LIVE From IIBEC 2025 with Tubos! - PODCAST TRANSCRIPT

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of a live interview with Kevin Morris and Rob Banar of Tubos. You can read the interview below or watch the recording.

Karen Edwards: Hello everyone and welcome back to the Roofers Coffee Shop sound stage. We are at IBC 2025. My name is Karen Edwardand I am sitting here with Rob and Kevin and I Welcome, good morning. It's great to see you guys. 

Kevin Morris: Thank you. Good to see you again. 

Karen Edwards: Yeah. So for those watching out there, I'd like you to start, Rob, just introduce yourself, tell everybody who you are and what you do. 

Rob Banar: Alright. My name's Rob Banar. I'm with SSR Smith Seman Reed. I'm on the consulting side of the industry. Um, previously an owner's rep and a manufacturer's rep. So been around here for quite some time. 

Karen Edwards: Excellent. And Kevin? 

Kevin Morris: I'm Kevin Morris with Turbo's Vent Extensions and, uh, also working with PBA Design and Howard Piper doing some consulting on the side. 

Karen Edwards: Welcome. Now, Kevin, you just, for those who maybe don't know what turbo's extensions are, please give us a quick, 

Kevin Morris: Quick rundown 

Karen Edwards: Elevator 

Kevin Morris: Pitch. 

Karen Edwards: Yeah, 

Kevin Morris: Basically it's a vent pipe extension for, uh, mostly flat roofs, but whenever you raise up your roof line with insulation, lightweight, whatever, for a reroof job, you have to raise up all your pipes. And, uh, so we came out with a prefabricated double-sided pipe extension and you just insert it in, raise it up to the height you need, cut it off and then you have your height and flash it accordingly. Take about two to three minutes, quick and easy. 

Karen Edwards: Nice. And so Rob, I'm curious to hear from you how you learned about Kevin and OSes and how it's helped you. 

Rob Banar: So I met Kevin, uh, pretty much at the ground floor when he started OSes. Uh, both of us were starting our careers pretty early, uh, in the manufacturing side. So they, uh, provide a lot of great solutions. It's, uh, easy as an owner's rep. I use TPAs a lot for solving old problems. I found a lot of cases where events were leaking and when we cut into them for exploratory, uh, investigation, we found that the no hub couplings were failing. So we cut them out and replace 'em with the two bow vent pipe extensions and solve a lot of problems by utilizing them. And so on the contracting side, you know, making sure that the contracts are using a, a long-term solution that'll work on the front end instead of having to come back and fix a problem. So. 

Karen Edwards: Right. 

Rob Banar: It's, uh, it's been a great solution in my career. 

Karen Edwards: Yeah, yeah. And that's interesting because what you said you were using it for wasn't really the intent when you developed it. Right. It was really just to raise it. But you said the couplings were failing. 

Rob Banar: Correct. So the, the contractors have previously used no hub couplings, just a piece of rubber with some, uh, hose clamps or they would use, uh, stainless inserts and just try to makeshift an extension. But the way the tub bows is designed, even if there's something that's not installed perfectly, it, the water's gonna run beyond the opening in the pipe. So it's gonna go into the plumbing system in instead of the roofing system. So use it on, I've used it on both sides, the installation and the, uh, problem solving. 

Karen Edwards: Yeah, yeah. No, that's really cool. I like anytime, you know, I, I love your story because you know, you had a problem, you developed a solution, it works so well that, you know, you've created a company and have taken it into the market and it's great to, to hear from others how it's been helpful to you. 

Kevin Morris: Yeah, 16 years now. Uh, speaking of other areas that we weren't really targeting, uh, we've also had contractors come to us and say that they've used them to, if the drains are too low and we're not selling it or taking that angle, but they have raised up the, the plumbing stacks as well just to get the drains up higher. 

Karen Edwards: Oh, nice. 

Kevin Morris: So that was another angle that we hadn't thought of. 

Karen Edwards: Yeah. Yeah. It, it's, uh, the creativity out there sometime in problem solving is really cool. 

Kevin Morris: Roofers are the most creative out there, they get the job done. 

Karen Edwards: Yeah. Now, Kevin, you have ventured into the consulting side of the business as well. Can you talk a little bit about that? 

Kevin Morris: Yeah, it's, um, a friend of mine, Howard Piper, with PBA Design, um, came across a very large contract with McDill. And so we're, we're out there just kind of, uh, going over all of the hurricane damage. Um, you know, Florida was hit pretty good, so we're just deciding on whether it can be repaired or replaced. So we're going through and doing full reports on scope of work that needs to be done. But, uh, it's, it's nice to get, you know, a little bit of both sides, you know, from the manufacturing and the and the consulting. And we're running across our original two bows that we used to make really, because they were all white pipes. So you can actually tell the difference. So a lot of the old ones that are 12, 13, 14 years old or we're fighting on the job and how, how do they look? Well, they're still working. They're not leaking. We've never had a leak in 16 years, never had a warranty issue. Um, matter of fact, the dolphin that I'm staying at, looking out the window down on the roof, there's two bows on the roof. 

Karen Edwards: Really. So it's, it's 

Kevin Morris: Fun to come across <laugh> when we're on the, on the road. 

Karen Edwards: Yeah, yeah. I mean, and you know, that, that your creation now has solved how many problems for that building? 

Kevin Morris: Yeah, yeah. It's, it's been, it's been pretty exciting. It, it was a long road starting in a recession, saving contractors time and, you know, well time on a job when that's pretty much all they had was time. 

Karen Edwards: Right. 

Kevin Morris: Because it was so slow back then. But, uh, it was, it was just a matter of time. And, you know, 16 years later we've, we've been with you guys almost since the beginning and 

Karen Edwards: Yeah, 

Kevin Morris: Here we are. 

Karen Edwards: Yeah. I mean, wow. If it works, it works. Yeah. There's not much arguing with that and it's really easy to use and not hard to figure 

Kevin Morris: Out. It's roofer proof. 

Karen Edwards: Yeah, <laugh> roofer proof. Uh, and you can only say that because you were a roofer. <laugh>. That's it. That's it. Awesome. So how's the show been for you? Um, you know, what kind of conversations or what are people talking 

Kevin Morris: About? Well, I get, I really get a lot out of these shows walking 'em, especially with, with friends like Rob, because you get to introduce each other, um, to, to your contacts and, um, it's just, you meet a lot of good people and, uh, you keep up a lot of good relationships. So seeing all the manufacturers out here, you know and just coming from the IRE, um, it, it's, it's necessary, you know, you come out, it's a good time and, uh, this has been a great show and it's close to home. So. 

Karen Edwards: Yeah. I was talking earlier too in one of the interviews about, it's a really good representation. It's a mix from the industry. There's contractors here, there's consultants here, there's manufacturers, there's people like us. Um, and you know, it, it says a lot for people wanting to work together, um, to make buildings better and solve problems. So have you been going to the classes at all while you're here? I have, yes. Do you have anyone that was a favorite or you really enjoyed? 

Rob Banar: Um, I think each one of them has something different to take away. So it's really hard to give a favorite for the, the classes 'cause you're learning from your peers and other industry professionals that we've all seen different things. We all have different experiences in our careers. So being able to have that knowledge shared openly and freely to Yeah. Everybody in the industry has been fantastic. So the education is by far one of the best aspects of 

Karen Edwards: Yeah. Learning from peers I think is so valuable because, you know, somebody may have learned something the hard way, <laugh> and they're able to share that experience to make it easier for the next person. Right. Absolutely. That's key. 

Rob Banar: You, you keep that, you'll remember just a, a key element and next time you run into that, you'll, you'll know a little bit more. And if you don't know how to solve it yourself, you'll at least know there's other people that have experienced it and you, you have resources now. Right. You can find the answer a lot easier when you know other people that have had those 
 

Karen Edwards: Experiences. You have somebody you can call Absolutely. And be like, Hey, remember you talked about that at the conference and uh, yeah. Help me out. 

Rob Banar: Right. And that's one of the beautiful things about our industry. We share knowledge so freely because we want the industry to be better as a whole. Yeah. And not trying to keep the information to ourselves. 

Karen Edwards: Yeah. Well one of the things that we're, this is a shameless plug, but one of the things that we're promoting here at the show is, uh, directories on the coffee shops for consultants. It's a, a show special. Um, you know, because we wanna help consultants educate, get the word out as well. So, um, you know, look for that to, to be expanding on Roofers Coffee Shop and you can learn more about TBOs as well. And they have a directory on the website and that has all the contact information and everything you need to know about this amazing product. Guys, thank you so much for being here. 

Kevin Morris: Thanks for having us. Yeah, thank you. Nice meeting you. 

Karen Edwards: Enjoy the rest of the show and the weekend and, um, don't go anywhere because we're not done yet. We've got a few more videos. We'll be broadcasting live until the show closes at noon eastern today. So be sure to subscribe. Bring that bell. And we.