Building a blueprint for surviving the storm

By Emma Peterson. 

When it comes to designing a secure and strong roof to face extreme weather, it all starts with the right materials.  

In this Metal Talk webinar, Karen Edwards hosted Cody Raymond and Lindsey Riddle of Westlake Royal Roofing Solutions to discuss the rise in extreme weather conditions and how to design homes to survive the storms. One of the key parts of building a strong roof is using the right materials.  

Lindsey gave an example of how powerful the right material can be based on the aftermath of Hurricane Ian in Florida. She shared, “I have a contractor who I've worked with there and he had a drone video after the hurricane. The video goes through this neighborhood, and it starts off in its standing seam roofs that are all bent up, completely warped, shingle roofs that are missing half the roof, etc. And then they go over this beautiful PINE-CREST Shake charcoal, our black PINE-CREST Shake profile, and it is completely intact.” 

This story shows how beneficial quality products are. Not only did Westlake’s product protect a homeowner’s property in a Category 4 hurricane, but it also helped the contractor showcase the work he and his team can do with the right products. This became a sales point for that contractor, as Lindsey explained, “He was able to go back to that neighborhood while they're trying to figure out their insurance claims and the re-roof process and be able to sell more stone-coated steel Unified Steel roofs because they have a real-time perfect example of how high performing this roof is.”  

Getting more contractors connected to these quality materials is something that Westlake is actively working towards. One of the ways they have done this is helping with material lists. This is a practice that has happened unofficially between representatives and contractors for years now, but they are formalizing it to make it more accessible. Cody explained, “We're happy to continue helping those contractors, but it might take a rep an hour or two to call them back and they might need it fast. So, we made this web-based version that can be accessed by a distributor, that can be accessed by a contractor, by a homeowner, anybody that visits our site.” 

Read the transcript, Listen to the full conversation or Watch the video to learn more about how quality materials help Westlake products outlast storms.