About Us

I think of the work I do as primarily relational rather and simply transactional. You love your home, and I love old homes and helping people take care of them. When you hire Western PA Slate, I hope you see it as a long-term commitment, and because of this, I wanted to share a little about myself. 

Since I was a child, I liked taking old things and making them look beautiful. It started with old pieces of furniture, bicycles, whatever. In my early 20s, I bought an old farmhouse in upstate NY and completed restored it. During that project, I fell in love with home restoration and have taught myself the skills necessary for this work.

I have a B.A. from Allegheny College and an M.A. from St. Bonaventure University, and I had a 16-year career as a senior administrator in higher education. Over time, I was able to create my own business and share my skills with others. Primarily, I care about people. I also care about details – I like things to look good. When you look through the gallery, you’ll notice an attention to detail and a level of integrity that I find rare in contractors – especially roofing companies. The jobs we do are often difficult, and after many years of doing this type of work, I’ve grown comfortable taking on jobs that most people would turn down.

 Each time, I do a job, I learn from taking apart the work of a craftsperson from long ago. I constantly incorporate the things I learn into my work. Notice my chimney flashing style – I was removing some chimney flashing from a house in Pittsburgh, and I was amazed at the detail in the metal work. I brought the old flashing home and practiced until I got it right. I then taught my crew how to do the same thing. Now most of the slate roofers in the region imitate that style.  

I like improving and inventing things and have designed new styles of drip edge and ridge metal that my Amish friends happily make for me in their metal shop. In addition to slate roofs, I also purchase and restore houses. I call this my “office” work, and most of the time, when you call me, I’m fixing up something old. The number on this site is my personal cell – shoot me a text, call me or email me. I’m happy to chat, get to know you, and help you out with a project at your home.