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With more than 90 years of experience, Baker Roofing Co. says it remains family owned and operated and committed to workplace safety. The company was founded as Baker & Rawls Tin Shop in 1915 by sheet metal craftsman William P. Baker. Today, his grandsons, Chairman W. Prentiss Baker III and Vice President Frank S. Baker, run the company. The senior management team also includes CEO Woody Baldwin, President Mark Lee, Executive Vice President John Matthews and CFO Rebekah Baker.

The company is headquartered in Raleigh, N.C., where it maintains an 11-acre campus with offices, warehouses, garage, sheet metal fabrication facilities and a fleet operations base. In recent years, the company has added satellite locations in Greensboro, Wilmington and Charlotte, N.C., and in Florida. It was ranked as the fourth-largest roofing company nationwide by Engineering News-Record in 2007.

“At its beginning, the company focused on metal roofing, flashing and cornices – specialties that remain today,” it notes. “Over the years, the company expanded its expertise to include roofing systems, such as steel slope, built-up and single-ply roofs. Baker Roofing now offers a comprehensive, one-stop roofing service, from copper church spires to waterproofed masonry basements.”

The company’s services include annual maintenance and repair programs, coating, restoration, moisture scans, seamless gutters and vinyl siding, and windows. It operates a fleet of nearly 300 vehicles, which includes four construction cranes, 10 dump trucks, nine manlifts and two metal panel formers that make four different styles of roof panels.

“Industry leaders consistently award Baker Roofing for its quality warranty work, testifying to the industry’s respect,” the company notes. “[Our] thousands of projects encompass state landmarks such as the North Carolina Legislative Building, David Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, RDU International Airport, Dorton Arena at the North Carolina State Fair Grounds, the Hinsdale residence that now houses the Second Empire restaurant in downtown Raleigh, and the Berry Hill Conference and Convention Center in South Boston, Va.”

Recent landmark jobs include the Sanctuary at Kiawah Island in South Carolina and the Inn at Biltmore Estate in Asheville, N.C. Newly contracted projects include the Superblock project in Charlotte, N.C., consisting of a Bank of America tower, a Ritz Carlton hotel and the Wintergarden retail center.

The company says it is motivated by the final words of its original, 1915 motto: “Always do good work.”
 
Safety Culture
Baker Roofing says it strives to provide a workplace that is free of occupational injuries and illnesses. “We believe that a safe and healthful workplace is essential to achieve the high productivity and quality necessary to compete in the roofing marketplace,” the company says. “We view our people as our most valuable resource and treat them accordingly. To achieve our long-term zero-injury and illness goal, our ongoing short-term goal is to continuously improve our safety process over previous years.”

The company says its experience modification rating factor is 0.65. “This reflects an excellent rating for our high-risk industry,” it states. “This rating demonstrates the strength of our safety process and our commitment to our goal of zero injury and illness
 
New Division
Baker Roofing recently announced its launch of a new division that focuses on restoration and waterproofing. “We have offered these services over the years, but we have now put these departments along with our coating department under one division that will be directed by Geo Boothroyd,” Chairman W. Prentiss Baker III said in a statement. “We believe the new division helps us better serve our contractor and business clients who want a full-service company.”

The company says it is noted for its roofing work, but its restoration and waterproofing work is not as well known because it often involves the bottom of buildings, including basements and foundations. “When you think of roofers, basements don’t come to mind,” Boothroyd said.

Despite public perception, Baker Roofing has experience waterproofing foundations and decks on new and existing buildings and restoring masonry in walls and around windows.

Its restoration work involves skills such as tuck-pointing and concrete corrosion repair, as well as chemical coatings to extend life to parking decks, metal handrails, walkways, above-grade walls and roofs.

The company put its restoration and waterproofing skills to work for a project at the U.S. Coast Guard Station in Okracoke Island, N.C.

“Because of the storms and salt water that wash over that building, it had corrosion in its foundation,” Boothroyd said. “The water had seeped through the concrete over the years and corroded the steel [reinforcing] rebars.

“We took a grinder and removed the concrete until we found the steel. We scraped off the rust and applied a corrosion inhibiter on the steel and then restored the concrete with a modified product that is more resistant to corrosion,” he added.