Jules Dekovics – Exceptional Metals Brings Exceptional Value - PODCAST TRANSCRIPTION

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of a live interview with Jules Dekovics from Exceptional Metals. You can read the interview below or listen to the podcast.

Intro/Outro: 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 RoofersCoffeeShop. This is Heidi Ellsworth and we are here today to talk about what we talk about every summer, and that is hurricane season, but not just hurricane season, high wind event. I mean, we're seeing them everywhere, whether it's around tornadoes, hurricanes, straight line winds. It's kind of crazy. So we asked our friends at EXCEPTIONAL Metals to join us to talk about this and how important that performance of the roof is. So Jules Dekovics is here today and he is going to help us understand what's happening up there on the roof around wind events. Jules, welcome to the show.

Jules Dekovics: Thanks for having me. Glad to participate.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: It is great. Well, before we get into some of these interesting questions around everything that's going on with the weather and wind, can you introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about EXCEPTIONAL Metals?

Jules Dekovics: Sure. I'm Jules Dekovics. I am the National Sales Manager for EXCEPTIONAL Metals. We as EXCEPTIONAL Metals have facilities around the country to be able to service nationally. We do a plethora of different products from standing seam, perimeter metals, custom fabrication. You name it when it comes to metal, we get involved. And we're, again, happy to be here and help out with this.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: I love it. I'm so glad to have you here today. With everything that's happening out there, we're just hearing it in the weather, in the news every day. And hurricane season, thank goodness, a little slow, although what we just saw with Dora. I would love it if you could maybe share some of your recommendations on how contractors can prepare for either hurricane season or other large wind events.

Jules Dekovics: Yeah, happy to do that. First and foremost, one of the things that we preach at EXCEPTIONAL Metals is safety. I mean, nothing comes before that. It's our number one thing that we go through every day. So we preach that, whether it be in our facilities, on the roof, wherever it might be. So that is the first thing that our roofers and folks that are involved with this need to be careful of because everyone should go home at night. That's kind of the way we look at it.

So that being said, the roofers, when they go out to these events, post-event specifically, it's very important that they're checking the roof out before they get on it. They have all their safety gear. All those types of things are really important to make sure, again, that everybody is safe going through this. Prior to it, I mean, there's a couple of things people should do that we encourage. If the roofer has, let's say contractors that they're working with open jobs, make sure they're talking to them. Let them know what's going on. Let them know what they can and can't do pre and post the event. That's really important so the expectation is set, because things are very hard and there's a lot of challenges when these types of things happen.

It's real important that they make sure that they get all the information about these projects and what's going on, have them somewhere that they can access at any given time, whether it be on a PDA or something of that nature, an iPad, whatever it may, just be able to access that stuff. So not knowing if you're going to have power or not have power, those kinds of things, it's going to be important that you can get to what you need to as you evaluate the situation.

The other thing too, have materials stocked, whether it be tarps, maybe membrane on the single ply side. Make sure you have materials that you can do some emergency work with. That's super important. The other thing, going back to the safety piece of it, if you have projects you're working on and that you're well aware of that have skylights, cover them up because those will break first. Those will allow the wind in, which causes a lot more damage as well. And it's obviously a safety factor as well. So those are probably the most important things I can see from the contractor standpoint.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: And EXCEPTIONAL Metals is well-known for its amazing relationships with its contractors. And so same thing, great contractors who are working with home and building owners out there, what are some of the things that you would recommend the contractors say to their homeowners or to their building owners to be aware of when it comes to the roof and preparing either. It may just be right now, what kind of roofs should they be having to be able to withstand those kind of winds, but also if you hear the hurricanes are coming. There's kind of a couple different levels there.

Jules Dekovics: Right, right. Well, the most important thing that I would say that they should be saying to their customers is we want to inspect your roof. It's really important that the roofs are inspected so that we know that they're on there properly. Make sure that gutters and downspouts are cleaned off. There's no debris on the roofs. Trees, let's say, that are close to buildings that could fall on them, check them for weakness if you can. Again, I would even encourage the homeowners or building owners to have tarps. Most of the time we know these things are coming well in advance, aside from a tornado, which is a popup type of thing, but hurricanes, typically, we know that it's coming. So securing things around your building, whether benches, tables, chairs, whatever it might be. And probably one of the most important things to do would be to check through your insurance policy. Know what's covered. This way, it becomes a little bit easier as the aftermath happens, and we always hope for the least of it, but you got to know what you're covered for. So those are probably the main things, I would say.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: I mean, how many times do we actually look at our insurance policy after the fact and like, "Oh no." So you're right. Doing that ahead of time, ahead of the season, just making sure you're in a good spot, really important, and then you're also going to be faster to get taken care of afterwards. Okay. Let's talk about codes. Because really when it comes down to it, the buildings that are not meeting code that have not taken the time to the most important, the edge perimeter, making sure everything is working right, they are going to be the ones that are in the biggest trouble when it comes to a wind event. So can you talk to us a little bit about to the contractors of the importance of really understanding the code and making sure that these buildings are going to perform?

Jules Dekovics: Yeah, you just said it. I mean, the typical failure point for a roof is going to be your perimeter systems, your corners. I mean, those are the typical fail points. So when you're doing these inspections, those are the places to really take a good look at. And when you're in the design phase, say on the installation, to make sure that everything that is being done is ES-1 compliant, which is the huge standard now. It's required in national building code. And for those who don't really know what it is, it's a edge system testing standard that has been put together by the American National Standard Institute, and it's a nonprofit type of thing. So this isn't somebody trying to make money. It's actually a put together of a group of roofers, manufacturers, all those kinds of things, designers, that kind of thing, that have come up with these standards and a lot of people that are doing these systems, you got to make sure that you have that testing.

The concern that we always have is when you have folks that are buying perimeter metals and those corners and that kind of stuff from somebody that may not be as educated on it, may not have that type of testing or the capability to do it, and that's when you put yourself at risk. So the testing is huge. You take a look at, let's talk about Florida, we're talking about hurricanes. So the Florida testing standards are the most stringent in the country. So a lot of the testing that most companies do these days is going to go based on that type of standard, the high wind, high velocity type of testing. So that's huge. And now we're also at the point where we're doing testing, it's called GT-1, for the gutter systems, the gutter and downspout systems, to take a look at the pressures on how wind is going to run up a building and stress that perimeter edge, which again, would be the beginning of failure if it's going to fail.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah, I mean, those kind of, and I love what you said, it's about the industry coming together to make sure that we have the best performance out there and that we're protecting our customers. And that ES-1 and GT-1, I keep hearing more and more about that and how important it is. So to really be able to know that the industry is coming together to make things safer, I don't know. I love it. And you have a number of new products that you've just brought out or that you're in the process of bringing out. So I would love to hear about those.

Jules Dekovics: Yeah, we're in the middle right now of a new branding campaign for EXCEPTIONAL Metals as we expand our footprint across the country and our contractor base to be able to offer things. So we're adding products, we're adding testing along with that, going along with what we're talking about here. I mean, the testing piece of it, we want to make sure we're compliant and providing the best product and the most tested product that we can to the contractors for that peace of mind that they need when they make that phone call to EXCEPTIONAL Metals. So at this point now, you're going to start seeing names like our perimeter systems will be going under the name of EdgEX. So you'll see that coming out. Our standing seam line will have a DefendEX name in front of it. So we're following those kinds of things.

GuardEX is going to be our gutters and downspouts, and then our accessory systems will be BarrierEX. And as you can tell, EX, go through EXCEPTIONAL Metals. So we're hoping that everything kind of blends together as this thing starts to take off and we grow it. So it's been real exciting. Some of the things that we're adding is going to be something that's outside the norm that we've had before. We've just come out with a ice and water underlayment that's available and in stock. We expect to bring a lot more to our product lines, expand on those.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: It's exceptional. I just had to say that. Exceptional. I love it. I think the branding's great. Of course, you know I love the marketing part of it, and I think that. But you know what, it really is. And when you're talking about guarding, defending, barriers, those are all the kind of things that a roof needs to do, and especially to be able to perform in hurricanes or high wind events. And so let's talk just a little bit further about, you've got the codes, you've got the products, but you really at EXCEPTIONAL Metals offer some amazing support services that kind of take it over the top. Talk a little bit about that.

Jules Dekovics: Yeah, well, we're direct with the contractor, as you had mentioned earlier. I mean, that's our focus. So we try to come up with programs and those types of things that are going to help them not worry about their back office type stuff. So when they need help with specifications, we're going to help them write the specification. I'm looking at drawings and specs all day long. I mean, that's part of what I do. When they come up with ideas for products, we always want to look at them, something that's going to make their life easier. One thing that we're a little bit different than most is we can do our own in-house testing. So if somebody comes to us with a perimeter system that they want to use, we can actually test it and give it an ES-1 rating.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: That's great.

Jules Dekovics: So those are the kinds of things that we're trying to do. We're trying to help them with, when we get these drawings and we're trying to figure out the exposures and the local codes and those kinds of things, we try to spend the time to help them figure that all out. Because not only do they not have all the time to do this kind of stuff, there's a lot of testing and a lot of changes that happens every day in our industry, and it's our job to stay up on that, and we try to pass that along to the contractors so they can do what they do best, and that's be up on the roof and install a good roof, a safe roof, and one that's going to be protective to the owner.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah. Along that lines as you're talking about this, with all those services, that support coming behind it, there are contractors out there who are just wanting to get into metal, they want to start offering metal roofing. What is some of your advice to them to really get started?

Jules Dekovics: I guess the biggest thing is you really have to be committed because it's much different than anything else out there. Metal is very intimidating to people is what I've found through my years in the industry, and especially when you go to see somebody who wants to start up. And it's really important to make sure that you have guys that know what they're doing. Get a couple of guys, find crews and labor is a whole nother animal to talk about right now. But you want somebody who has an idea of what they're doing. Get them trained. Every manufacturer offers some sort of training in-house, on the job, whatever it might be, and make sure that they're asking questions. And especially as you're just getting off the ground, the first couple jobs, we like to be very close to our contractors with those jobs so that we can help them through it. Because it's real simple to give somebody a drawing and say, "Do this," until you get out in the field and you get up on that roof and the roof isn't exactly what you thought it was.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Right.

Jules Dekovics: So those are the kinds of things that are really important when you go out to these roofs and you measure them. There's a lot of things to check out before you actually get up there and do it. The other thing I would recommend is don't always trust the drawings. You can't get the panel stretcher out there and add one inch to the panel because the drawing said it was 20 foot, but it's 20 foot one. And those two things, it's very important to get out and do your field measurements and not always trust the EagleViews, the drawings because it's not always the same.

So stuff like that are the little tricks that we try to help people with. And the whole industry does. I mean, there's a couple of associations. I mean, Metal Construction Association, [inaudible 00:16:31], Roofing Alliance. I mean, there's a lot of great organizations out there that offer help in support of companies like ours. And obviously, you well know we support all of them, and we try to be active and we want to be active with our roofers as well. So we want to gain the knowledge and pass it on to them.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: I love what you're saying too just about training. I think MCA and MRA, they all, well, MCA especially has a lot of great continuing education. So does MRA. I mean Metal Roofing Alliance. And so there's a lot of training out there that is going on and then working with your team to get trained and to know how to measure twice, cut once, the old adage. But it's the ability to use technology well, but then also to double-check and to really know what's going on on the job site I think is super important. I mean, that's a really great tip, and we're seeing a lot more of that happening as it's going along. So as we're looking at these contractors out there and how do they, Jules, get in touch with you and how do they get involved with some of these new great products or rebranded products?

Jules Dekovics: Well, our website's always a great place to start where you can kind of peruse and take a look at some of the things that we have, and you're going to continue to see updates to that. We're in the process of setting up a contractor portal that as once you get certified with us, you'll be able to get in there. There'll be drawings for you, there'll be a lot of details, a lot of the stuff you need for submittals, stuff of that nature, are going to be available at your fingertips. Calling us is always a great avenue as well. You're always going to get a person. We are not one of those robotic companies. You will get a person.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Love it.

Jules Dekovics: And they're going to give you all the help they possibly can. I mean, the one thing, and I have a contractor background myself, so I know a lot of guys are on the roof all day and they're doing their quotes at night. That's when I did them. That's the time that you have. So you have to have this information available, and we're trying to be more of the just-in-time-when-you-need-it type of company. And we're working towards that every day.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: It's perfect. Perfect. I agree. I mean, 24/7, you never know. I mean, there's a lot of people like me who get up way early in the morning and no one's up. So you want to be able to get online and get that information. So that's great. And just to all of the contractors and all the folks out there, as we do go into hurricane season, just anything you need, we're going to be constantly trying to bring that from EXCEPTIONAL Metals, from RoofersCoffeeShop, from MetalCoffeeShop to help you prepare to be able to get the resources that you need to not only provide hurricane resistant roofing upfront, but also then to help take care of it after these events. So Jules, thank you so much for your time today and your expertise.

Jules Dekovics: I appreciate the opportunity to speak with y'all.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: It's awesome. And thank you all for listening. We love this kind of stuff. We're going to keep bringing it to you. Please check out the EXCEPTIONAL Metals directory on both RoofersCoffeeShop and MetalCoffeeShop, great information and exactly how you can get ahold of them too. So it makes it very easy right there. Plus all of their articles, videos, so much great stuff that can help you and your business. Be sure to also check out all of our podcasts under the Read Listen Watch navigation under Roofing Road Trips, or 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.

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