In 2011, Christian moved from Minneapolis to Rapid City, indirectly working for Joel La Prade and his roofing company – the La Prades are an awesome family and company! Then, in early 2012, Christian opened an office for Weather-Tite Exteriors out of Green Bay and Minneapolis. Christian had re-entered the roofing industry in 2010 after his career in the IT industry came to a pause when the banking crisis put the kibosh on the economy for awhile.
Over the course of 6 years, Weather-Tite Exteriors grew to be one of the premier roofing and exterior companies in the Black Hills area. They are still growing strong today and doing great things in the market.
As we all get an itch after awhile, Christian decided late last autumn to obtain his own roofing contractors license and establish his own company.
Christian’s father was a roofing contractor and he grew up around the business in Southern California where he was born and grew up in part. That was back in the days of hot tar roofing and he hated it with a passion.
As a teenager, while his friends were a few miles away on the beach, Christian was on a roof with a shovel and a mop, savoring the fumes of boiling hot tar – he was often bitter and angry on those beautiful summer days in CA during school break.
Christian’s father had named his company RainTite Roofing. Christian went on to college to pursue a career as far away from roofing as he could get. In 2001, Christian’s father had passed. Christian figured any legacy of roofing tendencies left in the family gene pool also passed with his father.
However, in 2010, Christian found his life had come full-circle back to the business. When Christian started working for a contractor in 2010 in Minneapolis and discovered hot tar was mostly dead, he began to ponder starting his own company. Christian really enjoyed the modern business dynamics, and he would honor/pay tribute to his father by resurrecting RainTite Roofing.