Young Contractors Finding the Right Manufacturer Part 3

Learn what crews, company owners and customers are all looking for in their roofing shingle.  

Looking at the next generation of roofing companies, RoofersCoffeeShop is continuing to follow the story of James & Whitney Co., a Maine general contracting and roofing company.  After learning about how they started in roofing in the first article and their expectations of shingle performance in the second article of the series, we continued our conversation with Steve Whitney, a cofounder of the company, about what really matters to the crews, ownership and their customers when it comes to roofing shingles. 

The weather on the coast of Maine is extreme.  Roofing companies need to know what they are doing and what works in order to protect their customers’ homes.  James & Whitney is one of the largest roofing companies on the coast and has made it their passion to provide the highest quality and performance in roofing.  Their company culture values the opinion of their field installers along with their customers.  We asked what is important to their crews, company leadership and their customers. 

When asked what is most important to their crews in a shingle, Whitney noted, “Oh, hands down, it's that nailing strip. With the Titan® XT shingle the nailing zone is larger than most and that very large strip allows the crews to accurately nail the shingle down even when using more than the required nails while still being covered under the TAMKO warranty.  With the high winds off the coast of Maine we often use more nails then required to fight the extreme winds.  The strength of the nailing zone and its size is hands down one of the best parts of the Titan XT® shingle.” 

Next Whitney shared what is the most important trait for company leadership when working with a roofing manufacturer.  “We want a manufacturer that offers a great product and stands behind it.  In our experience so far working with TAMKO, they have stood behind their products one hundred percent. I couldn't imagine working with a better product.  If we have even a slight issue or something comes up, these guys are on the phone, or they are immediately driving up here to look at the project,” Whitney shared. 

He continues, “The support of the manufacturer is so important.  I mean, there are certain things, pricing's important, hitting the right price point, hitting the right market, having that backing in every level possible is very important.  But the most important thing is the word partnership.  When you are standing there in front of a homeowner and you've got the representative of that company standing beside you preaching the same message of quality and how they stand with us supporting their products, that's incredibly important for my business partner and I as owners.  The professionals at TAMKO do that phenomenally.” 

Finally, one of the most important questions that Whitney addressed was what is important to the homeowners.  “I would say the number one thing the customer likes best is the TAMKO warranty value.   They believe in the brand that we've created up here as James & Whitney Company, and they want us to show them apple to apple comparisons across shingle brands.  We share with them what the TAMKO warranty looks like and what we're going to do for them and hands down, they love the warranty value that TAMKO offers, and the price point James & Whitney offers for the job.” 

“They also love the colors.  I think that TAMKO has done a really good job with their color offerings.  The customers love the colors.  There is always a good color match that meets up with their intentions and hopes for their home and their new roof.” 

Following up on the feedback from customers, he stated, “When the Titan XT® shingles are put down, they look great, but the topper is the wind rating. When we show the video of the performance after the January windstorm and the photo of the shingle that had the nails in it, the proof is in the pudding as they say.  The Titan XT is the product for this area.” 

Follow the James & Whitney story from the beginning by reading part 1 and part 2 of their roofing journey as they talk about the growth of their roofing company and the performance aspects of their business using Titan XT® shingles to weather Maine storms.