The History of Try‑Tech Patios - Since 1999.

A Story Built on Decades of Expertise

The story of the DIY Alumawood patio kit industry is deeply intertwined with our family's history — and it begins with a visionary idea.

In the mid-1990s, Tim Merino had the groundbreaking concept to sell complete, ready-to-install patio cover kits directly to homeowners. It was his baby. Tim co-founded Rontimco, the first company in the U.S. to package and sell these kits. While his partner, Ron Damberger, handled the construction side of the business, Tim focused entirely on creating a new market: DIY patio cover kits for homeowners. (You can still view Rontimco in the Wayback Machine.)

To turn that idea into a reality, Tim brought in a trusted employee: my father, Jim Verle, a seasoned contractor and builder. Jim wasn’t just an installer. He had the technical skill to break down complex builds into clear, teachable systems. He guided homeowners step-by-step over the phone, giving them the confidence to build it themselves — and they did.

To be clear, we didn’t invent the DIY Alumawood kit concept — that credit goes to Tim Merino. But we were there from the beginning, helping to build the technical foundation for the entire industry.

After a falling out among the Rontimco partners, Tim left the company. In 1999, he personally passed the torch to our family, helping my father and me launch Try-Tech Patios with the same factory connection, business model, and mission.

We’ve operated continuously ever since.

While a wave of other companies have since copied the model, they lack the original people and engineering experience that made it work. So while we weren’t the first to think of it, we are the oldest active company still carrying out the original idea, with the same hands that helped build it.

Try-Tech isn’t just another patio cover company. Our story goes all the way back to the birth of this industry. And we’ve been carrying that tradition forward for over 25 years — helping customers build it right the first time with real support and real expertise.

Early Search Engine Days

Getting traffic back then was a completely different game.

Search engines didn’t just find you — you had to submit your website manually and wait weeks (or months) to be listed.

We followed advice from Danny Sullivan at SearchEngineWatch.com — one of the earliest SEO pioneers. We even sent him donations to keep his tips and tools available. His insights helped us reach people across the country long before SEO was common knowledge.