Reinke Shakes

About Us

Richard Reinke worked for his brothers lumber yard in Byron Nebraska for about a decade where he learned a lot about construction materials. In 1954 he decided to go in to business for himself. Gilead needed a grade school and they put the job out for bids. Richard was awarded the bid to built it and was self-employed thereafter. He built churches, banks, furniture stores, farm buildings, quonsets, and the like. He designed a large shingle for hay stacks that pinned into the hay to keep it dry without a building. In 1967 he incorporated under the name Reinke Manufacturing Company. This business built pre-fab restaurants called Lil-Duffers and many other products. The most noteable product was the Electrogator.

In July of 1974 Reinke Mfg. Co. of Deshler Nebraska celebrated selling the 1000th. Electrogator, pivot irrigation system. In the news article that followed, they announced that they would soon be manufacturing a lifetime shingle. This became the Reinke Shake. The first installation, however, wasn’t till December of 1976, on a garage. The first house was shingled in February of 1977.

Reinke Mfg. Co. made the metal shingles, Reinke Shakes, as a division of the company. In 1981 they sold this division out of the Company, to Richard Reinke. He personally operated the company for a short time and then sold it to GoBe Inc. of Dallas Texas. GoBe Inc. was owned by two couples, but after the death of one of the owners and excellent success in another business venture, the remaining owners lost interest in the shingles and began a sale of the business to Mr. Johnson of Lincoln Nebraska. Corrupt legal aid hired by the purchaser left him with a mess and no shingle business. Richard Reinke who still held a note for part of the business, contacted all entities involved and bought up the pieces, including the Reinke Shakes name, and once again owned Reinke Shakes in 1992. Richard’s youngest son, Robert began managing the business in 1993. He took the business from near zero sales up to average historical sales in just two years. He was soon promoted to President of Reinke Shakes Inc., an office he held until after his father’s death in February 2003.

In October of 2003 the Reinke family voted to dissolve the company and Robert and Becky Reinke purchased the machinery and inventory. They now operate the business as a division of JAME KARI LLC a company name formed from their children's names.

Reinke Shakes produces both Aluminum and Copper shingles. They have been installed in all 50 states and several foreign countries. Proud owners of geodesic dome homes have called them the ‘Cadillac’ of dome roofing. A casino in the netherlands, and the tallest skyscraper in Mobile Alabama sports a roof of copper Reinke Shakes shingles, as well as many church steeples.

In 2018 the decision was made to modify the shingle to a large size for quicker installation and make it 50 percent thicker so they could continue to live up the the slogan, ''Shingle for The Last Time!''. The new shingle is available as of April 2019.

The shingles and accessories continue to be manufactued in Hebron Nebraska, as they have since 1976.

Let us help you, ''Shingle for the last time!''