Diversified Roofing has been in business for 10 years. We started as an exteriors company until we came upon fairly new metal roofing products to the Midwest. We started to show these products and within months we were installing metal full time. Diversified Roofing is a full service metal roofing contractor and offers a variety of products to satisfy any architecture. We have installed 13 different systems including standing seam, four-way interlocking shingles, screw downs and exposed-fastener systems.

We entertain the incorporation of new products but are picky. We use Classic Products, Perfection USA, UNA-CLAD, Arrowline, Metal Sales, Decra and Custom-Bilt metals.

What types of roofing do you do?

We do commercial and residential. Our company is one of the leading metal roofing experts in the Midwest, although we never pass up a job too big or too small, asphalt or metal. Residential metal roofing makes up about 90 percent of our company. Homeowners are thrilled and surprised at the variety of metal roofing we offer to suit their architecture. Most do not even realize that they are capable of having a metal roof. Often we get phone calls from people who were down South, East or West and wondered if they could do that to their home.

The commercial sector makes up about 10 percent of our company. We really enjoy the residential side because of reactions from our homeowners. They would never dream that the selection goes so far beyond a vertical panel-in other words, "a water channel roof."

How is your company structured?

Bill Anderson, my partner and husband, does all of the work along with our outstanding and dependable crew. Homeowners like to work with them because they can ask questions and get a direct answer. Bill and our crew have learned four new systems this summer, which were all self-taught.

We stay busy year-round installing mostly metal. We keep our crew and company small, which makes it much easier to comply with the demands of homeowners and general contractors. We have trained men that we bring in for larger jobs.

I believe keeping it small and simple is the number one reason why homeowners choose Diversified Roofing.

How is the metal roofing business doing in your area?

Residential roofing is in the infancy stages in the Midwest and elsewhere. It is not just for commercial anymore. People who travel all over the country see it elsewhere and they want specific products. Often it is standing seam but they are amazed by the variety. It is a product we market full time and believe in. I believe it is going to be a very hot market in the years to come.

How do you educate homeowners?

Bill has conducted seminars for contractors, architects and homeowners. He discusses the benefits and installation of metal roofing. We are members of the Friends of Minnesota Barns, Metal Roofing Alliance, and the Minneapolis Builders Exchange. Several contractors call Diversified Roofing inquiring to sell, educate and install their products. Unfortunately, some contractors learn the hard way and install products without looking at the installation manual or asking us questions. We have had to come in and fix problems numerous times and sometimes write reports for court cases.