterans Day, so it was pretty cool. 

Lauren White: Wow, very cool. I love that so many people can enjoy it either from the skies or from the roof itself. That's fun. 

Tim Garrison: It is. 

Lauren White: Yeah. So you kind of touched on some of the challenges that you faced, but what were specifically some of the biggest design and installation challenges with this project? 

Tim Garrison: So I would say for sure getting the membrane. So I locked in the, I think red or blue, I can't recall. So to my knowledge, there might be some others that have these very strong, rich colors now, but I did not think... Most of them couldn't get that actual navy blue I think was the problem. And even some of the reds were more maroon, so we looked at a few. I just planned on doing it at GAF, so we were trying to work with them, obviously through COVID. We talked to the [inaudible 00:06:03] builder, I think maybe it was in San Diego and  they said, oh, they weren't running red and blue membrane at the time, as everybody was kind of making their adjustments for COVID, so getting the red and blue material in hand was probably the toughest. 

The next challenge after that was getting things lined up, if we wanted to do some marketing or GAF wanted to do some marketing and  make sure that we gave everybody the opportunity to kind of line up the timeline, so everyone could be involved that wanted to be. And then, probably the install was laying the stars. The stars, there's a flag calculator you can find online. It's kind of, I mean, it helped us tremendously. Having some guys that do some of my stuff with commercial design and blueprinting, we had it laid out a couple of different times, realized it was going to be about two feet, three feet shy of the one they did in Colorado Springs. So I said, "No, no, five-foot rolls, we have to add one foot of membrane for the red stripes." And so we did that so we can make sure we had the biggest one that I know of that's done with TPO. 

Lauren White: That's awesome, very cool. 

Tim Garrison: So, yeah. 

Lauren White: Yeah and  so based on this project, what kind of roofing materials are best for custom designs like the one that you did? 

Tim Garrison: I would say the color TPO, for sure. You can do some stuff with a coating. Right above this roof, we have a long... Like a 20-foot section of EPDM, just so we can... So two divider walls and put EPDM fully adhered. And on that, we are going to do some coating. Now that the weather's breaking, we ordered some 10-foot stencils, so we're just going to put River City Roofing Company with coating on top of EPDM. So that'd be the first one we're doing, kind of type of marketing type of artwork on top of the EPDM, but that's an option. 

But I really think the color TPO is... I haven't done a complex logo yet, but I would like to, something that's completely... I don't know how... We have cut stuff out such as the stars and lettering that we've done on some TPO, I take it to a sign company. They have a table that kind of vacuums it down like they would their sign material to cut letters or whatever out of the thin plastic. So it worked on TPO, but their tables are maxed at five by five. So you get a 20-foot logo, I think we're going to have some issues, but we'll figure it out for sure. 

Lauren White: Yeah, very cool. I was going to ask if there were any future designs in the works, if now that you've done the American flag, that sparked some interest? 

Tim Garrison: Absolutely and  you don't see much on commercial roofs. I fly a lot, I'm all over every week and  you don't see them very often and  it's kind of surprising. You need the roof, anyways. How much more is it to stand out, put your company name on, especially near an O'Hare or... I know there was a guy, I think it was... Where's it at? Cleveland or  Indianapolis or  somewhere. The guy said he painted on his roof. I read a story, if you research it, but he painted right by the airport, "Welcome to Cleveland," and it's not Cleveland. It's like it's in... I don't know, maybe it's another nearby city. So people freaked out to the point where they were like, "Can you please take it off? The whole plane's erupting. As we're coming in, says, 'Welcome to Cleveland'," so yeah. 

Lauren White: Oh, funny. 

Tim Garrison: I won't claim responsibility if we do anything. That one, we'll keep off the media and the podcast for sure. 

Lauren White: Yeah, yeah. 

Tim Garrison: Yeah, [inaudible 00:09:35]- 

Lauren White: Oh, funny. Yeah. So then, kind of touching on marketing and branding, there's so many roofs out there, commercial roofs that are just flat and don't have much going on. So how can a roof design, whether it's a logo or an American flag, serve as a marketing or branding tool for a business? 

Tim Garrison: So obviously, near airports for sure is an easy target for being able to market your building. I don't see why there would be anything as far as... You know, some cities have requirements, code requirements for how big of a sign you can put up and things like that. I'm not sure how that would play in, but I would think putting your company name near an airport, I mean, it serves as a billboard. I mean, if you're sitting on a window seat, flying into a city, most people are raising the windows, looking out. So I think that's [inaudible 00:10:25]. Barrel roofs, TPO, we put on a 6, 7, 12 pitch, depending on the application or  even steeper, doing CMU walls or whatever. You could almost put... When you're talking to colored TPO and laying on top of a white or a tan, just coating on the EPDM. So yeah, I think maybe it's something people just aren't offering or thinking about. 

Lauren White: Yeah. Yeah, definitely. Do custom roof designs, do those improve a building's performance or durability by any way or  is it more just the aesthetic of it? 

Tim Garrison: So it depends on how... I mean, I guess in certain areas, when you're doing an overlay of, say, red on top of a white, you are ending up, you have two layers of TPO there, right? You're fully adhering right on top of 60 mil to 60 mil. The flag is actually the roof. I mean, that's fully adhered to our cover board. So what you see is the roof and  the seams are the seams. So there's no real enhancements as far as thickness or durability on that aspect. Coating's probably much the same where you're coating something, if it were EPDM, depending on where your seams are and things like that. But I think it's more... I'd say it's almost 90, 99% is aesthetics and what you're getting from that. 

Lauren White: Yeah, that makes sense. Are you noticing more custom roofs in the industry overall or is it still kind of slow? 

Tim Garrison: You know, I'm not... On our post, I haven't checked it in a while, but on the video and maybe the one you guys put, I've seen some people have put other ones that were out there. I saw one in Destin, Florida is like at a marina. I don't know if it's metal or paint, but it's really cool, a big flag, there was... But no, I'm actually looking for them, obviously more when I'm flying in and out and  flying to newer cities that I haven't flown into. So I'm always peeking and seeing what's out there if I'm by the window and  I don't, you really don't see it. You are seeing, I would say, maybe more with shingle design that is kind of coming back, some of those Victorian-type designs that you'll see maybe different colors or styles on some of the more historical stuff. 

Lauren White: Yeah. I was going to ask if this is just a trend for commercial roofing or  if residential can take advantage of custom design work for their roof as well? 

Tim Garrison: Oh, yeah. Yeah, I saw... I can't remember where it was, it might not even been in this country, there was a custom copper one where it was like diamonds, then scallops and  it was all copper and  that was pretty... You know, three or four rows of each. That was an art piece. We actually, ironically, we've done some designs. I think we did, we designed a VFW to put the VFW in, in different-color shingle. You can kind of see, as the shingles obviously have to stagger, you're not going to get those straight lines like you would with TPO laid over. But we do have a historical home that was going to go all slate and  had a few rows of scallop slate and then the rectangle. 

So we're looking at doing that with some designer shingles, so that one will be a pretty cool one. A historical society actually owns that one, so that one, but that'll be all asphalt and on a steep... But yeah, probably not utilized near enough. Yeah, I mean, it's hard. In my opinion, it's hard. You're already asking for, say, a commercial roof, you're presenting a $200,000 bid, it's hard to say, "Hey, let's add 40 grand, 50 grand to this bid and  put some marketing or something that's going to help you stand out." But whether or not that's the roofers, the building owners, I think it's an option that people probably just don't think or don't present. 

Lauren White: Yeah. Yeah, that makes sense. And that actually goes into my next question of what kind of budget should maybe a building owner or even a homeowner, if they're looking for a personalized roof, add on to their initial, maybe, estimate? 

Tim Garrison: I would say on a membrane, like a big flag roof I could speak to, because I kind of have... The colored membranes, just like anything, whether it's vinyl siding, TPL, you're getting the dark premium colors, it's hard to get in small amounts. So depending on material availability, I mean, I'd say you're adding probably 15% to the project for something like the flag, because you also have... You're not just going to run and gun, laying TPL out and have people laying out multiple rows and  the things that you can do. So it's certainly going to slow you down in the process. And if you're like me, you're going to have all your best of the best on there. I mean, I'm not going to leave room for error. I want the other guys to learn, so I kind of use those as somewhat a training and  make sure that the most qualified guys are going to be on site. 

Lauren White: Yeah, that makes sense. 

Tim Garrison: But [inaudible 00:15:29]- 

Lauren White: Yeah. And so I mean, I'm just curious too, if someone wasn't ready for a re-roof and they just had their regular roof but wanted to customize it, is that something that can be added on top of their existing roof or  is that pretty frowned upon, because that's just adding layers to your roof? 

Tim Garrison: No, absolutely. I mean, depending on if you're talking, especially on the flat roof, on membranes, if you want to put something that, hey, it's just a big white wall or  a tan or  gray, just a standard color membrane and  you want to put something on there, absolutely. I mean, that could be... Most of them, I shouldn't speak for all, but most of them should be able to be cleaned properly and then installed over top, just to get whatever you're trying to achieve, as far as marketing or whatever. [inaudible 00:16:17]. 

Lauren White: Yeah, yeah. Well, that's good to know. They don't have to wait for a re-roof to make it their own. Awesome. Well, any other advice that you would give to business owners or homeowners who might be considering a personalized roof in their future? 

Tim Garrison: Well, I would say, as you can see, I'm not quite under the flag. I think it starts at the wall right behind me, to the edge. This is my warehouse behind me. I always do trial on my own. I'm usually going to do some type of a trial. So I wouldn't say go out and offer everybody American flag roofs or putting their name of their business on the side of a roof that [inaudible 00:16:58] is visible, but at the same time, familiarize, figure it out. 

And I mean, that's kind of what we have done. We drew up a plan, we kind of attacked it. Now, I'm comfortable saying, "Hey, if you want a flag on your roof, I kind of know exactly what it's going to take, the extras, it's going to... Who's going to design it," because believe it or not, I still tried to make sure I'm at the scale of... I know it's laying down and  there's all kinds of comments telling me what's right and wrong with a flag, but that is not an actual flag. It's an image of a flag that's going to be visible for years. 

And, but I think just familiarizing yourself with it. And if you're not growing, you're dying. That's one of our core values. We're always trying to find the next invention, the next technology. So we're always trying to make sure that we have every tool in our bag and  now we can confidently go out and offer designs or something like that on your TPO roof and  yeah, we kind of know what we're getting ourselves into. 

Lauren White: Yeah, that's great. Well, awesome. Well, thank you so much for your time and for sharing about your project. I'm going to have to go look up that video now and see it for myself. 

Tim Garrison: Oh, yeah. 

Lauren White: Yeah and - 

Tim Garrison: Yeah, [inaudible 00:18:12]- 

Lauren White: ... thank you everyone for listening. 

Tim Garrison: Appreciate you having me. 

Lauren White: Yeah, thank you. And consider customizing your roof in the future and see what marketing it might bring you for all those people flying above it, so- 

Tim Garrison: You never know until you ask, right? 

Lauren White: Absolutely. Thank you, Tim, again and  we will catch you all on the next episode. 

Outro: If your roof needs answers, subscribe now to the AskARoofer Podcast. We've got your questions covered, one episode at a time. Go to AskARoofer.com to submit your questions and learn more. Stay tuned and keep those questions coming.