Have you ever worked with a Roof Consultant?

Twice. No issues, but I had to answer questions when I deviated from a written spec. A few minutes of hands-on show and tell, and maybe a bucket of water always cleared things up. :cheer:

Some BI's can be a pain in the ass with their limited knowledge. I now prefer to work where a permit and an idiot aren't required. :blink:

That was a great post, Syd and I saved it for my files.

My two cents:

Everyone has a bias so there's not much point in trying to create a consultant who doesn't have one. The point is always to strive for a bias that is ethically and technically defensible. The more information and experience a consultant has, the wider-ranging it is, the better the odds of decent product selection. The more wisdom and tact, the better the odds of decent performance supervision. I'd say Woody's got it dialed in with the concept of third-party advocate who gets and keeps everybody on the same page. In a good but not perfect world, a consultant can be a real asset. Otherwise a consultant would invariably devolve into some combination of cheap cop, petty bureaucrat, demagogue, parrot, & pimp.

I was once told that roofing is an art rather than a science. In my book, many disciplines are required to be labeled a roofing consultant. Unfortunately too many charlitans go around masquerading as consultants. Many of them originated as manufacturers representatives confident that their training qualified them to professional status. Although this education should not be ignored, they should realize it was formulated and focused on their employers products as opposed to the numerous solutions available within the industry. Insofar as architects and engineers assuming the title of "roofing consultants" they also have limited experience, too often guided by manufacturers reps. At an NRCA conference in San Francisco in 1987, I will never forget a speech by the Dean of Yale Architectual School admitting that his students are taught the big picture of their designs and that they leave the details of roofing to the professional roofing contractors. It is just these details that spell the success or failure of a roofing installation. Personally, I began my journey in this business in 1940 when at the age of 12, the foreman told me to go back to the shop and bring a "skyhook". The balance of my training in the "art" of roofing was furnished by my father, brother, and a dozen knowledgeable foremen, from shoveling the slag pile to swinging a mop. My science background was a BS in Engineering and retired PE in State of Pa. However, this education could put me at a disadvantage in becoming a roof consultant, because a potential liabilty would be involved because of my professional training, which in turn meant onerous insurance premiums. Therefor I chose to spend my days as a contractor, as opposed to operating naked as many consultants do.

Chris, Welcome.

Where did you learn whatever it is that you are consulting on now? There are a few high priced "consultants" around This area of Michigan that don't know their Arse from a hot rock, but they sure do sell and push paper. A lot of money towards themselves too. I guess that is one business model.

If you have experience and ability to actually do a quality job and can translate that into overseeing a project and documenting that it is done correctly, then I guess that you could be a "consultant" I used to do a lot of work for those type of people, but we used to call them General contractor superintendants.

For the life of me, I don't know what value a lot of these Construction managers and consultants are adding to a building. Mostly, they just take money away from the people that are actually doing the work and put it into their pockets! JMHO.

WWoody,would that,short of the photographing abilities we have available,be A working type super? I've done some big homes in NC on Figure 8 island,wrightsville beach and bald head. when we framed them we had to follow up with any type of roof extrusion.and having the contract for frame,side and trim(int. and ext.)I was responsible for the roofer also in no uncertain terms when it came to him being on my roof. naturally I'm not liable for warranty yet i was held accountable for the final product. I was high end in work and pay.

Welcome Chris B, I'm betting that B's for something like Belletosi or something the way you swapped the Italiano with Ciak.

The main builder that I do work for builds mansions. He does them real s-l-o-w, so that they take years and he only does a new one about every other year. (But that's also how I can do such big jobs with my small crew) One of this builder's faults was he hung on to believing in Dryvit too long, thinking that as long as he was hiring the best crews, he was safe. But nobody in this climate was safe, so he's had some legal issues.

The last three that I did for him had a "building envelope consultant". I liked it. He took lots of pictures of every juncture of the tile roof,the flat roof, stucco, stone, sheet metal and all penetrations through any of them. I also liked that you could use him as your advocate to have other subs do things the way you need them. I think it protects the builder, as well as the subs, and inspires them to keep all work as close to perfection as possible.

well,I did work as a roofer for decades,got to old and beat up to sling A mop,tear off or flash.so,now with all this practical hands on experience I'd love to be A consultant. nothing better than living the job and expressing the ins and outs through first hand exp. consultants are good on that note. couldn't imagine gettin good,correct,or straight answeres from anyone other than a knowledgable source.

Hi Chris, welcome aboard! :) I work in the residential arena so i don't run into many roof consultants. Maybe its just my area i dont know but the few i have ran into didn't know if they were scratching their watch or winding up their arse! lol No offense to you. I dont know you and you might be the most educated roof consultant on earth. Im just doing like you mentioned and being honest at all times. I wouldn't have a problem at all with a roof consultant if they knew their stuff. ( And didn't undermine my knowledge ) Their are dozens of different ways that people do things in different areas of the world, the country, the states, and the countys and citys within the states. Even roofers in the same area do not do things the same. That does not necessarily make one roofer right and the other roofer wrong. It just depends. A highly professional, experienced roofer can and will price a job and do it any way you want it as long as you pay his price and what you want is not going to cause a problem. I've had homeowners surf the net for months, ( reading god knows what part of the worlds way to roof ) and then become their own roof consultant. One elderly gentleman wanted so many extras done above code and above the norm that it was going to be ridiculously tedious to work with him and his "requests". ( it would have required my own personal supervision of every second of the work and i don't normally work on the jobsite ) So i had to add $1,000 extra to do all the silly things he wanted done based on his " roofing education " he got over the net.

Chris Thanks for revealing your self. From behind the veil . Jet didn't mean anything more than a stick to poke the embers with . He is a good guy despite himself B) :laugh: :laugh: B) Nice having you on board in a interactive way . Diversity is the answer and a roof consultant can only be helpful . Glad to have you on board. Welcome !!!!