When money is no object, the quality and aesthetics of material available for a remodeling project are almost limitless. A hundred-year roof is par for the course.

If you are lucky enough to need such a roof, Nosak Improvements of Tulsa, Okla., is the place to call. Paul Nosak, the 31-year-old principal of Nosak Improvements, got his start 12 years ago, while working out of his car and not even owning a ladder. Having been employed by a contractor in Florida where he learned the basics of roofing, Nosak began, by himself, with a repair and maintenance business in Tulsa. He had to work alone because of the high cost of workers comp. He started by passing out flyers in the Maple Ridge historical district where the homes were built in the 1920s and earlier, and had many tile and slate roofs. In the process of doing maintenance and repairs, Nosak discovered a demand that was not being met. One of his customers needed a small 3- by 4-foot section of her roof replaced. “I called every roofing company around looking for materials,” explains Nosak. “Only two places knew what I was talking about, and only one in Tulsa had clay tiles.”