Master Roofer, Master Storyteller.

Storytelling has become a large part of how we increase our impact as designers.

It may be obvious to some but it certainly wasnt to a younger me: people build their credibility by telling entertaining, relevant stories. This is certainly true in building a good business (and I'm certainly showing my naivite by even mentioning it).

One of my favorite local storytellers and businessmen is Randy Ferriante, the owner of a local roofing company called Dura-Foam. Not only is Randy an expert at the somewhat niche business of spray-foam roofs (FYI its a roof of choice for Eichlers and other flat-roofed structures), he is absolutely fabulous at telling stories.

He is so good at it, that he is a regular contributor on the Eichler Network's chat site, as well as a paying advertiser. Putting himself out there lets people see if he really knows his stuff. By answering questions about Eichler roofing, and other Eichler related topics, Randy demonstrates that not only is he your best choice as a roofer, but that he is an Eichler Otaku, and you know he will do the right thing by you.

Here's two of my favorite bits from one of his most recent comments (scroll down), which inspired my writing this blog post:

" Sprayed foam is much tougher than you think. It can support 40 pounds per square inch without even denting. So, a 10x10 inch plywood box with foam on it could support 4,000 pounds without denting the foam. This is more than 100 times more 'live load' than your roof was engineered to support per squre foot. You could park a wheel of your car on the 'can light' box without hurting the foamed box....and, the hardest part of this demonstration would be getting the car on the roof."

" Few people know that the Space Shuttle foam is exactly the same material they have on their sprayed-foam roof. The foam color in the news is brownish orange because the foam has no coating and the tanks are stored outside for many months before they are used. Exposed foam turns this color without coating."

Wouldn't you want your roof done by this guy, too?