ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, July 12, 1996 TAG: 9607120070
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JEFF STURGEON
AA All American Inc. said it signed a deal in 1992 with Seal-Dry/USA Inc. of Little Rock, Ark., to buy a white roofing membrane for mobile homes, designed to reduce air conditioning costs by reflecting the sun's rays and heat. AA All American invested heavily, buying 421,000 square feet of the membrane, enough to cover about 80 football fields.
The company said it installed the material on hundreds of mobile homes in coastal North Carolina and South Carolina.
But the membrane sprouted black mildew, according to a lawsuit AA All American filed this week in U.S. District Court in Roanoke. Rather than reflect the sun, the mildewed roofs absorb heat and leave customers hot and furious, the suit said.
AA All American is seeking $2.5 million in damages. The company said it has paid to repair roofs and buy advertising to try to salvage its image. Word of the black roofs spread so widely that it had to pack up operations in the coastal Carolinas, find an alternative membrane and resume sales efforts in the Western Carolinas and West Virginia to stay in business.
Jim Newman, vice president of operations at Seal-Dry, said the company had not seen the suit and could not comment.
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