Why Is The Roofing Trade So Tough?

Oldie But Goodie from February 2005

TOPIC-

Northstar- Why is the Roofing Trade so tough? I've heard it said by more than a few veteran Roofing Contractors in here that the Roofing business is a tough trade. What makes it so tough for you individually? What would make it easier? Are we unfairly "targeted" by the insurance industry? How would higher taxes affect your personal situation in your business? I have said many times that if you successfully run a Roofing Company you could probably do anything and you would probably be of great value to other companies even in different industries.

REPLIES- Aaron B.- I do know that 90% of all roofing related deaths are from falls. I also know that 95% of roofing related fall death are not roofers. Most are demo crews that fall through while taking down buildings. Next are carpenters. All of these momos affect our rates, while they shouldn't have been up there in the first place. I have said it before; I will say it again, Professional roofers think safety and are, therefore, the only group suited to go on the roof.

Peter- I would be more inclined to say it's a tough business, having to treat staff like children holding their hands all the time, is the one thing that makes this business tough. Every outfit with a van and ladder being called roofers is another. Real Roofing Professionals refusing work together is another major pain. The taxes are not the problem; you only pay a portion of the profits so to pay taxes means you make money. I agree with Aaron every fall from a height is blamed on roofers making insured contractors expensive in the consumers eyes. People who believe a full roofing survey is free of charge, after all it's there by right, most of the yellow pages advertisers offer free estimates. Yep our transport comes free, our diesel is free, compliance with Health and Safety law is free, secretarial services are free, our time is worth nothing. That's the message the customer gets so why should it change?

RoofsRUs- The roofing trade is so rough because of a lot of factors-the first being that any Johnny with a pickup and a ladder can get a handful of tools together and call himself a roofer. Plus availability of cheap labor and material houses that care only about the next dollar will sell to anyone and anybody. The firms that have made it have their act together- education, training of workers, safety issues, business managed as a professional rather than someone who uses shoe boxes to hold receipts, etc. The most important factor is that we have not educated the homeowner to be able to differentiates as to who is professional and who is not. Consumer education is the one aspect that we, as professional roofing contractors, have been weak on. Some in this trade have consistently opposed any form of consumer education in the various stated of this nation. These are but a few of the reasons as to why roofing is so tough for some but not all!

Willie- Free estimates are a major problem in my opinion, especially for repairs. I personally so not give free estimates for repairs. The false belief that any fool can do roofing without many problems is ridiculous.

Syd K- IMHO its competition that keeps us on our toes constantly. The majority of the consuming public has one objective, the low price. It is our continuous and everlasting chore to educate them as to the real meaning of quality, reliability and responsiveness. Our local BA once confided to me that the roofing tradesmen are semi-skilled. Perhaps that is the root of the problem. All the employees are pain handsomely as journeymen, when only a few precious few really are. I believe in rewarding the precious few for their productivity and motivation, rather than being penalized for big wages for the lackluster.

Ciak- The roofing trade is like any other industry. It is a consumer driven economy and the lower price will almost always win unless there is compelling evidence that a higher price should be made. After all aren't we as roofers going around looking for lower prices on the shingles and the price of all our roofing needs, comp, liability, etc. We have to take our collective heads out of the sand. WAKE UP! Fashion our business on how we can protect ourselves financially; diversify our business like the insurance companies, always ahead of the curve.

Mike H - What makes our trade so tough is that you can enter it with little or no capitol. It is a magnet for those seeing a quick buck. The need to compete with that portion of the market, be it a real or perceived "need", is what causes the industry problems.

Darryl- This trade, like any other trade or business is as tough as you want to make it on yourself. If you devote countless hours to business because of the greed factor that lurks around most of us then you have to be able to take the good with the bad. We create our own stress. If we can accept that fact, the world seems to go by easier. If we are constantly blaming people for our bad decisions then you have added stress to your life. Remember what ever you have done in our lifetime has placed you right where you are at today. Accept the responsibility for your actions and the world changes right before your eyes. Some how all of the little things that happen n your life can be traced back to you, you either made a decision or you didn't.

Jim B- What makes this business so tough for me is the lack of competent responsible help. As a sole proprietor, like most of you I am CEO, CFO, Sales Manager, Salesman, Project Coordinator, Stock Chaser, Purchasing agent, Secretary, and Janitor. Like Peter says, if you care a damn about your reputation you have to baby-sit every job and harp on things over and over and over. Once you get a guy to the point where he can take some of the burden, he becomes your competition. Its nice to vent but come to think of it that's the American way and if we were able to bar the door on the next guy none of us would be here.

Grumpy- Here is what I think. The veterans say it is tough because it is tough and they have the experience to prove it. Every industry is tough once you scratch the surface. I don't think you could toss any of us into upper management positions in any industry and we'd say, "It's easy". Some may be easier than roofing but being specialized in what you do, no matter what it is that you do, is tough in general. Words of Wisdom. On the day I started at the last company I worked for my boss told me "You will learn to love roofing". At the time I was in it only for the money. It became one of my passions.

Lefty- Hi , The materials are so heavy.

Gak- The toughest part for me personally is that my body is too beat up to do it like I used to. I could not pay my bills on what I could produce anymore. It's forced me to use my brain a hell of a lot more. In general it's tough because it's so hard to find good help- too many guys thinking that being in business is easy and end up working for wages and dragging prices down so far that you cannot make a good living competing against them. I am fortunate that I don't have to compete to get most of my work. The insurance companies make things even harder. Just mention the word roofing and if they are still talking to you at all the prices just quadrupled, doesn't matter if you never had a claim. They have us by the short hairs. But you can't dwell on the bad stuff. Just have to keep on plugging away.

Jet- Tough? This is the most fun I've ever had in my life, No kidding! If you're not having fun you're in the wrong business, Believe me!

Mike J- Yes, roofing is a tough business. Sure is. Would some one please tell me: What business is any easy, and profitable business?

Bob T- It's easier roofing now than 40 years ago when most shingles were carried up the ladder, no nail guns and BU roofs were done by hand, no takers and pumps, no cranes, no single plies. You all got it made now.

Andy- Individually: Up until I discovered Roofers Coffee Shop, the feeling that I was the only one dealing with the challenges common to this trade. This board helps and I've found some really great seminars that pointedly address our trade from a small business perspective. What would make it easier: Hmmm, some times I think that if I could establish a partnership with another one of me it would take a little of the pressure off. To move in that direction, I've begun talking to myself a lot more lately. "Targeted" by the insurance industry? I think not. Insurance costs base their rates on experience. I would like to see the commercial and the residential rates separated, just to see what the outcomes would be. Higher taxes? Are you suggesting they could get any higher? I don't pay taxes on my business, my customers do. At such times as my customers become unwilling to pay my tax bill (and theirs) I guess it will be the sign to move on. And if we think they are high now, just wait for the single payer national health care program to get put in motion.

I like the one about the materials being, heavy, made me laugh!

But on a serious note, I believe that the roofers trade is not any tougher than other trades out there. Yes, it can be challenging, and yes, it is seasonal. It involves some level of risk and the industry also has a lot of competition (sometimes not skilled). COntractors are cutting prices at the expense of quality and people will always follow the lower prices.

Those who know their business cannot cut costs too low, and unfortunately, customers cannot always understand that.

Hey Folks,

Hope You all are having a Great time.

This is Dan kogan. Being a Builder and  Remodeler, I have my own company in new york: contractorandconsulting.com

Feel  Free to Ask us about Your Doubts and Inquiries- 212-222-2151

Email : dankogan0@gmail.com 

Thank You

Have a Nice day.

Professional experts do exactly the same work as they've said. This is the reason hiring them for such type of work is vital.

Some info from an article by Laura Walter in EHSToday regarding fatalities from roof falls from 1992-2009 in the USA construction industry.

20,498 construction deaths 6591 of these from "falls" 2163 deaths classified as "falls from roofs"

76% of fatalities in roofing are from falls. (DUH)

Roofers experience 3 times more likelihood of a fatality from a roof fall than other construction workers. (Again DUH)

Residential market workers disponportionatly higher at 34% of fatalities when compared to total workers employed.

Small business (less than 10 employees) disponportionatly higher at 67% of fatalities when compared with total workers employed in residential market.

Hispanic workers disponportionatly higher at 35% fatalities when compared to total workers.

Ethnic workers disponportionatly higher at 34% when compared to total workers.

Almost 50% of fatalities occur in the South.

Reading some info based on this study they concluded that small companies had less training in fall protection and did not implement the training as often as larger companies did. They also concluded that Hispanic and ethnic workers had language barriers preventing them from fully understanding the proper procedures to implement.

Twill, that's a name you won't be seeing again for awhile. I am sure you can find the data somewhere, OSHA tracks it.

I want to add years later, that WE make it tough on ourselves. It would be collusion to make it easier, but so many within the industry are so quick to cut their own throats. Mike H said there is low capital investment to enter. That may or may not be true, depending on your setup. Certainly a paper contractor may enter pretty easily and quickly with a few grand in pocket (in Illinois).

I know from previous conversations with Mike H, that he will disagree with this comment, but licensing (WHEN ENFORCED) can alleviate some of that get in cheap contractor mentality. Illinois has licensing and I am pleased to finally see it getting enforced somewhat. While there are plenty of licensed hacks it is a start. I would like to see Continuing Education Credits be attached to licensing.

More so the technical side of running a roofing business isn't as hard as the administrative side of running a roofing business. MANY of the "contractors" I have spoken with are completely clueless when it comes to the business die of things. Alot of these same guys are very skilled tradesmen, which is why I have been saying for years that being the worlds greatest roofer doesn't qualify you to run a roofing business. This is why contractors are quick to cut their own throats, they don't even realize they are doing it. Often many contractors don't understand their costs, their budgets, how long things take etc... Often they don't account for overhead properly or properly compensate themselves thus driving the costs way way down, making a very tough trade even tougher.

From the roofing side, the actual work is damned hard. I can think of many trades which are alot easier, which even though they are easier, those trades earn alot more money than roofers. What sense does that make? We do it to ourselves! As an industry, We make our beds, and we have to sleep in it.

I would say Aaron's statements are pretty accurate concerning falls from the "roof". The only thing I would add to what he said is that most of the falls are not actually from the roof but from the ladder. Usually while making the transition from the ladder onto or off of the roof. I guess they have never heard of a rope to tie the ladder off with.