Solid Roofing NW’s team replaced Connection365’s residential living quarters roof during the Leadership Salem Community Project in June of 2026.
A Roofing Company That Started With a Dream
If you want to understand Solid Roofing NW, it helps to start with Sara.
Today, Sara leads Solid Roofing NW, a 100% woman-owned roofing company based in the heart of the Willamette Valley and serving residential and commercial customers throughout Oregon and Washington. But her path to owning a roofing company was not something she mapped out from the beginning.
In 2008, Sara entered the roofing industry while pregnant with her oldest daughter and looking for work. She started as a secretary for a roofing company. Over time, she worked her way through the industry, learning the operational side and eventually moving into project management, estimating, and running an entire steep-slope division serving residential and commercial projects.
By the time she began seriously considering business ownership, Sara had spent years learning roofing from the inside out. She understood the work itself, but she also understood the people, processes, and responsibilities required to run a roofing operation.
That experience became the foundation for Solid Roofing NW.
The Four Pillars Behind Sara’s Decision
Sara has described four principles that sit at the center of her business: family, honesty, education, and community.
Family was part of the dream from the beginning. In an industry that has traditionally been dominated by men, Sara wanted her daughters to see that they could pursue something even when the path was not necessarily the expected one. She wanted them to understand that they could build something of their own if they were willing to work for it.
And the family aspect doesn’t stop there. Sara has built a business where employees feel like family, creating a welcoming, supportive, and truly family-friendly environment for all who do business with her company.
Sara and Zuliemia (Residential Estimator & Project Manager, Solid Roofing NW) working together on the 365 Connections day project.
There is even a personal piece of that philosophy built into Solid Roofing NW’s identity. The company’s logo features four trees, designed by Sara’s oldest daughter, giving the image an added significance beyond simply being a business mark.
For Sara, building a company has always been connected to building something her family could see, understand, and be proud of.
Honesty is another part of that foundation. Roofing can be an intimidating industry for property owners who may not know what they are looking at or what questions they should be asking. Sara’s approach is rooted in helping customers understand what is happening with their roof rather than simply telling them what they need.
Education became especially important as her own experience expanded.
And then there is community. Sara has talked about wanting her business to bless the people around her and make a difference, even in small ways. That philosophy has continued to influence how she approaches both her company and her role within the broader community.
When Ventilation Became Personal
One of the most distinctive parts of Sara’s story is her expertise in attic ventilation.
Her interest in proper airflow did not come simply from a product seminar or a textbook. It became personal after her own family experienced problems with mold.
When Sara and her family purchased a home in 2018, she eventually discovered that the attic intake vents were blocked. The roof was only three years old, yet it was already showing signs of failure, while the home’s air conditioning struggled to keep the house cool.
That experience changed how Sara looked at roofing.
She saw firsthand how problems that may not be obvious from the ground can have consequences throughout a home. It reinforced her belief that a roof needs to be considered as an entire system, including the relationship between roofing, attic airflow, moisture, and ventilation.
That knowledge has become a defining part of Solid Roofing NW. The company’s website provides education about blocked intake, inadequate exhaust, moisture buildup, mold, rusty nails, and other signs that ventilation may not be functioning properly.
Sara’s knowledge in this area has also received recognition beyond her own company. She was featured in Against the Grain, an industry article in a Roofing Contractor Magazine written by Paul Scelsi of Air Vent Inc., focusing on her journey in roofing and her interest in proper attic ventilation. The feature highlights Sara’s continued education and her commitment to understanding how ventilation affects the performance of a roofing system. She was also featured in Paul on the Airvent – Airing It Out Podcast as a guest speaker.
It is an important part of what makes her story different. Sara did not simply add ventilation knowledge to a list of services. A problem she encountered in her own home pushed her to understand the subject more deeply, and that knowledge became something she could share with other homeowners.
Sara has also been an active member of Leadership Salem through the Salem Chamber and serves on the ACE Board for CTEC’s residential construction program, finding meaningful ways to give back and make a positive impact in her community.
Education Is Part of the Work
For Sara, knowing roofing means continuing to learn.
Her career has included years of hands-on experience, project management, estimating, and leadership, but she has continued building her knowledge through industry education and training.
Solid Roofing NW is an Owens Corning Preferred Contractor, and Sara has pursued education around roofing systems and ventilation that allows her to have more informed conversations with customers about their properties.
That educational mindset is reflected in the way she approaches roofing projects. Rather than expecting customers to simply accept a recommendation, Sara believes they should understand what is happening and why.
That matters because a roofing project is rarely a small decision. For a homeowner or business owner, it can represent a significant investment in the property. Being able to talk through the condition of the roof, ventilation, and available options gives customers the opportunity to make decisions with greater understanding.
Sara’s approach is ultimately about more than knowing how to install or repair a roof. It is about knowing enough to ask better questions.
Hands-on learning in action at CTEC! Students and industry professionals work together to build skills and share knowledge.
Building a Company Around People
After years in the roofing industry, Sara eventually decided she wanted to build something of her own.
Solid Roofing NW was established in 2023, bringing together the experience she had accumulated throughout her career with the values that had shaped her vision for a business.
The growth of the company has also meant building a team. Sara has spoken about the people who have joined her along the way and the pride she takes in what they have accomplished together.
That part of the story is worth noticing. Entrepreneurship can sometimes be portrayed as an individual pursuit, but a roofing company cannot operate that way. It takes people who know their work, people who communicate with customers, and people who are willing to learn and take responsibility for the quality of what they put their name behind.
Sara’s role is to bring those pieces together.
Giving Back Is Part of the Bigger Picture
Sara’s commitment to community extends beyond the work Solid Roofing NW performs for its customers.
She has been involved in efforts to teach residential construction skills to local high school students, support Habitat for Humanity projects, and provide roofing education and assistance outside the United States.
She also founded Roofing It Forward, an initiative focused on helping homeowners who need roofing work but do not have the financial ability to make the repairs themselves. The idea grew from seeing people who genuinely needed help and finding a way to connect the roofing community with those needs.
For Sara, this is another expression of the same principle that helped shape Solid Roofing NW in the first place. The company is not just a way to make a living. It is a vehicle for using the skills, relationships, and experience she has developed to have a positive impact on other people.
A Story That Starts With Sara
There are plenty of ways to describe a roofing contractor. You can talk about materials, inspections, repairs, commercial projects, warranties, and ventilation systems.
But Solid Roofing NW makes more sense when you understand the person who built it.
Sara entered the roofing industry because she needed a job. She stayed because she discovered an industry she could learn and grow in. Years later, she took everything she had learned and created a company built around four things that continue to matter to her: family, honesty, education, and community.
Her daughters are literally part of the company’s identity. Her own experience with a roofing problem helped shape her expertise in ventilation. Her continued education has expanded what she can bring to customers. And her commitment to giving back has taken her work beyond the roof itself.
That is what makes Solid Roofing NW’s story worth knowing. It is not simply a story about a woman who owns a roofing company. It is the story of Sara taking years of experience, personal lessons, and a desire to build something meaningful, and turning them into a business that reflects who she is and what she believes.
Sara, Allyson (18), and Lauryn (15). Her family helped inspire her journey, reminding her of the people and purpose behind everything she does.
