b'FACES OF THE TRADEFACES OF THE TRADELEO REGNIERFrom Hairstylist to Roofing Icon" I ts hard to believe I went fromhad hired in western Canada, so I wassilicon were substituted and the project being a hairstylist to a roofingresponsible for all technical matters inwas completed.guy, said Leo Regnier. Oncethose provinces. Leo left Soprema in 2007 and many Istartedintheroofingbusiness,ITravelingacrosswesternCanadawho knew him thought he would retire. never looked back. It has always been amany times each year, Leo would be inNotLeo!Hecontinuestoworkon great business to be in. After workingWhistler one day and Winnipeg the next.roofing projects and has spent 10 years in roofing for more than 25 years, LeoHe became the companys go-to personworking with Dura Seal, a restoration is a legend in the B.C. industry andforsolvingchallengingroofingprob- and glass company.acrossthecountry.Whendifficultlems. His experience made him a valu-problemsaroseinthefield,roofingable part of Soprema and the industry people typically would say, lets callThe InventorLeo. Here is his story. as a whole. From the start of his career, Leo looked HerecallsonetriptoBattleford,atthetoolsheusedforroofingand His Career Saskatchewan to deal with a roof thatthought, there must be an easier way. Leostartedhiscareerin1985withwasexperiencingblisteringandtheHebegantodesignnewtoolsthat Tri Can a roofing sealant and coatingcontractor could not figure out how towould make roofing more efficient for manufacturer based in the US. He cutcorrect it. The engineer for the projectcontractors. Sealing the roof around its his teeth working with hot tar and torchhadshutitdown,soLeowascallededges when I first began was a tedious on roofing systems. His approach wastoBattlefordtofindasolution.Aftertask involving working on your knees to learn as much as he could aboutsomereviewandtestingoftheroofwith a trowel and sealant for hundreds roofing products and apply this knowl- system,hedeterminedthattheprimeof linear feet, he explained. I invented edge in the field. In 1995, he acceptedboardbeingusedwasbeingappliedagranularembedmenttoolthat a position with Soprema Canada. Aswithtoomuchheatandcontainedcould be used standing up and greatly Leoexplains,Iwasthefirsttech- silicon, which together were causing thereducedthetimeneededtocomplete nicalroofingspecialistthecompanyblistering.Newprimeboardswithnothe process.Bothwell-Accurate has enjoyed 90 successful years in business and now employs over 500 professionals to meet all your waterproofing, architectural metal and roofing project requirements. With a management team that represents some ofthemostexperiencedprofessionalsintheindustry,andmorethan60,000 completedprojects,weareoneofCanadasoldestandmostexperienced construction firms. We proudly service our growing roster of industrial, commercial and institutional clients proving innovative, superior installations in the lower mainland and interior of British Columbia and across Ontario.604-282-7960bcestimating@bothwell-accurate.combothwell-accurate.com26lROOFINGBC l FALL 2021'