Duro-Last Timeline
1920 On Nov. 8 John R. Burt was born to John and Fannie Burt in McIvor, Michigan.
1952 John founded Burt Construction.
1975 Bridgeport Pools reached $2 million in sales. Tri-City Vinyl® began manufacturing its own pool liners.
1977 On July 1, Tri-City Vinyl became incorporated as Tri-City Vinyl, Inc.
1978 The first Duro-Last roof was installed.
1981 On July 9, Duro-Last became incorporated as Duro-Last, Inc.
Duro-Last had seven employees and finished the year with $200,000 in sales.
1985 Duro-Last expanded to Grants Pass, Oregon.
S & S Plastics incorporated as S & S Plastics, Inc. John’s daughter Sharon Sny was named President. S & S later became Oscoda Plastics, Inc.
1988 Duro-Last grew to 175 employees and $25 million in sales.
1989 John began recycling operations with the production of a proprietary rooftop walk-pad, Roof-Trak®.
1991 John was awarded the Michigan Entrepreneur Award in the Construction category, as well as the Inventor/Entrepreneur Award.
1992 Plastatech® Engineering, Ltd. purchased two weft insertion knitting machines and began production of the Duro-Last membrane polyester scrim.
1993 S & S Plastics moved to a 104,000 sq. ft. weapons depot building on the former Wurtsmith Air Force Base in Oscoda, Michigan. S & S officially changed its name to Oscoda Plastics®, Inc.
1994 Duro-Last opened a fully operational 80,000 sq. ft. manufacturing plant in Jackson, Mississippi.
1995 On March 21, “World’s Best Roof®” became a registered trademark.
Duro-Last reached 350 employees and $53 million in sales.
1996 Duro-Last completed construction on a 60,000 sq. ft. manufacturing facility in Sigourney, Iowa.
Duro-Last completed construction and opened a 60,000 sq. ft. manufacturing facility in Grants Pass, Oregon.
Plastatech completed construction on a 72,000 sq. ft. manufacturing facility in Saginaw, Michigan. The facility included a state-of-the-art calender to manufacture the film component of the Duro-Last membrane.
1998 Construction began on a 102,000 sq. ft. addition to the Saginaw manufacturing facility.
1999 TIP-TOP® Screw Manufacturing, Inc. opened on the former Wurtsmith Air Force Base in Oscoda, Michigan. TIP-TOP manufactures metal screws and fasteners for the roofing industry.
2003 On April 11, at the age of 82, John passed away.
Vertical integration continued when Duro-Last introduced EXCEPTIONAL® Metals to produce metal roofing accessories.
Duro-Last celebrated its 25th anniversary of manufacturing the Duro-Last Roofing System.
2004 Duro-Last reached a billion square feet of manufactured membrane.
2008 Duro-Last celebrated its 30th year of supplying top quality roofing systems throughout North America.
2011 Tom Saeli joined John R. Burt Enterprises as the first non-family member Chief Executive Officer.
2012 Duro-Last introduced Duro-Tuff® roll goods to its product line.
Duro-Last introduced Duro-Guard®. This product line includes polyisocyanurate insulation, gypsum boards and expanded polystyrene insulations.
2013 A fully operational 89,000 sq. ft. manufacturing plant opened in Carrollton, Texas for Duro-Last and EXCEPTIONAL Metals.
The John R. Burt Enterprises family of companies employed 664 people and exceeded $200 million in sales.
2014 Duro-Last introduced Duro-Last® EV, a membrane containing DuPont™ Elvaloy®.
Duro-Last introduced Duro-Tuff and Duro-Fleece color membranes, bringing Duro-Last membrane membrane offerings to 70.
Plastatech completed the installation of a new extruder, the largest and most advanced of its kind, in the Saginaw, Michigan manufacturing facility.
2015 Duro-Last released the first product specific Environmental Product Declaration for single-ply PVC roofing membranes. The Duro-Last membrane also achieved certified gold status by NSF/ANSI 347.
2016 Duro-Tuff, Duro-Fleece and Duro-Last EV membranes earn certified gold status by NSF/ANSI 347.
Aquired ANViL Paints & Coatings. Based in Largo, Florida, ANViL is one of the nation''s premier manufacturers of premium-quality coatings and specialty paints.
2017 A fully operational 60,000 sq. ft. facility that manufactures custom-fabricated roofing memebranes and accessories for Duro-Last opened in Ludlow, Massachusetts.
2018 Duro-Last celebrated its 40th anniversary.
EXCEPTIONAL Metals celebrated its 15th anniversary.