Roofing, Weather and Insurance Trends - PODCAST TRANSCRIPT

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of a live interview with Frank Bermudez of Brava Roof Tile ​​​​​.You can read the interview below or listen to the podcast.

Intro: Welcome to Roofing Road Trips, the podcast that takes you on a thrilling journey across the world of roofing. From fascinating interviews with roofing experts to on the road adventures, we'll uncover the stories, innovations and challenges that shape the rooftops over our heads. So fasten your seat belts and join us as we embark on this exciting roofing road trip. 

Heidi Ellsworth: Hello and welcome to Roofing Road Trips from RoofersCoffeeShop. My name is Heidi Ellsworth and we are talking about one of the fastest growing segments of the roofing industry and that is synthetic tiles. And wow, I'm telling you, composite, synthetic, there are different names for it, but I can tell you the performance and the beauty of these products are amazing. So we ask the experts from Brava to join us to talk about this and what's happening out there. So welcome Frank Bermudez. We are so happy to have you on the show today. 

Frank Bermudez: Thank you, Heidi. I appreciate you having us today and look forward to talking to you and just chatting a little bit about the synthetic market, specifically in the Southeast part of the United States, but the entire United States is growing drastically with it. 

Heidi Ellsworth: It is growing like crazy. You and I met last year at the International Builder Show. I've seen some pictures of your projects, they are so amazing. But let's start out with an introduction. So if you could introduce yourself and tell us what you do with Brava. 

Frank Bermudez: Absolutely. So my name is Frank Bermudez. I am the Southeast regional manager for Brava Roof Tile. We're synthetic manufacturer that we make currently today three profiles. We make a synthetic slate, a synthetic shake and a synthetic barrel tile. We do have a multi-width slate as well and have some new things in development, but we'll keep those for now internally. But we have some new things coming to the market and excited about it. But Brava is growing and the synthetic market is growing, so we're excited about it. 

Heidi Ellsworth: It's amazing. The products are so beautiful and I'm always excited to have another podcast about new products coming out. But let's talk a little bit just overall about Brava. Can you tell us about the company, its history and really how it has gotten to where it is today? 

Frank Bermudez: Yeah. So Brava, again, we're a synthetic manufacturer. We are out of Washington, Iowa. So Washington the city, Iowa the state I always say. People are like Washington, wow, that's going to be a far truck to Florida to get here. I'm, no, no, Washington, Iowa, which is still far, but not as far as Washington the state. 

So yeah, so we're manufacturing Washington, Iowa and really Brava, our big pitch and our big want is to keep product out of landfill. So we are a recycled product. We are an environmentally friendly product. We're a durable product and an energy efficient product. So we take pride in those things. We make a high quality composite material and I always tell people when you look at the exterior envelope of a home, not just roofing, but composites are being used more and more and they're getting better. If I tell people, yeah, 20 years ago, composite roofing wasn't the greatest. They were figuring it out. Today it's come a long ways. Trex Decking went through that same story. Composite Windows went through that same story, I would guess today probably 60 or 70% of windows are vinyl composite windows. 

And so the exterior envelope of a home is moving to composites because they're more durable, they survive heat, cold, wind, rain, just the elements. They do a lot better in the elements than a lot of the natural products out there. 

Heidi Ellsworth: And in your territory in the Southeast, talk about some serious elements and severe weather that you are getting there. So before we jump into that, because I'm really interested in really kind of following that trend because it's so important right now, but I would love for you just to share some of the big projects that you've done down in Florida in the homes and why they're picking composite synthetic to really for beauty and performance on their homes. 

Frank Bermudez: Yeah. I mean, we have a ton of great projects in the Southeast. I get to have some fun because part of my southeast responsibility is the Caribbean. A recent one we have coming up is the Sandals Resort in Barbados that we have coming up, which is a great project for us. The Valentine Resort in Eleuthera, Bahamas. So we were doing some resort work, which is fun. 

But in Florida, which is the state that I started with Brava, I was the territory rep when I started here and have grown in the company. And as the company grows, we're having success. Some of us get to grow with it. And so I was promoted January one to a regional manager role for the whole southeast, but I started in Florida. We've done the Westin Resort in Cape Coral. We did that resort and it looks beautiful, right? 

They went from a clay tile that didn't perform during hurricane to a Brava tile and have now been through many high winds and they didn't get the last hurricane that came through Sarasota, but they got some pretty high winds from it and it all performed. We had, I would say several hundred drops in that Sarasota market that were installed prior to this last hurricane in '24. And every one of them performed. We lost one ridge cap in the entire hurricane. Not a tile broke. One ridge cap in an entire thing. So that tells me that we're performing. And literally we sent one of our preferred contractors out there to fix it and repair it for the homeowner at no charge and moved on. 

So it's great to be able to do that for the homeowner to take care of it and know that our products are withstanding the high winds that come with the Southeast, the humidity that comes with the Southeast, the mold and mildew that come with the Southeast. It's just a market that a lot of things happen. Hurricanes, we get some hail. It didn't used to be a hail market, but surprisingly Florida has gotten more and more hail along with places like North Carolina that had a bad hurricane and Georgia. There's a lot of damage that people in the Southeast necessarily in certain states would say, oh, hurricane in Georgia, North Carolina, that doesn't happen. And now we're facing those things. So weather is changing and fortunately products like synthetics are changing the market as well and being able to sustain these type of weather conditions. 

Heidi Ellsworth: Yeah. I tell you what, you have it... And that was one of the things I was going to ask about. What are some of the major factors that are influencing the roof in the Southeast? But you said them and I mean when I think about that, I think about humidity, mold, winds, hail, hurricanes and UV, let's talk about the sun, right? Because there's sun all the time. Talk to us a little bit about how Brava is performing against all of those factors and really synthetics overall. 

Frank Bermudez: So Brava is performing well. So one of the great stories I like to tell, I was originally a contractor in the Midwest, I was also a manufacturer and distributor rep. So most of my time and my history in this industry has been in the Midwest. So when Brava had approached me and offered to relocate me to the Southeast, I said, well, it's warmer, that's great. But my first question was do we perform in UV sunlight? How's Brava going to perform in Florida? And one of my favorite projects, the ESPN Sports Complex at Disney, it's had Bravo Barrel Tile- 

Heidi Ellsworth: Oh, I love it. 

Frank Bermudez: ... on there nearly 20 years. And if you go take one of our barrel tile, today it's a color called pine green, if you put it next to it today, it looks almost exactly the same. There's a slight fade to it, but very little. You can't tell from the ground, you have to get up, take pictures. And so I'm proud to say we are performing in the market. We don't have fade issues, we don't have breakage issues during hurricanes, heavy rainfall, hail. So we are a Class 4 impact resistant, as are most synthetic products. And so we perform. We actually challenge the industry and say, hey, we wish that there was a Class 5 or a Class 6 or even 8. We know we outperform even Class 4 impact. We've done the independent tests and so we know we outperform it. We wish there was higher standards. 

And we believe the industry, the insurance industry specifically, is going to push for those things. They're wanting to see more hardened products. We just did an event yesterday with the Insurance Advocacy Group and Global Risk Solutions. They had underwriters, insurance owners there at the meeting listening and wanting to change the roofing market and what products are available in certain regions based on their performance. Hail, wind, hurricanes, fire, fire is important as well. So you're seeing a big uptick in synthetic shakes because natural cedar is becoming very hard to get insurance. It's a fire risk sometimes depending on the situation and the location. So the insurance companies are the ones really dictating what products that homeowners, business residents, condo associations, hotels that they're using these days. 

Heidi Ellsworth: Yeah. When you think about insurance and I've been around this for a number of years and so I really am intrigued by what you're saying about meeting with the insurance companies and really talking about what performs, because I've always been a little shocked that we would keep putting products back on that have to be replaced again in another five to seven, actually the next hail storm. That's changing. And so what are you seeing around the insurance companies? Do you see that happening where they're going to really start hopefully incentivizing to use performance-based products that will last? 

Frank Bermudez: Yeah. So I mean today they are doing that already. I always tell people, most people can put themselves in a situation with a car and a home and I say, when you have a child, they're 16, you're getting them car insurance. One of the things they ask you is, hey, are they a good student? That is a clickable discount on your car insurance. The homeowners insurance has the same things. One of the big mistakes I think homeowners make and I tell contractors, look, when you're selling jobs in a house, you need to educate them is, hey, this is a Class 4 impact resistant. Okay, check a box. That's a premium discount. This is a Class A fire rated product. Okay, check a box. That's a premium discount. This has a second full underlayment, ice and water, underneath this, it's a second barrier to prevent leaks. Okay, that's a clickable discount. 

But a lot of homeowners call and say, hey, I got a new roof. And they don't tell them all those clickable discounts because they don't necessarily know. So I always tell contractors, the best thing you can do is educate the homeowner on what those clickable discounts are because when you save them money, that's when referral business comes from them. They're happy, they refer you, you did what you said you were going to do, you were going to save them money and do a good job and be a reputable company. And so I always recommend the contractors, make sure you tell them. When that job's done and you take that final check, hey, make sure you tell your insurance these three bullet points so you can get those discounts. 

So yeah, insurance companies are absolutely giving those premium discounts. I can tell you in places like Florida, they get large hurricanes, the governing bodies and the insurance carriers are working together to make those discounts more substantial to continue to harden the home and make it more resilient to wind and wind-driven rain and hail. 

Heidi Ellsworth: When I think about it too, just overall the thought and I love how you talk about that second barrier of full ice and water, when you think about it, you don't want to lose your treasures. So whether it's insurance or whatever it may be, but especially when you're talking about hurricane. If that fails, you have water, you've lost a lot more than just a roof, you are losing everything in the home. 

Frank Bermudez: Yeah, I mean, you got drywall damage, you got paint damage, potentially floor damage. If you got wood floors or water gets underneath any kind of tile or laminate floor, you got damage there, then your cabinets are wet and now you got to replace cabinets. So it becomes a $50,000 roof to a $250,000 kitchen, bathroom remodel, flooring remodel. And so it's a big risk for the insurance companies. And I always joke and say, hey look, you put $150,000 kitchen in your house, you probably should have something on the roof protecting it that is of value that can do that. If you're putting the cheapest roof you could put on your house and the most expensive kitchen, it just doesn't add up. The risks are not good for their insurance companies. 

And so insurance companies are looking at risk factors. Like, all right, what kind of product do they have on this house? Is it a shingle? Is it a metal? Is it a concrete? Is it a clay? Is it a synthetic? And they're looking at the product and saying, what's our risk? And one, do we even want to insure them? And two, if we do, what are the premiums going to be? And so those premiums go up if the product is high risk. 

Heidi Ellsworth: Yeah, I think that's going to change the market. I mean there's been a lot that's gone on in Florida around insurance and people needing to re-roof and to do those things. But I know a lot of it is to try to get it to the point where they can, homes can survive hurricanes. And I just think about all the poor people who did have roof damage and then had the water damage inside and then had mold growing. And sometimes that mold, that totally wrecks everything in the house. 

Frank Bermudez: Yeah. Mold is nasty. It definitely wrecks everything. A lot of people have to move out. If you get mold bad enough, you got to move out and move into a hotel. And now the insurance company's not only paying for the remodel, they're paying for you to be in a hotel. And some people just don't have the coverages for that. So they're coming out of pocket. And so that's a big problem. That's why I say the roof should be every homeowner's number one priority. If you don't have a good roof, everything else underneath it is subject to damage. 

Heidi Ellsworth: Well, we know that Dade County has some of the strongest building codes in the country. But what are you seeing regulation-wise changes that are happening in Florida and throughout the Southeast around this? I loved when you said earlier we would like to be a Class 8 for hail and wind speeds. What are some of the things you're seeing regulatory-wise throughout the Southeast that people should be aware of? 

Frank Bermudez: Yeah, so for example, you had mentioned Dade County. Dade County is one of the strictest places in the United States code-wise. But the state of Florida has surpassed that. I can tell you if you have a product that's Florida product approval, it is surpassed Dade County's requirements today. Now, Dade may adjust that. But today a Florida product approval is actually, I won't say more valuable, but it outperforms what Dade County is requesting today. So there are some things that Dade County doesn't request that Florida product approvals now do request. So they supersede, now in Florida you no longer as a manufacturer need a Miami-Dade because the Florida product approvals supersede the Miami-Dade because they are higher standards. That's today. That will change, right? Dade is going to keep stricting things up. Florida's they've created these high wind velocity zones where you can't put a product that doesn't perform over 150, 160 mile per hour winds. And so there's different velocity zones that they've put into the state depending on how prone they are to damage from hurricanes and based on history that they have. So you have that. 

You also have areas that are making people put more impact resistant from a hail standpoint in different places throughout the country. So you are getting more and more of that... I don't know if you remember when that towers collapsed down in Surfside, down by Miami. 

Heidi Ellsworth: Yeah. 

Frank Bermudez: And so these condominiums are having to do inspections on the structural of it. And a lot of that comes down to weight. What kind of weight is on this building and structurally can it hold it? And so when you have, for example, a concrete tile that's close to 1,000 pounds per square dry and it gets in absorbed in water. And so they're having to take some of that weight off the building, a product like Bravo or synthetic product that is lightweight but performs to the high winds and high impacts is a great solution for those types of condominiums. 

So we do a lot of large condominium projects here in Florida because of that. It is driven people to say, hey, we're tired of the maintenance, the mold, mildew cleaning. We're tired of cracked tile repairs. Golf courses are often using us. And so you're seeing the codes do it, you're seeing the insurance company also tighten up on what they'll insure. And you hear people talking like, hey, the insurance company's in Florida are only insuring shingles for 10 to 12 years or concrete for 15 to 20 years. They didn't just make those numbers up, they're seeing where they're failing at and they're coming out with a statistic and then they're saying, hey, we're not going to be on the hook for this roof. And so they're forcing other products to be used in the market. 

So metal and synthetic have been a beneficiary of those new codes and new insurance regulations coming in. We are both benefiting. Metal does very well in wind and hurricanes and so does synthetics. The one thing that I love about synthetics, we don't break, we don't crack, we don't dent and we don't rust. So that we have that one advantage over a metal. But metal does a excellent job as well during high winds. And really during high winds, people, in a hurricane they're not worried about denting necessarily. They're more worried about keeping the water out, that's the biggest thing. And so metal does do that for people and synthetics does it as well, but without the denting. 

You'll see, I think in the Southeast, a large amount of metal increase and a large amount of synthetic increase more and more. We've already seen it. At Bravo, our growth since I've started here is more than 10X in our region. And metal, I'm assuming, is doing similar based on what I see in the market. 

Heidi Ellsworth: Yeah, it's about performance products. That's what we're seeing across the board. It's about performance products that can last that are durable. And then when you add in the environmental using recycled material, that takes it just one step further because there is just a demand for that. 

Frank Bermudez: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, people want, I mean, they care about the environment. They want to make sure they're not filling landfills. And fortunately for us, a lot of our competitors go to landfills. So people are considering that now and switching to a synthetic product like Bravo. We do have advantage in the South because there's a lot of barrel tile and Bravo is essentially the only barrel tile synthetic manufacturer in the market. So we have a huge advantage there, but we do make the slate and shake like the other manufacturers as well. 

Heidi Ellsworth: Yeah. So when you put all of that together... But I think the other element that is so important, I want to talk about this a little bit with your experience as a contractor, manufacturer's rep, sales, regional manager, is that the importance of that relationship between the manufacturer and the contractors and really having that strong relationship that they know they can trust? Talk a little bit about that and kind of Bravo's philosophies on working with the contractors. 

Frank Bermudez: Absolutely. So I always say, I was a contractor, I was a distributor rep, manufacturer rep, so I've done all three and I'd say the most important thing as a contractor is your relationship with your partners, including your distributor and your manufacturer. Because if that isn't there, sometimes warranties become a problem. There are a lot of companies that have verbiage in their warranties that protect them. And so if you don't have that relationship, I always say the warranty is as good as your relationship with the manufacturer. 

So at Bravo, our number one important thing is our relationship with our... We tell people all the time, we are a relationship based company. I always say, look, we feel today Bravo makes the best, most durable, energy efficient, aesthetically pleasing product in the industry. But someday somebody may make something better than us, somebody may come up with, I would say, a better mousetrap than us. But at the end of the day, relationships is what important to us. And so if our customer service is there, they're not going to look at another product, they're going to want to do business with people who take care of them. 

And we have a large team that is growing every day at Bravo. We generate leads for our contractors. We constantly have touch points with our contractors. We do marketing for our contracts. We make sure that their marketing is on point. We help them with all things to grow their business. We say our biggest thing is grow with Bravo. We want you to grow with us. We don't want Bravo just to grow, we want you and our contractors to grow with us. So that growth in supporting your contractors is number one. 

So the relationship with the manufacturer is the most important thing. I mean the product you choose, I always say is second. Your relationship with your contractor, not your contractor, but your manufacturer is the most important thing I think you can have in the industry. 

Heidi Ellsworth: Yeah, I do too. I do too. I've been on many sides of this myself, working for manufacturers, working with contractors and that relationship, it also, just like we're talking about here, it gets you on the front end of what's hot, what's happening, what's trending and then they have your back when it comes to warranties and installation and training and all of the support that goes into it, is so important. 

So on that point, one of the things I'd like to hear... A lot of things happen in Florida and we've talked about the weather and the regulations and everything like that. What are some of the architectural trends that you're seeing? Because you have so many different architectural profiles, you have some, I mean, just really cool looking products. What are some of the architectural trends you're seeing that it's kind of spreading through the Southeast into the rest of the country? 

Frank Bermudez: So the Southeast is unique. So I always say Florida, it was a large barrel tile state. A lot of that, I call it Spanish or Mediterranean look barrel tile. And what we're seeing is the market is moving towards a modern look of a flat/slate tile. And so our slate is growing drastically in the state of Florida. As I said, we have some new products coming out maybe that will also meet some of those trends. And so we're working on some things there, but the market is going more flat. 

And I think part of the thought process is not just aesthetically, but it's also performance wise. So they look at a barrel tile and say, hey, essentially that S-tile has a wind tunnel underneath it and we have high winds. And so they're looking for products that sit flat on the deck, that give that home a more modern look. And so we're a lot of slate. But, our cedar shake look is our number one seller throughout the whole United States and the Southeast is a large area that pushes it. And so not necessarily in all areas in Florida, but the East Coast to Florida, I always say from West Palm up to Melbourne, Vero Beach, large cedar shake market. And then when you get south into Naples, Marco Island, a lot of cedar shake down there. 

But as you push north into Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, very large cedar shake markets, a lot of cedar shakes sold there, even in the Alabama and Tennessee markets. So a lot of that mountain range has a lot of that cedar shake look and it's a gorgeous looking product that is durable, doesn't have the maintenance of natural cedar, don't have the rot and mildew and cleaning that needs to happen. So it's a great looking product. So architect-wise we're seeing a lot of specifications on flat products. 

Heidi Ellsworth: That makes a lot of sense. I think about all those profiles because I love the cedar shakes too, coming from the mountains of Oregon and really looking at that. So I just got to ask you because I'm always so curious about this. What are some of your hottest colors? What are the colors in the different... And are you seeing some more of the mixing of colors? 

Frank Bermudez: So I would say 2024 the trend was going dark, grays, blacks, mixtures of grays. So we do some great blended colors that have some grays, blacks. We also had, in South Florida and even into the Caribbean we had a large mix of white slate being done. We did a large project in Venice, Florida that was 4,000 squares of slate white that turned out gorgeous. So we're seeing some of that white and then that gray. 

So the exterior of the homes are either going white with black trims and black or gray roof or they're going dark with lighter roofs. And so we're seeing a lot of that very dark or very light trend. The in-between shades, not necessarily so much. 

Florida, you would think like a color like our antique clay or Tuscan clay, those orangish, reddish barrel tile would be our number one. But even in our barrel tile form, black-brown blend, which is a blend color of black and brown, became our number one seller in Florida last year. So I've seen a lot of that dark trend in Florida. 

Heidi Ellsworth: Very cool. Very cool. I love that. 

Frank Bermudez: And they look gorgeous. The colors are gorgeous. The dark colors look gorgeous. I just did a multi-width slate on my personal house of a color called Washington, which is a black-gray with a little bit of purple and green blended in it. 

Heidi Ellsworth: Oh, pretty. 

Frank Bermudez: And my neighbor next door still thinks I bought a real slate roof. He's like, man, you paid a lot. I didn't even tell him it's a synthetic. He still thinks it's real slate. 

Heidi Ellsworth: I love it. That's what you want. There you go. 

Frank Bermudez: Absolutely. 

Heidi Ellsworth: I love it. So for the contractors out there who are listening to this and all the contractors, how can they get involved? How can they start adding Bravo to their product offerings? 

Frank Bermudez: Absolutely. So we have a great team that number one does training, but I would reach out to your local rep or just go to BravoRoofTile.com. There's always a little box that pops up. Bravo is a very generous company. We ship samples to the tune of 250 to 300 samples per day out to customers that want to see our product. It's an investment, they want to see what it looks like and we ship them. So you can go on there, request a sample. When you do request sample, your local rep will reach out to you if you don't want to reach out to them. So we'll reach out to you. We have a contractor program, like I said, that helps them with marketing, helps them grow their business with Brava. And so they can reach out to us on our website, it's just BravoRoofTile.com request a sample or they can go to the place says find your local rep and they can also get our phone numbers right there online as well. 

Heidi Ellsworth: Well, I have to tell you, locally in Oregon here, my brother-in-law was looking at Brava for some siding on his house. And Greg, our awesome rep, came out, visited with us, we got some samples. So I can attest it works great and it's a great company to get involved with who really do have your back. 

Frank Bermudez: Absolutely. So like I said, that's our number one thing to make sure we have our contractors' back. We support them and we're here for them. We have a team of people that will help them any step through the process. And I will say, I believe we have one of the best training programs there is out there. I mean, we get our contractors trained up from an install and sales platform, so we make sure both sides of it they understand because there's nobody who wants the roof installed properly more than Brava. 

Heidi Ellsworth: That's right. That's true. I love it. I love it. Well, thank you so much, Frank. It's been so good to see you again. Hopefully I'll see you at some shows coming up here. 

Frank Bermudez: I will be in San Antonio and out in Vegas, so I'm sure I'll run into you at one of them. 

Heidi Ellsworth: I'm sure I will see you there too. For everyone listening, please check out the Brava directory on RoofersCoffeeShop. You can get all this information plus see some beautiful projects and find out how you can get your hands on those samples and get some training to add Brava to your product offering. One more time, Frank, thank you so much for being here today. 

Frank Bermudez: Thank you for having me. I appreciate it. 

Heidi Ellsworth: Have a great day and thank you everyone for being here. Please check out all of our podcasts under the Read Listen Watch navigation on RoofersCoffeeShop or on your favorite podcast channel. Be sure to subscribe and set those notifications so you don't miss a single episode. We will be seeing you next time on Roofing Road Trips. 

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