Training from scratch

Hi, Three weeks ago my 21 yr. old nephew came to work for me. He is supposed to be training to become a residential roof repairman that also diagnoses the problem, estimates and sells the job. ( in other words im trying to clone myself ) lol I have never been able to find a suitable person for this position so i decided that if i could ever find the right person i may be willing to make a long term investment. In this case, for him the investment includes a small salary and free room and board in my home. For me it includes a lesson in patience. lol A long one! lol We are with each other 24/7 5 days a week. I'm starting to feel like hes my son instead of my sisters son. He has the good qualities that i believe a person should want in a trainee but to say he is green is an understatement. His dad used to be a roofer ( His dad and I were actually partners in roofing many moons ago ) but he quit roofing several years ago and didn't really want his son to be a roofer so he never taught him anything about it. So far his job description seems to be ladder carrier! lol ( I nick named him Ladder Boy ) lol He's afraid of steep roofs and so far i haven't made him get on any. But we do a lot of steep work so he will have to learn at some point. Man this is gonna be a long ride. I hope it turns out to be worth all thats involved! Anyone ever train someone from scratch and have it work out where they became good and worked for you a long time?>>>

He's coming along quite well so far. He's learned a little about some of the many things that cause roof leaks, why and how to fix them. He is getting his feet wet with some customer relations. He's doing the shinlge blow off repairs for me by himself. He installed a power fan including wiring ( with my supervision) . And today we both installed some ridge vent and soffitt vents. Long way to go but so far so good! :) P.S. He's still carrying the ladder quite well also. lol>>>

I think that you should hirer people with experience, otherwise your wasting your time by training someone, unless it's family. I've given that task to my formen, and he's pissed at me, for given him that responsility,because they come and go.... :dry:>>>

I hear ya MikeNZ! He is interested so im trying to teach him. Its just that he's so green its not even funny! lol I had him replace a single ridge cap today on a 12/12 that you could do from out of the valley. He was gonnna watch me do it or thats what he thought. lol He ends up beating on a nail a dozen times that wont go into the roof because its right at where two sheets of plywood join and its bouncy. I had to go over and pound the nail in for him! lol He probably wont last but im also helping him out because he's my nephew. He lost his job and was about to lose his car due to being unable to make the payments and he owed a couple people some money. My bet is when all that is cleared away he will probably find something else. He's from about 100 miles from here also and will probably get homesick even though he goes back on the weekends. Who knows. Time will tell.>>>

He is family not a stranger and he looks up to me with respect the same way i used to look up to my favorite uncle when i was his age. Of the replies so far hatricks is the most similar. Except we are at the very beginning of the process and he is not going off to college. Mshottet , I've hired dozens of people that " know what their doing already". Only problem is NONE of them knew W.T.F. they were doing! lol One of them had 30 yrs experience doing it wrong. I let him work way too long trusting his abilities because of his expierience. I spent the last 6 months running call backs on his repairs. :angry: Dr.ROOF knows that i'm getting "some" help just having a helper instead of going it alone even if he doesn't stick long term. Woody, i will teach him all those things and much more if he can and will learn it. But, im sure it will take a few years. Surveys show roofer apprentances need 3 years of training and thats just for installing. This is a MUCH more extensive job. Less pyhsical, but much more detailed and involved. Not many roofers can change to this but he's never been a roofer. YET! lol >>>

I have trained several good installers from scratch. 2 are still with me. The others have moved on to bigger better things, some of which involve bars on the windows! LOL Give the kid a chance and hope for the best. Good luck.>>>

Be careful I see alot people come into the roofing field and not no nothing and then you teach them all you know they become excellent roofers and then they stab you in the back and they think they are better than you. It happens all the time sometimes its just best to hire people that know what they are doing already.>>>

My three boys were all trained from scratch. But they all have different skill sets. One ( the oldest)is a big boy. At 22 He is 6 feet 250 lbs. So steep roof tops are tougher for him. As a ground guy foreman he is great. He keeps everyone working and there isn't a spec of anything on the ground when he's done. But a foreman kinda has to get on the roof on occasion to show he can do it. I think anyway. It's not that he can't or won't, but he doesn't like it. He is slow and steady also. Not the speed breaker who will roof the hell out of anyone. The second, 18 months younger, is smaller and a quick athlete. He will roof with anyone, but doesn't really want to be their boss. He wants to roof with speed. He doesn't want to do the slow trouble areas of the roof. Throw him on the straight run and he will laugh and crush anyone who tries to keep up with him. He will pitch in on lugging shingles and cleanup, but will beat the crapout of you if you won't pitch in. But not like a boss, more like a pissed off roofer. The youngest, a freshman in college this year, has only been on the roof part time the last two summers,still green and not sure of himself. His build is in between the other two. He can work on any pitch and will pitch in at all points of the roof. But his skills and diligence are still unknowns. None of the three have really been on many repairs yet. They may go out with me and repair, but not really trouble shoot. And trouble shooting the repair is where it matters. The oldest and youngest are best with the customers. The oldest has the most knowledge to talk with the customers about the roof. The youngest just loves to talk and will charm them to death even though he can't answer a single roofing question.>>>