Corynn Sheridan & Kyle Nurminen - No Coastal Restrictions for Metal? Find out how! - PODCAST TRANSCRIPTION

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of a live interview with Corynn Sheridan of DuPont Tedlar and Kyle Nurminen of Total Roofing Systems. You can read the interview below or listen to the podcast. 

Speaker 1: Welcome to Roofing Road Trips with Heidi. Explore the roofing industry through the eyes of a long-term professional within the trade. Listen for insights, interviews, and exciting news in the roofing industry today.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Hello and welcome to another Roofing Road Trips from Roofer's Coffee Shop. This is Heidi Ellsworth and I am heading East to the coast to visit with the experts in metal in Roofing. I'm telling you, this is literally, we're talking to Total Roofing Systems, The Metal Roof Experts with Kyle Nurminen and Corynn Sheridan from DuPont Tedlar. And we're going to be talking about metal roofing right on the beach. So cool. I am really excited. Welcome to both of you to the show.

Corynn Sheridan: Thanks for having us.

Kyle Nurminen: [inaudible 00:00:49] having us.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Kyle, you and I were just talking about this. And I've had people say, "Oh no, you can't do that. You can't build right on the beach. You can't have metal roofing on the beach." And I was kind of going, "Oh yeah, you can." I mean, this is all new of what's going on, so I'm really excited to talk about this. Let's start with introductions. So Kyle, if you can introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about your company.

Kyle Nurminen: My name's Kyle Nurminen. I've been in the industry for going on 20 years. I have a strong background in portfolio management, premium accounts and commercial accounts. So I've spent some duration working in restorative coatings in the past and proactive maintenance. And one of my underlying passions has always been metal, and especially since I've been here in Florida since 2006 and seen the way metal performs down here. I finally found myself landed here at Total Roofing Systems, a company that's been in the metal business for 25 years here in southeast Florida. We're headquartered in Stuart and we have a West Palm Beach branch as well, and working on establishing one in southwest Florida at this time. We pretty much cover from the keys all the way up to Orlando. And in 2018 we finally actually incorporated our slogan, The Metal Roof Experts, into our company name. So we are now officially The Metal Roof Experts, Total Roofing Systems.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: I love it. I love it. I mean, everyone knows when they see the name of your company. And I just have to say, Kyle, I love the Keys. I love the Keys, so I'll just have to come down and see some of your projects there. That's all there is to it. Corynn, welcome back. Man, we love having you on Roofing Road Trips. If you could introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about Tedlar and DuPont.

Corynn Sheridan: Of course. My name's Corynn Sheridan. I'm the Marketing Director for DuPont Tedlar. So DuPont is 200 plus year olds chemical and materials company with many products serving the building envelope. But Tedlar is a over 60 year old product that is a polyvinyl fluoride film or PVF film. So in metal roofing, it essentially takes the place of a roof paint. So whether using a Kynar system, FEVE, any of those other chemistries, the PVF film would replace that with a breath of performance characteristics that outperform any other coating on the market. But Tedlar's been used all over the world in various applications ranging from aerospace, public transportation, graphics and signage, healthcare, pretty much anywhere you need stainproof, self cleaning, durability, Tedlar is there.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah, I mean it is such an amazing product. I would love for you just to kind of go a little bit deeper too on the Tedlar film technology. What is it and why is it just performing to such a high level? I mean it's really revolutionizing the metal industry.

Corynn Sheridan: Yeah, so it is a fluoropolymer, which is similar to PVDF or the Kynar paints that most people are familiar with, but the chemistry is a little different. So it has better chemical resistance and better flexibility, those are the primary benefits that the film is bringing. So the chemical resistance basically resists corrosion at a really, really high level. So you're going to see that in metal roofing right by the coastline. It is not going to corrode even in those really, really demanding environments. It's also used in industrial environments for metal roofing and walls inside of chemical plants, acid pickling plants, those sorts of environments where the materials pretty much get thrown away after a year or two and replaced because of the high level of corrosion. Tedlar is able to double, triple, 4x the lifespan of those metal panels.

And the flexibility is huge because it doesn't crack at any bend. So when you're fabricating panels, this Tedlar is going to stay strong across even the tightest bends. And that's a function of A, the PVF chemistry, but also it being a film versus a coating. We manufacture it, we stretch it in every direction, so we know that it's got optimal mechanical properties and it can bend to anything, protecting the metal at all your tight bends.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Wow. Okay. Well, so I'm really excited today cause we're going to talk about a project profile of Tedlar being used on the beach on this beautiful project that's going on. So Kyle, before we launch into that project, I would love for you to share a little bit more about Total Roofing Systems, The Metal Roof Experts, and share a little bit about some of the projects you've done in the past, really your focus on metal roofing. And so much has been happening in Florida, you guys have been hit so hard. So how are things and how is the company doing with all the hurricane damage and then bringing all this great metal roofing to the state?

Kyle Nurminen: Well, the hurricanes have actually done quite well for us as far as justifying our solutions as the best possible solution for the roofing coast. Down here, West Palm Beach, we have an inter-coastal atmosphere all the way down southeast Florida. You have saltwater directly from the ocean and you have this inter-coastal waterway. So you have this island community basically, A1A, that extends all the way down southeast Florida coastline. And the people that afford these homes out here are very proud of them and they get very creative. It's not standard roofing applications. So no matter what your background is, if you haven't roofed out in this atmosphere before, you really start getting into customization.

That's what's wonderful about metal is it's fully customizable. We're always learning about best ways to do a proper counter flashing and how to do a proper wall flashing. And there's still differences in the industry and there's still applicators that don't have that skilled trade expertise. And that's what I like so much, especially in today's economy, is the promotion of skilled trades and the future of skilled trades. And roofing in general provides that, and metal is even more of, I guess, a trophy for that really. I mean once it's done, it's done right, it's really gorgeous.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: I love metal roofs. They're so pretty and all the different colors and everything that you can do. So let's talk about this project in Selfish Point that you did. I know you and Corynn were just talking about it's a beautiful blue color. So kind of walk us through, Kyle, the project, the house, and why you decided on using Tedlar and the metal roofing you did.

Kyle Nurminen: Well, the best place to start is really kind of painting a picture of the location of this thing. We're about a hundred miles south of Port Canaveral. For those that aren't familiar with Florida, I know we're listening everywhere on a nation, but Orlando pretty much sits in the middle of the state, directly east of Port Canaveral and we're about a hundred miles south of that. We're about 50 miles north of West Palm Beach. So we're about an hour north of Fort Lauderdale, most popular area. So we are an hour right in between Fort Lauderdale and Port Canaveral. And on this waterway, this island way of A1A, at each port there's an inlet coming from the ocean. So the St Lucie Port is right where Selfish Point is. And to get there, it's really just wide enough for a road. And then it turns into this island that is surrounded by saltwater and beautiful blue. It's not even brackish, it is pure saltwater right there. And everything on this island, it's like one square mile.

So you talk about people saying you can't do metal on the island, you can do, it's just a matter of how long is it going to hold up compared to everything else that's out there. And this has been a real testing ground. We've done over a dozen homes in this community over the years and eight of them in the last two years, getting more and more popular with the metal now that we're learning that aluminum is the way to go. Stainless steel, certain ways to do certain penetrations and wall flashing and so on and so forth, what works and what doesn't.

So this particular home, the husband and wife purchased it about 20 years ago and it was about 66 square, that's 6,600 square feet. So it's not a small home. It's on a 5:12 standard pitch. It was a stone coated steel system, which was really hot back then and still remains in the market today. It comes in panels, it's a stone coated steel type of a product. It was on batons, so over the original sheathing. And all the perimeter and the valleys and flashings were tied into the rest of the building had been rotted out. Once the stone coat gets worn down, then the underlying steel gets exposed and it then begins to rust. So 20 years in this harsh environment, it's about as long as you could expect something to last out there.

And so we got a chance to remove that. And we went back, most of our competitive bids, the only competitive bids we had out there were Kynar coated .032 aluminum. The Kynar however, yes, it does typically in this harsh environment within three miles of the ocean will give us 45 year warranty on the finish, but not necessarily on a substrate. And within a half a mile on this island, you really don't get a warranty even on the finish. So when Metal Alliance came to us with their incorporation of the Tedlar option for us through Dynamic Metals, I mean we're like, "Yeah, let's learn more about this." So we called Corynn and we got in front of our whole sales team and we said this is a pretty good application here because we're going to not only have a warranty on our finish, but also the finish is so good that it actually protects the substrate. So the substrate is actually included in the warranty, which is fantastic out there.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah. Wow. So that really makes a huge difference. So to kind of finish walking through that, tell us how did the job, I mean it must have been customized, everything that you've been talking about, so kind of give us that overview of the job project.

Kyle Nurminen: You have a variance of metal roof options out there. I mean, here in Florida you have everything from a Key West style 5B, which is exposed fasteners, but you're drilling through that finish so you're affecting the panel. So the least amount of penetrations we can make in the metal panel, the greater opportunity we have to protect that substrate. So we're one of the few companies in the area, I mean there are some, but not every metal roof installer does a mechanical seam. They use what are called snap lock panels. The highest standing seam panels are called, they're snap lock options. And it's a architecture where it actually snaps over the next panel and it secures itself in place after you clip it to the substrate. The mechanical though, we have a continuous point of attachment, we actually roll the raised standing seam all the way up the length of the panel, so it gets the highest wind with standards out there on the island. So we're talking about up wind speeds up to 246 miles per hour it's designed to withstand. And design pressure is at negative 156, which exceeds Miami-Dade standards pretty much. So that's what it requires out there.

So yeah, and I think we're going to get more into the panel and I could tell you more about how it actually performed. But design-wise, that's what we went with, an inch and a half mechanical seam and then the Tedlar.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah, so you're protecting from winds, from hurricanes, from salt. I mean basically, this house is protected with this roof.

Kyle Nurminen: Yeah, yeah. And also another big problem we have down here is mildew, especially on the north facing sides of the building. So in a nice community like this, all the HOAs in southeast Florida, and that's a big problem with tile is it gets porous and it collects mildew. And then they pressure wash it and the pressure wash, sometimes you're using bleach. Some clean roof cleaners are using using bleach, and they're drying out the material and making it more brittle and more porous and so we really needed an option. Kynar for years was the go-to. But even it, the UV down here is unlike anywhere else in the country. The UV just starts chalking a paint eventually and makes it more porous and then you have to clean it and then you're taking the coating with it as you're cleaning it. So the Tedlar was all in one option for us on this one for sure.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: I love it. So Corynn, let's talk a little bit about that. No coastal restrictions on the warranty. I mean, that's huge. And then also the self-cleaning elements that Kyle was just talking about. So can you kind of talk about that performance of the Tedlar film when coded on metal roofing?

Corynn Sheridan: Yeah, absolutely. So the no coastal restrictions is all due to that chemical resistance, that corrosion resistance performance. So we know that Tedlar is going to do just fine in these really demanding environments with salt buildup, exposure to whatever is in the environment, especially right in these coastal applications. We have over 60 years of real world data showing that Tedlar does fine. So we have up to 50 year warranties within 1500 feet of the coast. The chalk and fade, everything holds right by the waterfront. Some of our oldest examples are actually in Japan, which is known as one of the most corrosive environments in the world. So those are industrial applications that were also right by the coastline. So we think of it can stand up to that, it can stand up anywhere. And we know Florida's a super demanding environment as well, so we're really excited to be growing with Kyle, his company, and various other companies in Florida that are testing the product there.

The self-cleaning attribute, so again, that's a function of the chemistry. Basically, things don't stick to it, things don't grow on it. It's very, very inert. It doesn't react with anything. So I mentioned some of the other uses of Tedlar, one of them was inside of airplanes. Back when people smoked on planes, walls would get really nasty. They would have to bleach clean them. They put Tedlar all over the side walls, it's still there today. When you touch the side wall of a plane, [inaudible 00:14:24, you're touching Tedlar on most planes. So is there for the cleanability.

Graphic signage, anti-graffiti signage, you can wash anything off of Tedlar and you can use any cleaning agent to do it. So if you're power washing, like Kyle was saying with bleach or anything, that's not going to be a problem for the Tedlar. But furthermore, it takes it kind of a step further with the self-cleaning. So most things are rinsed right off in the rain, so that could be buildup of dust, of allergens, salt, all of that's going to rinse right off the surface without any labor whatsoever. So we actually don't include a requirement for freshwater rinses. Most coatings do require a twice annual documented freshwater rinse to get that salt buildup off so it's not damaging the coating or the metal. But Tedlar does not require any maintenance like that.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Wow. Homeowners must love that.

Corynn Sheridan: Anything to make it easier. Yeah, like Kyle said, these are big, beautiful houses. I mean, this is an investment you want to protect.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah. When you think about, I mean, not just homeowners, building owners, everyone, when they cannot have to worry about that. And also with what's going on with graffiti and just other things that are happening, that makes a big difference. But I think one of the questions a lot of people have, and you talked about this a little bit earlier, Corynn, was for the film on the metal roofing, how does it perform when you're installing it, bending it, the lasting of color, everything like that? So Kyle, talk a little bit about that and what your crews think of it.

Kyle Nurminen: Yeah, that's the first thing we noticed, Heidi. I mean, we put it to the test right away and that was the first thing we noticed. Kynar is kind of like a baked on paint on the panel, and on both sides of the panel it has to be. And it really makes it quite difficult to work with, especially when you go onto a .04 aluminum or a 24 gauge steel. So .032 is easier to work with, but now with the Tedlar it's even more. And the nice thing is is Tedlar comes with a protective film on the panel, the coil comes with a protective film on it. So we roll the panel and so we do the complete install and then we have this clear film that after everything's laid perfect, our traffic's gone all over it, you don't have to worry about dropping tools on it or walking on it too much and scratching it up until we take the film off.

And when we take this protective film off, you would think that, oh, out here in a wind, out in the ocean, it's going to be a pain in the butt. It's going to get hung up. It's going to be snaggy. It's going to get caught in the wind. No, it comes off perfectly. And everywhere we hemmed it, everywhere we attached it, it doesn't get caught up. We don't have to go around, pick all little pieces of plastic out of everything. It really comes off in one wonderful piece. It is really fantastic.The color options, the matte finishes have become more popular in modern days and people are going more black. But here in Florida the matte tends attract the UV and the mildew even more. But with the Tedlar, that's not a problem. And we went with this beautiful river blue. And down here where everything's either the ocean's blue, but most of the homes are really browns and darks and then you have these green palms, this river blue just pops in this community. And it's awesome because if you've seen it from the water, it's almost like a beacon because it stands out from the water. So when you come down here, we'll take you out on the boat, you'll get to see it.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Oh yeah, I want to do that. That sounds great. So what did the homeowners say when their roof was all done? And I mean they just must have been blown away.

Kyle Nurminen: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And they're really proud of it. And it's funny. We did have a callback on a project we were concerned about. It turned out to be bird poop. It wasn't anything. And of course the next rain, just like Corynn said, the next rain just washed it away.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Self cleaning, even for bird poop. Okay.

Kyle Nurminen: Yeah. Another crazy thing is this, yes. And this is pollen season down here. We didn't think about this. We didn't think about that. Tedlar was designed, yes, obviously for shedding of the salt water and the resistance to the UV that way the color would not change. That's really important down here, 10 years down the line on a Kynar panel or any other painted panel, even sooner than 10 years, if you have a storm and a flying tile comes from a neighboring house or a palm tree hits your roof and you have to replace some panels, you're putting down brand new shiny panels and they're not going to color match. I like to use the, pardon the description, but Beverly Hillbilly's looking. And these people with these houses out there don't want that. They don't want shiny panels and dull panels.

Tedlar stays the same color throughout the duration of the finish for 45 years. So that's really important to these homeowners that if they do have damage, whether it's the neighbor's fault or the storm's fault or it's insured or not, that they can replace that panel and it's going to be a complete perfect color match. And also the pollen that is kicked up all over the neighborhood now with these dark bronze and black matte roofs that a lot of the people are putting on their modern homes, the Tedlar is bright blue and no yellow on it. The rest of the neighborhood is all yellow.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Oh my God. I love it.

Kyle Nurminen: Yeah, they love it too. The homeowners are super excited about that. That was one thing they weren't even anticipating and they can't stop their excitement.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: I love it. You said you do a lot, obviously a lot of roofing out in that neighborhood on that island and you've done other roofs, so neighbors talk. And so I'm sure they're talking about and everyone's looking at this beautiful roof. What do you see in the future?

Kyle Nurminen: Well, we obviously see more of it. That's what it's done for our business. I mean, as metal roof experts, we have to know everything that's out there. We have to stay on the forefront of the industry. Through Metal Alliance and through dynamic metals, a lot of other roofers do come to us for insight. Yes, they're competition, but you know what? There's enough business out there for everyone. Although we are the metal roof experts, we do a lot of tile because of our market. So you can't be an expert in any one field without mastering and having a secure knowledge of all the rest of the options so you can give those comparisons to your customers. We're always checking with everybody else in our industry and we're always comparing notes. And it's really ultimately, how can we best service the South Florida community in everything that we do? And there's advantages and disadvantages to every system. And Tedlar has been stepping up to really take away a lot of the disadvantages of metal in Southeast Florida, and we're honored to be a part of it.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah, talk about a huge innovation and change. Even though it's not a current innovation, it is innovating the metal roofing. So Corynn, how do contractors get involved? How can they get in on installing Tedlar metal panels?

Corynn Sheridan: Yeah, absolutely. Well check out our directory on Roofer's Coffee Shop. We've got tons of information and videos there. You can request samples through there of the film itself. And you can reach out to our partners, Metal Alliance, that Kyle's been talking about for samples laminated to metal for their full color range and to order supplies. So certainly any test data, we have robust Miami-Dade testing. We have the longest warranties on the market. All of that is available through Metal Alliance.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah. And that's important for homeowners, for homeowners not only to be able to see the testing know, because Floridians know. They know the hurricanes are coming, they know what they're dealing with and so to have that kind of information is a big deal. But I think also to be able to see companies like The Metal Roof Experts and what the success you're having, Kyle, that makes a huge difference. And so thank you for that saying, "Hey, let's talk. Let's all get on the same boat here." That's great.

Corynn Sheridan: Yeah, absolutely. It's a change for the industry, right? So it's really important to have great partners like Kyle and his colleagues that are able to really educate the downstream market about what's kind of the latest and greatest in roofing and advocate for metal roofing, especially in these environments where it is the best material.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: That is amazing. Well, thank you both. Thank you for sharing this story, sharing this project and the technology of Tedlar and what it's doing for homeowners and building owners. The safety, the protection, everything goes along with this and of course coming from Metal Alliance. So Kyle, thank you so much for being on this Roofing Road Trip.

Kyle Nurminen: Thanks for having me, Heidi. Been a pleasure.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: I love it. And Corynn, I know we're going to see you back again. We love having you on Roofing Road Trip, so thank you much so much.

Corynn Sheridan: Always glad to be here. Yeah, thank you.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: And please everybody out there, go to the DuPont Tedlar directory. You can find all the information, you can get to their website. We have case studies, other podcasts. I mean, there's so much great content that you can use when you're talking to your home and building owners and really talking about how to protect their homes from not just the high winds that we talked about with the type of systems that Kyle's putting on, but from salt, from pollen, from graffiti, you name it. This is where you can really take it to the next level on the coastlines and everywhere. So thank you so much for being here today. Thank you for listening. Be sure to check out all of our podcasts under the read, list and watch navigation under Roofing Road Trips, and on your favorite podcast channel. Be sure to subscribe and set those notifications so you don't miss a single episode. We'll be seeing you next time on Roofing Road Trips.

Speaker 1: Make sure to subscribe to our channel and leave a review. Thanks for listening. This has been Roofing Road Trips with Heidi from the rooferscoffeeshop.com.