Why I hate roofing!

I can't believe you guys actually want to make money when you work; doesn't everyone just give it away? You make money by giving it away and screwing the Mexicans that do the work for you. Quality is non existent then, but hell, the home owners only care about the cost. Haven't you learned anything from reading this forum?

Last winter I went without any employees for the first time. I kept extremely busy, but I wasn't happy with the bottom line. Just getting my hourly rate for only me ($70) plus a little for profit/overhead doesn't' work for only me, but I have so many repeat customers that don't ask for a price in advance that I feel a need to give them the same price formula they have gotten in the past.

I now have two roofers and me working and a two month backlog, which is about all people will wait for a repair. I have upped the profit/overhead considerably for new customers and still get most of the jobs I bid, but still feel I need to stick to the old price structure for repeats.

It seems to be working, my bottom line after expenses jumped $16,000 last month. I used to see numbers like that when I had 7-10 roofers working for me, But now I'm doing it with a lot less liability.

Chuck: I've considered going to just repairs and small jobs once my Dad calls it quits(never.) It's usually on the days where a few guys have any given problem. We have a lot better crew than we did 10-12 years ago, but it's still enough to drive a guy crazy on occasion.

And we make great money on repair work but I'd imagine that the homeowner might complain about the bill more when they know that your basically a sole proprietor.

All these things and more are why I just got out of the roof replacement business altogether and decided to specialize in repairs. It doesn't pay as well and it's harder but at least it's something you have to actually be a good roofer to do. Pricing is not anywhere near as competitive as roof replacements and Exactimate don't know squat about how to bid repairs because the programmers of the darn thing don't either. When potential clients ask me if they should call the insurance I just say, Nope because they only pay for storm related damage, not poor workmanship and even if it is storm related, you have to foot the bill for the first thousand. lol

Let me be the first to second that. There are professionals and then there are hacks. And, finally, there are people (nominally) in the business who are utterly ignorant. I've decided that the main question I need to ask is, "Do I care?" The answer always seems to come up, "Yes, I do." So I do work for people who care, do it because I care, and the workmanship expresses and manifests care. If the customer or the specs drop to a lower plane, and I find as a result that I don't or can't care, I don't stay involved. That makes it easy for me to avoid getting my bowels in an uproar.

We just do good work and the hell with everyone else.

As long as we have a continuous supply of cheap labor (politicians call them "guest workers") from corrupt third world countries, nothing will change. I am not saying the USA is not corrupt, I am just saying some countries are more corrupt than others, and that it is corruption that is at the root of all third world countries' woes.

The typical "roofer" in N. Texas is an opportunistic salesman canvassing neighborhoods for storm jobs and offers "free" roofs who subs to a coyote for $40/sq who will round up day-labor quality applicators to slap on a roof in a day. They can cover deductibles because they simple don't do anything to assure the workmanship will uphold the warranty. It is simply rip-off and slap-on. The homeowner does not know what hit them.

The insurance companies, in an attempt to reduce claims, raise deductibles. Of course, the dumb roofers just get crappier and crappier and are only after a quick and easy buck.

Actually guys, we hate none of those things. We can't "hate" roofers, cause we are one! The same goes for Storm chasers, insurance companies and insurance adjusters. What we "hate" is people cheating and scamming the system, because that is "us". A lot of the time, it is how the policy is written and nothing else. You are correct in thinking that a lot more people are taking advantage of the way the system is set up now. Not only for home repairs, but for "income" "School" "Groceries", "Medical" ....... Everything. It is all a sign of how perverted things have become. The bankers, the lawyers, and the politicians, are scamming the system and us and running nus into the ground. Just when the people that actually do all the work will say no and stop it is a good question.

That's rough man. He's lucky you did it, or else he'd have a high chance of having to re-roof or spend a bunch on repairs.

When I hear of hail near here I cringe, luckily we haven't had much since 2012. If I had seen this post before 2009, I wouldn't be able to relate. It was all service before that, people actually paid for their roof's out of their own pocket and made sure to get a good one.

Now it's all "can you save my deductible" and "can you inspect my roof for hail cuz I need a new one" and "I have 2 shingles off, can we turn it into insurance"