Allweather Roof: Exact Excellence as a One-stop Roofer

Allweather Roof believes there is a perfect roof. The Minnesota-based installer provides commercial-grade roofing systems that promise performance, longevity and protection. Specializing in single-ply EDPM, built-up, thermoplastic and architectural sheet metal structures, Allweather Roof guarantees the right solution for each job. The company offers more than just installation, as a full-time service staff acts as a customer and product support network.

Allweather Roof was founded in 1925 by Bob Abramson, who has since passed the business on through two generations of family ownership. In 1986 Ken Sorensen, current president of Allweather Roof, had the opportunity to purchase the company during his tenure as general manager. “The third generation of ownership didn’t want to be involved in the roofing business,” recalls Sorensen. “We purchased the company, but haven’t forgotten the original vision of Abramson.”

Sorensen’s humble motives have steered Allweather Roof in a direction for which the Abramson family can be proud. “In earlier years we traveled a lot, covering a five-state area,” shares Sorensen. “In the late 1970s to early 1980s we began to concentrate more on the Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minn., region.”

Allweather Roof now services the state of Minnesota, northern Iowa, as well as a small range of Wisconsin with an experienced staff of approximately 100 individuals during peak building season. “About 10 years ago we added an office on the Iowa border in Austin, Minn.,” adds Sorensen. “We do a lot of work for the foodservice industry out there.” The company has also extended to international markets for cool roof system jobs, reaching as far as Puerto Rico and Jamaica.

The company’s client base covers a wide range of industries, from health care facilities to universities, serving contractors, architects, building owners and consultants throughout the U.S. Although the team considers no job too big or too small, Allweather Roof’s niche is in commercial flat roof installation and maintenance.

A Quality One-stop Provider

By offering clients both installation and maintenance services, Allweather Roof provides unsurpassed customer support and care. “We have a full-time service department that goes into the field and assists owners with everything from annual maintenance to leak repairs,” details Sorensen. “This is what keeps our customers coming back.” The highly trained service staff is on-call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Maintenance crews comprise one-fourth of Allweather Roof’s staff, while the other three-fourths is an assortment of expert installers. The company provides reroofing services, commercial roofs and skylight installation, ranging from $100 roof repairs to $2 million roof replacements. No matter the type of installation, customers can rest easy knowing Allweather Roof is protecting their assets.

“Our job is not only to install a roof, but also to service the needs of our customers,” explains Sorensen. “We work out every detail so they don’t have any unwelcomed surprises.” Sorensen’s guarantee and reputation for well-rounded service has earned the company some big-name clients.

The company has worked on several facilities throughout Iowa for the foodservice provider Hormel’s corporate offices. In 2012 Allweather Roof’s installers performed a 100,000-square-foot reroof on the building comprised of EDPM, which is a popular roofing system used in new and reroof low slope operations. With a synthetic rubber membrane, EDPM has over a 30-year track record of weather-ability, is easy to maintain and repair, as well as offers great resistance to ultraviolet deterioration.

Allweather Roof has also performed roofing at the Hazeltine Country Club, which has been the home of two U.S. Opens and the PGA Tour. “We provided a steep slope synthetic shingle and a flat roof made to look like standing seam metal at the Hazeltine Country Club,” recalls Sorensen. “We’re also in the process of the large asphalt and gravel build-up roof project at the Cambria facilities.” In March 2013 Allweather Roof will be traveling internationally to Puerto Rico to do repeat work on several foodservice operations.

Staying On Top of the Competition

The past few years have proved to be challenging for Allweather Roof, thanks to unstable economic times. “There are more roofers than there are projects,” admits Sorensen. “We’ve had to hustle more and get more proposals out than in the past.” Sorensen attributes Allweather Roof’s ability to weather the economic storm to consistently outperforming, providing better value and demonstrating more professionalism than the competition.

Allweather Roof is able to outperform the competition by self-performing the majority of installations. “In the 1980s we would subcontract out some services,” details Sorensen. “I steered us back to employee-only installations, because I felt we lost a great deal of quality control when we don’t have our hands directly involved.”

Despite some recent challenges Sorensen is optimistic about the company’s future and continues to have great faith in what his people are able to accomplish. “I see some continued growth in the next one to two years,” he reveals. “I have a handful of young people I’m training and grooming to allow them to take the reins. I’d like to see us continue down the path of improving quality and customer service and upholding exact excellent.”

Sorensen chose the phrase “exact excellence” as the company motto. “Although you can never be perfect, you can always be striving and working for perfection,” he stresses. For 88 years Allweather Roof has upheld a strong commitment to excellence and customer care through one-stop installations and maintenance.