Chaffee Industrial Roofing Celebrates 100th Anniversary
June 2, 2008 | Print this page | Share This | Email this page
East Providence’s Chaffee Industrial Roofing today celebrated 100 years in business. The firm, established in 1908 by Thomas K. Chaffee, installs and services roofs on industrial and commercial buildings throughout New England. Currently, Chaffee Industrial Roofing is run by Steve Chaffee, the third generation of the Chaffee family.
Thomas K. Chaffee founded the T.K. Chaffee Company in 1908 to sell white paint to textile mills in New England to augment natural lighting in the work areas. Soon, in addition to Chaffee’s Mill White, Chaffee’s Fibreglaze #9, sold by the drum, was developed to re-putty millions of mill windows.
When Thomas died in 1946, Henry Chaffee took over and began expanding the product line to include roof patch, roof coatings and roof aluminizers in addition to wood floor coatings and adhesives, and epoxies to repair worn concrete floors. Chaffee’s R-51 ice melter was brought in by railcar, repackaged and sold by the truckload in 80-pound bags. The customer base expanded to include many of the largest in the US — US Steel, Mack Truck, Hershey Chocolate, Johnson and Johnson, West Point Pepperell and many more, extending from Alabama to Maine.
By the 1970s, companies were changing how they maintained their buildings, and were looking to their suppliers to solve their problems completely, not just supply the products. New innovations in roofing were emerging that would make Chaffee products obsolete.
Modified Bitumen roofing materials (rubberized asphalt) were becoming popular in Europe, and Chaffee began importing some to sell under the name Chaffee’s Hot Melt Felt. Their first Hot Melt Felt job was at Narragansett Brewery in 1978 (hey neighbor, have a ‘Gansett). Chaffee formed alliances with roofing contractors regionally to offer an installed product to their established customers.
In 1982 Barrington resident Steve Chaffee became the third generation Chaffee to take over this tradition. Since that time Chaffee has become a full service commercial and industrial roofing contractor, with its own fleet of trucks and full time installation crews. Within five years, the company made the Inc. 500 list of “fastest-growing companies in America.” Chaffee is a licensed installer of all the major brands of roofing products and has won numerous quality awards.
One of Chaffee’s major suppliers is Carlisle SynTec, which provides membranes and materials that are, upon installation, inspected rigorously for warranty purposes and rated for quality. Chaffee has been a Carlisle SynTec Authorized Applicator since February 1984, installing 5,349,276 square feet of warranted SynTec roof systems on 363 roofs.
Three hundred and three of those projects have received perfect “10” ratings, representing flawless application that exhibits superior detail and workmanship. Chaffee’s average installation rating is 9.5 on a scale of 10, an incredibly high number that affirms the company’s attention to detail and quality craftsmanship.
Chaffee’s original products may be long gone, but the customer base remains the same — the owners of large commercial and industrial buildings. Chaffee’s business repeat rate is still well over 60 percent, enviable as they now sell a product with a very long life.
What does the future hold? Photovoltaics mounted directly onto membrane roofs show early promise, with large amounts of flat roof acreage directly exposed to the sun every day. Roof gardens— where the roof is completed and buried under tons of soil and planted with gardens, trees and grasses— are gaining momentum, and could provide more insulating value, control storm water runoff and provide a better environment for all. Chaffee is evaluating methods to provide upgraded roofing systems for this special application.
Chaffee’s products and services have evolved along with its customers’ needs since 1908, guided by the Chaffee family for three generations. According to Steve Chaffee, “We attribute our success and longevity to our readiness to change and adapt to the needs of the customers, while consistently delivering the highest quality products and services.”
For more information, call Chaffee Industrial Roofing at 401-438-1160 or visit www.chaffeeroofing.com.
About Chaffee Industrial Roofing
Chaffee Industrial Roofing continues to lead the industry by providing top-quality products and superior service for a wide variety of roofing projects. For more information, call Chaffee Industrial Roofing at 401-438-1160 or visit www.chaffeeroofing.com.
About Carlisle SynTec
Carlisle SynTec, headquartered in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, has been manufacturing single-ply membrane roofing systems for more than 40 years. Carlisle is a division of Carlisle Construction Materials and has manufacturing facilities in Carlisle, Pennsylvania; Greenville, Illinois; Senatobia, Mississippi; and Tooele, Utah. For more information call 800-4-SYNTEC or visit www.carlisle-syntec.com.
