Father and son team bring home improvement company into its 75th year

MONROE, CT — L.A. Barnaby & Sons Inc. is all about longevity and consumer support. This year the spouse and children-owned business enterprise is celebrating its 75th anniversary. Leon Barnaby and his son, Brian, have found the ideal recipe to mature the organization in today’s demanding times.

The Stratford-primarily based roofing company was begun by Leon Barnaby Sr., a Maritime and a Planet War II veteran, in 1947 and Leon Jr. started out serving to out in the late ’60s.

“We had been 4 brothers operating for our father,” Barnaby recalled of the previously days.

At some point, Barnaby’s brothers moved on, but he stayed and took above the organization. His son, Brian, joined the firm 15 years ago and aided guidebook it to where it is these days. In addition to roofing, L.A. Barnaby & Sons is an market leader in siding, home windows, doorways and decks.

“I delight in operating with the buyers and the distinctive trades we utilize — and viewing the development of the industry,” Barnaby reported.

Barnaby’s son Brian, an alumnus of Masuk Superior School’s Course of 2010, performed guard for the Panthers’ Condition Championship football group in 2008, under then head mentor, John Murphy.

Brian started out aiding out in the warehouse when he was age 14, and as he got older his duties expanded, from finding up materials to doing the job at job sites. From that place on he moved to income and advertising and marketing for the enterprise.

The Barnabys also have two daughters, Jennifer and Stacey, who the two graduated from Masuk. Barnaby said he and his wife, Donna, were fired up to introduce the most recent member of their relatives, their first grandchild, Patrick Henry, after Stacey gave delivery 8 months back.

Do you do home windows?

When Leon Barnaby Sr. started off roofing in the 1940s and ’50s, Brian reported his grandfather was often asked if he also did windows and doors. More than the several years, L.A. Barnaby & Sons expanded its item line to involve roofing, siding, windows, doorways and decks.

Though the enterprise advertises and has a site, Barnaby mentioned the bulk of their business enterprise will come from the referrals of satisfied consumers. They also get repeat business enterprise. For example, Barnaby reported his father replaced some roofs in the 1940s, then the organization came back to do it two extra moments in excess of the ensuing many years.

“A great deal of times we have the similar file from the authentic career,” Brian said. “It’s an aged time corporation.”

L.A. Barnaby & Sons is an accredited small business with the Far better Business enterprise Bureau and is qualified as a GAF Master Elite Contractor. Master Elite roofing contractors make up only three per cent of all contractors in the United States

“We align ourselves with the major producers in the country who offer you prolonged warranties and the ideal products and solutions on the market,” Barnaby stated. “Relationships in this small business are every little thing.”

At a time of offer chain difficulties amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Barnaby explained their potent relationship with distributors has served L.A. Barnaby & Sons get ahold of the resources its desires a lot more rapidly.

Ignore the ladder …

Brian stated the most important adjust in the roofing sector given that his grandfather started their business enterprise is the enhancements in technological know-how.

“Back in the working day, you would hand measure the roof,” Brian claimed. “You would have a detailed system. There are roofs you simply cannot see from the floor that you would have to get on a ladder and get on the roof for.”

Now L.A. Barnaby & Sons has satellite measurements online, through its makers, for equally roofing and siding.

“We can go ideal to the shingle,” Barnaby claimed of the precision.

In the past, Brian explained a contractor could slide quick on the variety of shingles necessary for a job or overestimate and have to consume the excess charges.

“There’s a financial savings we move on to our shoppers,” Brian stated.

They also have the Equipter, a compact self-propelled Dumpster, earning it less complicated to take out aged tiles and siding with out a major mess.

Another change more than the decades is a stronger emphasis on vitality efficiency, Brian stated.

Deep Monroe roots

In 1992, Leon and Donna Barnaby bought their household in Monroe, 3 times before Brian was born.

Barnaby reported they had been captivated to Monroe’s feeling of local community and the school technique, in which their a few children excelled, heading on to receive PhDs and graduate degrees. “I attribute that to the university process in Monroe,” he stated.

Around the decades, Barnaby had gotten included in town authorities, serving on the Zoning Board of Appeals and the Setting up and Zoning Commission, exactly where he participated in the adoption of a town Plan of Conservation and Advancement. He was also a City Council member of 6 many years and a member of the Edith Wheeler Memorial Library Making Committee.

Barnaby volunteered as a Monroe Small League coach when Brian played baseball and Barnaby had served a stint as league director.

L.A. Barnaby & Sons Inc. is a longtime member of the Monroe Chamber of Commerce and the enterprise was the title sponsor for the Monroe Rotary/L.A. Barnaby Golfing Typical.

“We’re just very related to the city,” Barnaby reported. “We’re finishing up two roofs in Monroe as we talk.”