Buc-ee’s. Gallery Furniture. Spec’s. That’s the standard Proper Roofing and Remodeling’s leadership is aiming to reach.
“We want to be an iconic Houston business,” Kenneth Winsmann, Proper Roofing’s co-founder and CEO, said.
That vision, Winsmann said, has allowed the company to grow since its founding in 2021 to about 100 employees today. Roofing has turned into a “full-service exterior remodeler” from Willis to Galveston, with revenues projected to eclipse $23 million this year, up 30% from 2024. And it has the company eyeing new markets in Austin or Dallas.
It has also led to Proper Roofing’s ranking as Houston’s top small workplace for the third consecutive year, as determined by an employee survey conducted by Energage.
“It’s been a great year for us,” Winsmann said. “Everyone’s making more money. We’re more efficient with our time. Commissions are up, everyone’s getting a pay raise.”
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Winsmann and his co-founder, Daniel Adams, say they differentiate the company with energy-efficient products.
That means plenty of time spent researching the exact makeup of the small pebbles on the shingles they use, to ensure they can last while pulling pollution out of the air, the founders say.
But the cofounders are just as focused when the conversation turns to the employees of Proper Roofing.
Their benefits include an annual paid-for trip to Mexico and leadership conferences at locales like the Indianapolis 500. But new this year is an internal “nature’s alliance” aimed at beach and bayou cleanups and company conservation efforts.
The 10 employees who contributed the most to restoring nature, Adams said, won a whitewater rafting trip to North Carolina.
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Both co-founders said they expect Proper Roofing’s growth to continue, with the firm adding an internal call center this year.
Proper Roofing & Remodeling employees pictured here in 2025. The roofing company was named Houston’s top small workplace for the third year in a row. (Kirk Sides/Houston Chronicle)
And while they have started using artificial intelligence to help build a custom software stack, Winsmann is confident the technology isn’t coming for anyone’s jobs.
A study by the Chronicle found that roofers were among the workers in Houston least at risk of losing their jobs to AI, though sales and marketing professionals were moderately threatened.
“We’re getting more and more people with master’s degrees and people that normally wouldn’t look at home remodeling that are more interested now because it just seems like more of an AI-proof opportunity,” Winsmann said.
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A favorite line of Winsmann’s is that building a company culture is not about whether there’s a ping-pong table in the office (though Proper Roofing does have a ping-pong table).
Instead, both he and Adams repeatedly return to the idea of building a “professional work culture,” which includes perks and recognition, but also a shared vision for the business.
“Our company ‘why’ is to renew and transform the lives of the employees that work here, the homes that surround us, and our community,” Winsmann said. “So every benefit that we have, and everything that we do as a company, is guided by that North Star.”
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This article originally published at This Houston company wants to be the next Buc-ee’s. In 2026, it’s the city’s top small workplace..
