The case for composite

By Emma Peterson. 

Learn how offering composite roofing transformed these businesses into multi-million-dollar successes. 

When most homeowners think about roofing, they picture a traditional asphalt shingle. But that is just one of the many different material and product offerings available in today's roofing market! In this Read Listen Watch® (RLW), Heidi J. Ellsworth sat down to talk to Mike Heiland of Heiland Roofing and Exteriors, Andrew Prchal of Gunner Roofing and Mark Pagel of DaVinci Roofscapes to talk about a better option – composite roofing. 

Composite roofing products are made from a blend of various materials, including recycled plastics, rubbers and asphalts. While designed to look like natural materials (wood, tile, slate, etc.), it is more durable, more fire resistant and has lower maintenance needs than those it mimics. DaVinci is an industry leader in pioneering this segment of the market and offers the greatest selection of colors, tile thickness and tile width variety. Mike, who has worked with DaVinci since 2020, shared a bit about the company’s work. He explained, “We put a good product, the best product that we feel is out there in this category on the market. We're just looking for ways to enhance that product line and increase our capacity so that we can just make more and get more product out into their hands so they can make more money being contractors and doing the excellent work that they do.” 

And composite can help more than just the homeowners who have it installed. When Andrew and his brother founded Gunner back in 2018, they knew they wanted to serve their customers the best way they could, and for them that means diving into training for composite products. Andrew explained, “Before we actually installed our first roof, we dove into training, not only with our company but our crews and making sure that they understood everything that went into it. And once we had that down, composite allowed us to be more efficient...As much as we love our work, we still have to make money and provide for not only ourselves, but the people that work with us and the people that work on the roofs. So, becoming more efficient ultimately helps that.” 

Andrew and Gunner are not the only ones who have found composite is one of the best ways to serve their customers. Mike has been working with DaVinci and installing composite for over three decades and now has a multi-million-dollar business. He shared a bit about how Heiland Roofing got there, sharing, “Back in '99 is when DaVinci kind of got everything rolling. And just within that timeframe, I'd say late 1999 to early 2000s, I became knowledgeable about the product and reached out through a distributor and somewhat began a friendship with John Humphreys and Tim Gentry just asking them questions and trying to check into what they were developing...so when they came out with their first composite, we were invited up to their facility to actually go through some installation and some training and everything like that.”  

After going through training, Mark and his team began to install composite, and the rest is history. He shared, “People loved the look, and it was just really neat to see DaVinci take it, that the initial product compared to what they have now, it's pretty amazing how it's just developed and grown... I even put it on my house, on my own roof. That speaks for itself. That's how much of a believer I was and am.” 

Read the transcript, Listen to the full episode or Watch the recording to learn more about the power of DaVinci composite roofing.