History

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Ted McDermott, founder of McDermott & Son Roofing, started out farming and running a small construction company. His company dealt in the construction of buildings. As time went by, he was having problems finding a company to roof the new buildings. It occurred to him that if he was having problems, others might be as well. So, in 1935 the roofing company was born. Ted mopped hot asphalt and burlap, (roofing felt was not available at that time.) One of Ted’s major projects was was the original KJAN radio station in Atlantic, Iowa.

After serving in WWII, Dwane (“Shorty”) Bramer, Ted’s stepson (the 2nd generation), returned to work for the company until he purchased it in 1952. At that time, Ted returned to farming and Shorty devoted himself to roofing full time. During Shorty’s years as owner, the company was primarily involved in commercial roofing. Tar and Gravel was the premier roof at the time, but when Acrylic Coatings became available in the 1970s, he was the first in the area to use Conklin and Foam Systems.

In 1985 Denny Bramer, Shorty’s son (the 3rd generation, purchased the company. Denny began helping out in the roofing business carrying tar buckets in 1956. One of the first projects he completed was a building in downtown Atlantic, which is now occupied by J & J Graphics. Time changes all things, including the roofing industry, and during Denny’s years the company moved away from Acrylics and Foam because it was too vulnerable to hail, and other acts of weather and began using Single Ply Systems. The main roof at the time was EPDM (Rubber).

After the unexpected passing of Denny in 2004, his stepson, Rob Clausen (current owner and the 4th generation), purchased the company. Rob started in the roofing business in the late 1970’s by helping out after school and in the summers. In 1980 Rob remembers putting up the ladder on one building and going from rooftop to rooftop to repair and fix damage that was caused by a terrible hailstorm that went through the Atlantic area. In the tradition of McDermott’s we have another new product in which we began applying in 1996, this product is called Duro-Last®.

Please take a moment and look around our site. If you have any questions or roofing needs, please contact us.