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 J. Ellsworth: Hello and welcome to Roofing Road Trips from Roofers Coffee Shop. 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 have talk about this and what's happening out there. So welcome Frank Bermuda. We are so happy to have you on the show today.

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

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

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

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

Frank Bermudez: Yeah, so Brava, uh, again, we're a synthetic manufacturer. We are out of Washington, Iowa, so Washington, the city, Iowa, the state. I always say, okay, <laugh>, uh, people are like Washington. Wow, that's gonna be a far truck to Florida to get here. I was like, no, no, Washington, Washington, Iowa, which is still far, but not, uh, not as far as Washington the state. So, um, so yeah, so we're manufacturing Washington, Iowa and really Brava, you know, our, our big pitch and our big want is to keep product outta landfill. So we, we are a recycled product. We are an environmentally friendly product. Uh, we're a durable product and an energy efficient product. So we, we take pride in those things. Um, we make a high quality, uh, composite material. And, um, you know, if 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.

You know, 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. You know, trucks, decking went through that same story. Uh, composite window windows went through that same story. I, I would guess today probably 60 or 70% of windows are vinyl composite windows. So the exterior envelope of a home is moving to composites because they're more durable. Uh, they survive heat, cold, uh, wind, rain, uh, just they, the, the elements. They do a lot better in the elements than a lot of the natural products out there.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah. And in that, your territory in the Southeast that, um, talk about some serious elements and severe weather that you are getting there. So, uh, before we jump into that, 'cause I'm really interested in really kind of following that trend 'cause 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 for beauty and performance on their homes.
Frank Bermudez: Yeah, so we, I mean, we have a ton of great projects in the southeast. I, I get to have some fun because I also, part of my southeast responsibility is the Caribbean. Yeah. And so, you know, a recent one we have coming up is the Sandals Resort in Barbados, um, that we have coming up, which is a great project for us, uh, the Valentine Resort, uh, in e Lutheran Bahamas. So we are doing some resort work, which is fun. But, you know, 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, uh, as the company grows, you know, we're, we're having success. Some of us get to, to grow with it. And so, uh, I was promoted January one to a regional manager role for the whole southeast, but I started in Florida.

Uh, we've done the Western 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, um, 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, uh, it all performed, you know, we, we had I would say several hundred jobs in that Sarasota market that were installed prior to, uh, this last hurricane in, in 24. And every one of them performed. We lost one ridge cap in the entire, uh, hurricane. You know, not a tile broke, not 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, uh, fix it and repaired for the homeowner at no charge and, uh, moved on.

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

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

Frank Bermudez: Yeah. So, so Brava is performing well. So, you know, one of the great stories I like to tell, like 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, uh, approached me and, and, uh, offered to relocate me to the southeast, I said, well, it's warmer. That's great, <laugh>. But my first question was, you know, do we perform in UV sunlight? Like what, how, how's it, how's Brava gonna perform in Florida? And, uh, one of my favorite projects, uh, the ESPN Sports Complex at Disney, uh, it's had Brava Barrel tile on there, uh, nearly 20 years. And if you go take one of our barrel tile and put, you know, today it's, 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 like you can't tell from the ground. You have to get up, take pictures. And so I'm proud to say like we are performing in the market. We don't have, uh, fade issues, we don't have breakage issues, uh, during hurricanes, uh, heavy rainfall, uh, hail. So we are a class four impact resistant as our most mm-hmm <affirmative>. Synthetic products. And so we perform, we actually challenge the industry and say, Hey, we wish that there was a class five or a class six or even eight. Like, we know we outperform even class four impact. We've done the independent test. And so we know we outperform it. We wish there was higher standards. And we believe the industry, uh, the insurance industry specifically is, is going to push for those things. They are wanting to see more hardened products. We just did an event yesterday with the insurance advocacy group and, uh, global, uh, risk solutions.

You know, they had, you know, underwriters, insurance owners there at the meeting, you know, listening and wanting to change, uh, the roofing market and what products are available in certain regions based on their performance. And hail, wind, hurricanes, fire, you know, fire's important as well. So you're seeing a big uptick in synthetic shakes because natural cedar is becoming very hard to get insurance, uh, right. And it's a fire, you know, a fire risk sometimes depending on the situation and the location. So they're, uh, the insurance companies are the ones really, uh, dictating what products that homeowners and business, you know, residents, condo associations, hotels that they're using these days. So

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah, it's, when you think about insurance, and I, you know, I've been around this for a number of years and I've always been kind of, 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, you know, that actually the next hailstorm, um, that's changing. And so what are you seeing around the insurance companies? Do you see that happening where they're gonna really start incent, hopefully incentivizing, um, to use performance based products that will last?

Frank Bermudez: Yeah, so I mean, I mean, today they are doing that already. I always tell people when, you know, most people can, can, uh, you know, put themself in a situation with a car and a home. Like when you call and you have, I say when you have a child, they're 16, you're getting them car insurance. You know, one of the things they ask you is, Hey, is are they a good student? You know, that is a clickable discount on your car insurance. The homeowner's insurance has the same things. You know, 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 four 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 wa you know, ice and water, uh, underneath this. It's a second barrier, uh, 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 'em all those clickable discounts 'cause 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. 'cause when you save 'em money, that's when referral business comes from 'em, you know, they're happy, they refer you, you did what you said you were gonna do, you were gonna save 'em money and do a good job and be a reputable company. And so I always recommend the contracts, like, make sure you tell 'em, you know, when that job 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, uh, giving those premium discounts. I can tell you in places like Florida, they get large hurricanes. The, 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, uh, inhale. So...

Heidi J. Ellsworth: You know, when I think about it too, just overall the thought, and I love how you talk about that second barrier, um, of full ice and water, when you think about it, you don't wanna lose your treasures, right? 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, you are losing your everything in the hou in the home. Well,

Frank Bermudez: Yeah. I mean, you drywall damage, you got paint damage, potentially floor damage that, you know, 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 gotta replace cabinets. So it becomes, you know, a $50,000 roof to a $250,000 kitchen, bathroom, remodel, flooring, remodel. And so it's a, it's a big risk for the insurance companies. And I always joke and say, Hey look, you know, 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. You know, that yeah. That, you know, if you're putting the cheapest roof you could put on your house and the most expensive kitchen, it, it just doesn't add up. The risk are not good for their insurance companies. And so insurance companies are looking at risk factors like, all right, what kind of shingle do, what kind of product do they have on this house? Is it, you know, 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 wanna insure 'em? And two, if we do, what are the premiums gonna be? And so those premiums go up if the product is high risk.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah. Yeah. That, I think that is changing, 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 reroof 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, which is thing, and I I just think about all the poor people who had, did have roof damage and then had the water damage inside and then had mold growing. And sometimes that mold totally, that totally wrecks everything in the house. Yeah. That, um,

Frank Bermudez: Mold is nasty. It definitely wrecks everything. Yeah. You know, a lot of people have to move out. Like if you get mold bad enough, you gotta get, you gotta 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, they're coming out of pocket. And so that's, yeah, that's, uh, you know, a big problem. That's why I say the roof should be every homeowner's number one priority. Uh, if you don't have a good roof, everything else underneath it is, is subject to damage. So,

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

Frank Bermudez: Yeah, so for example, you had, you had mentioned Dade County. Dade County is one of the strictest places in the United States, uh, code wise, but the state of Florida has surpassed that. I can tell you if you're, if you have a product that's Florida product approval, it is surpassed Dade County's, uh, requirements today. Now Dade may adjust that, but today a Florida product approval is actually, uh, I won't say more valuable, but it, it, it perform 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 mm-hmm <affirmative>. So they supersede now in Florida, you no longer as a manufacturer need a Miami-Dade because the, the Florida product approvals ex uh, supersede the Miami-Dade because they are higher standards. That's today that, that will change. Right. Dade is going to keep strengthening things up.

Florida's gonna, you know, they've created these high wind velocity zones where, you know, 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, uh, how subject they are to, you know, how prone they are to, to damage from hurricanes. Based on history that they have. So you have that. You, you, you also have areas that are making people put more impact resistant from a hail standpoint in different places throughout the country. Um, you know, so that you are getting more and more that, you know, I don't know if you remember when that, uh, towers collapse down in Surfside down in, down by Miami. Yeah. And so, you know, they're having people, you know, these condominiums are having to do, uh, inspections on the structural of it.

And a lot of that comes down to weight, like 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 a thousand pounds per square dry, and it gets absorb your water, and so they're having to take some of that weight off the building, you know, a product like Brava or synthetic product that is lightweight, but performs to the high winds and high impacts is a great solution for those type of condominiums. So we do a lot of large condominium projects, uh, here in Florida because of that, it, it is driven people to say, Hey, we're tired of the maintenance, the mold, mildew cleaning. We're tired of crack tile repairs, golf courses, uh, are often using us. And so you're seeing, uh, 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 insurance shingles for 10 to 12 years, or concrete for 15 to 20 years. They, 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, uh, to be used in the market. So metal and synthetic have been a beneficiary of those, those new codes and new insurance regulations coming in. But, you know, they're, we are both benefiting metal is does very well in wind in hurricanes. Yeah. And so does, so does synthetics. Uh, the one thing that I love about synthetics that, you know, most, we don't break, we don't crack, we don't dent and we don't rust. So we have that one vantage over a metal, but metal does a excellent job as well during, you know, high winds. And really during high winds, people are not necessarily in a hurricane, they're not worried about denting necessarily. They're more worried about keeping the water out. That's the biggest thing.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Right.

Frank Bermudez: And so, you know, metal does do that for people and synthetics does it as well, but without the denting. So, um, you know, you'll see I think in the southeast a large amount of metal increase and a large amount of synthetic increase, more and more. And we've already seen it, you know, at, at Brava our growth is, since I've started here, is is more than 10 x in our region. And so,

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Wow.

Frank Bermudez: You know, and Meadow, I'm assuming is doing similar, uh, based on what I see in the market. So

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah, it really is. And it's about performance products. That's what we're, 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, um, that, that takes it just one step further because there is just a demand for that.

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

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

Frank Bermudez: Absolutely. So, you know, I always say in, I was a contractor, I was a distributor rep, manufacturer rep. So I've, 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. Yeah. Uh, because if that isn't there, um, sometimes warranties become a problem. You know, the, a lot of, uh, there, there are a lot of companies that have, um, you know, verbiage in their warranties that protect them. And so if, if you don't have that relationship, you know, the warranty is only as good. I always say the warranty is as good as your relationship with the manufacturer. So at Brava, you know, our number one important thing is our relationship with our co. We tell people all the time, like, we are a relationship based company. Uh, I always say, look, we feel today Brava makes the best, most durable, uh, energy efficient, um, you know, aesthetically pleasing product in the industry.

But someday somebody may make something better than us. Somebody may come up with a better, uh, I would say a better mouse mousetrap than us. But at the end of the day, um, you know, relationships is what's important to us. And so if our customer service is there, they're not gonna look at another product. They're gonna want to do business with people who take care of 'em. And, you know, we have a large team, uh, that is growing every day at Brava. Uh, you know, we leads for our contractors, you know, we constantly have touch points with, with our contractors. Uh, we do marketing for our contractors. We make sure that their marketing is on point. We, we help them with all things to grow their business. We say our, our biggest thing is grow with Brava. You know, we, we want you to grow with us. Uh, you know, it's, we don't want Brava just to grow. We want you and our contractors to grow with us. So, you know, that growth in, in supporting your contractor is, is number one. So the relationship with the manufacturer is the most important thing. I mean, the product you choose, I always say a second, like, your relationship with your contractor, uh, not your contractor, but your manufacturer is the most important thing I think you can have in the industry.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah, I do too. I do too. Having, 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, right? It gets you on the front end of what's hot, what's happening, what, where are the, what's trending? And then, you know, 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. Um, so on that point, one of the things I'd like to hear, you know, a lot of things happen in Florida and we've talked about, um, you know, the weather and the regulations and everything like that. What are some of the architectural trends that you're seeing? Um, 'cause you have so many different architectural profiles, you have some really cool, I mean, just really cool looking products. What are some of the architectural trends you're seeing that, um, it's kind of spreading through the southeast into the rest of the country?

Frank Bermudez: Yeah, so the Southeast is unique. So I always, I always say like Florida large, it was a large barrel tile, uh, state, you know, a lot, a lot of that, you know, I call it Spanish or Mediterranean look barrel tile. And what we're seeing is, is the market is, is moving toward, towards a modern look of a flat slash slate tile. And so our slate is growing drastically in the state of Florida. Um, as I said, we have some new, new products coming out maybe that will also meet some of those trends. So we're working on some things there, but the market is, is, is going more flat. And I think part of the thought process is not just aesthetically, but it's also performance wise, right? So they, 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, um, that give that home more, a more modern look. And so we're a lot of slate. Um, but Cedar Shake has become, our cedar shake look is is our number one seller throughout the whole United States. And the Southeast is a large area that pushes it. And so not necessarily wow in all areas in Florida, but Florida has some, you know, the east coast of Florida, I always say from West Palm up to Melbourne, Vero Beach, large Cedar Shake Market. Then when you get south into Naples, Marco Island, uh, 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. Um, you know, that it's durable, doesn't have the maintenance of natural cedar, uh, don't have the rot and mildew and cleaning that needs to happen. So it's a great looking product. And so architect wise, we're seeing a lot of specifications on flat products.

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

Frank Bermudez: So, uh, I would say 2024, the trend was going dark, right? Grays, blacks, uh, mixtures of grays. So we do some great blended colors that have some grays, blacks. Uh, we also had a, uh, in south Florida and even into the Caribbean, we had a large mix of, of white, uh, slate being done. We, we did a large project in Venice, Florida that was 4,000 squares of Slate White that turned out gorgeous. Wow. But, so we're seeing some of that white and then that gray. So the exterior of the homes are either going, you know, white with black trims and black, black or gray roof or they're going dark with lighter roofs. So we're seeing a lot of that very dark or very light trend, uh, the in-between shades, not necessarily so much. Um, you know, Florida, um, you know, you would think like a, a color like our antique clay or Tuscan clay, those orangeish, reddish barrel tile would be our number one. But in our, even in our barrel tile, uh, form black brown blend, which is a, a blend color of black and brown became our number one seller in Florida last year. Wow. So, uh, I've seen a lot of that dark, a lot of that dark trend in Florida. So, um,

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Very cool. Very cool. I love that. Yeah,

Frank Bermudez: So, and they look gorgeous. The colors are gorgeous. Like the, the dark colors look gorgeous. I just did a, a multi whip slate on my personal house of a color called Washington, which is a black gray with a little little bit of purple and green blended in it. And ooh, my neighbor next door still, still thinks I bought a real slate roof <laugh>. He's like, man, you paid all what? I'm like, I didn't even tell him like it's a synthetic. He still thinks it's real slate. So

Heidi J. Ellsworth: <laugh>, I love it. That's what you want. There you go. Absolutely. Uh, I love it. So for the contractors out there who are listening to this and all the contractors, um, how can they start, how can they get involved? How can they start adding Brava to their product offerings?

Frank Bermudez: Absolutely. So we have a great team that number one does training, but I, I would reach out to your local rep or just go to bravarooftile.com. There's always a little box that pops up. You know, Brava's a very generous company. We ship samples to the tune of 250 to 300 samples per day, uh, out to customers that wanna see our product. They want, you know, it's an investment, they wanna see what it looks like and we ship 'em. 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 wanna reach out to them. So, um, we'll reach out to you. Uh, we have a contractor program, uh, like they said that helps 'em with marketing, helps them grow their business with Brava. And so they can reach out to us on our website, it's just bravarooftile.com and request a sample. Or they can go to the place, like find your local rep and they can also get our phone numbers right there online as well.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Well, I have to tell you, locally in Oregon here, um, 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. Um, and it's a great company to get involved with who really do have your back.

Frank Bermudez: Absolutely. So that's, 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, you know, any, any step through the process. And I will say we, 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. Uh, so we make sure both sides of it they understand because there's, nobody wants the roof installed properly, more than Brava. So. That's right.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: 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 the,

Heidi J. Ellsworth: I'm sure I will see you there too. For everyone listening, please check out the Brava directory on Roofers Coffee Shop. 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 J. Ellsworth: Have a great day and thank you everyone for being here. Please check out all of our podcasts under the Read Listen Watch (RLW) navigation on Roofers Coffee Shop, 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.

Outro: If you've enjoyed the ride, don't forget to hit that subscribe button and join us on every roofing adventure. Make sure to visit roofers coffee shop.com to learn more. Thanks for tuning in, and we'll catch you on the next Roofing Road trip.