Our Beginnings – Flat Roof Doctor

Our Beginnings…

Family Owned

Flat Roof Doctor is a family-owned and operated roofing business. For the last 30, ears we have specialized in the installation of rubber roofing for both commercial and residential properties in Connecticut, New York, and now, in Pennsylvania.

My name is Naas Ferreira. My late wife, Mia, and I arrived in the United States, from South Africa, in the mid-1980s and started a flat roofing business in Norwalk, Connecticut. At that time our company name was Flat Roof Doctor. During the early and mid-1990s, Mia and I began a family and had 3 wonderful boys. Later, two beautiful girls would complete our family.

My very first flat roof installation was a well-known man named, William F. Buckley, a conservative commentator and founder of the National Review magazine. At that time, flat roof contractors were transitioning from the Tar and Kettle roofing systems to rubber membranes, however, the rubber roof industry was experiencing some problems with the bonding of rubber to metal. We developed a technique that secured rubber to metal, which was a breakthrough and a remedy to the problem.

We pioneered the use of rubber membranes in Fairfield County, Connecticut; when other roofing contractors were still installing Hot-Tar-and-Gravel roofs, we began using our 2 ply Modified Bitumen Torch Down Roofing System, and never looked back. Since then our technique has evolved and has become a system that is far more superior than any other roofing system.

As the business grew, my 3 sons took an interest and began helping me on holidays and during their summer breaks from school. Today, Team Ferreira has been fortunate enough to have expanded the business to New York and Pennsylvania locations.

Soon, a daughter will join Team Ferreira, to become the executive assistant (the boss) with the entire Team’s blessing.

Our first van when we started to install rubber roofing.
My 2nd van for roofing
Our business grew and we needed another van.
My 1 st van for roofing
Andre with Naas when he was still a teenager
Finally upgraded to commercial trucks
Andre as a teenager helping on a roof
My Son Andre at 16 years old working on a roof
Erik, Andre and Sven with the camera on a roof
Sven at 14 is the camera man

… And Now

Sven – Project Manager

Sven is the youngest of the 3 boys and joined the team 4 years ago. Besides being a project manager, he is also our photographer and videographer.

Sven Project manager

Andre´ – Estimator and Project Coordinator

Andre has been roofing for almost 8 years. He knows rubber roofing well and has taught himself to work with slate, copper, and shingles. He is a problem-solver and takes on all challenges.

Andre - Estimator and Project Coordinator

Erik – Operation Manager

Erik runs most of the day-to-day administration, but provides estimates, and coordinates projects, as well. The entire team still gets on roofs to lend a hand where necessary.

Erik - Operation Manager

Naas –

Naas provides estimates and oversees projects in the Pennsylvania area.

Naas owner and CEO

Learning a Trade at a Young Age

From a young age, the three boys helped on roofing projects during their school vacations. These projects have taught them a trade that entails problem-solving, responsibility, and accountability in the real world. The picture shows Andre at 16 years old working as a team member.

Andre learns how to replace substrate.
Andre at work
Erik helps repair a flat roof.
I am still in good shape here. lol

Sven – 14 years-old

Sven, the camera “man” on the roof taking a selfie. This was long before selfies became popular. He was on the roof during school vacations and learned how to use a camera and edit videos. Most of the videos on this site were taken and edited by him.

Sven, at the age of 14 taking pictures and videos on roofs we worked on.
Sven taking a selfie before cell phones were out

Roofing Projects “Through the Eyes” of My Boys

When the boys were young they took a lot of the video footage and pictures of roof installations. In the image below, Erik handles the camera.

Erik and Camera

Erik is on camera duty today.

Erik carrying the camera to the roof. This was when everything was still fun
Erik the camera man

Andre and Dad

At a very young age, Andre took a compelling interest in learning how to estimate and plan roofing projects.

Andre and Naas planning a roofing job.
Andre has been with me since he was 16

Andre

Andre is preparing a parapet wall to be installed with a rubber membrane and a metal cap.

Andre cleaning a parapet wall for roofing
Andre goofing off

Erik

Erik mans the camera shooting video footage of us as we strip a commercial roof.

Erik on the camera taking video footage of a flat roof
Mr Serious. This was a $6000 camera at the time

Andre

Andre is 16 and helps to strip a roof.

Andre stripping a roof when he was 16 years old
Andre

Sven is a Natural Camera Man

Below is Sven taking videos for the family roofing business.

Sven on the camera taking videos of a flat roof
Sven the camera boy

7 thoughts on “Our Beginnings – Flat Roof Doctor”

  1. Naas was very attentive and answered some questions that I had right away. I thank him for that and I am looking forward to meeting him onsite this upcoming week.

  2. Hi. I have watched some of your videos and I think your products may be a good fit for me to be able to repair the roof vs. get a new roof. Do you have an email i can send the images and information too, so you can point me in the right product direction? Thank you. Mike Payne 931-623-0062

    1. Hey Mike, sorry for the late response. I have contact info on this site and also on my Youtube channel. I think it is easy to get hold of me, hundreds of others do every month.

  3. Do you have and/or provide area referrals? I am located in St. Petersburg, FL and attempting to secure a roofer/contractor/handyman who is familiar with your approach and technique for my metal roof with its 3 area leaks (at the screws), skylight (interior leak due to cracked or faulty the dome cap, I think) and the flashing for the roof vent.
    Davis
    PS Noticed your RSA roots. You must be very proud of the World Cup winning Springboks..

    1. Hi Dave
      Sorry for the late reply. Yes, I love the Springboks but I rarely watch TV because I am super busy and don’t have time.
      I don’t know anyone across the country that takes leak approaches the way I do. I think everyone has their own style. I think experience is the best schoolmaster. So look for someone with experience, handy type of person and they should be able to figure it out.

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