What is "good enough?"

On the line snapping thread I mentioned this and I think it deserves its own thread.

When you roof, what is your standard for quality, and WHO determines it? Do you lead or do you follow?

Good enough is when I gave the customer the best value I can for the budget they have. Plus a little extra.

For me "good enough" is responding to all phone calls in a timely manner ( preferably when the phone is ringing and not having to call back though this is not always possible ) , meeting with every potential client personally, thoroughly evaluating the problem as in doing my best to forsee all potential problems that might arise and being prepared for such beforehand, coming up with the best solution and setting the job up to be done in that way, listening to their concerns and doing everything in my power to set their minds at ease, matching the brands and colors as best as can be done. Ideally EXACT when possible, Personally performing the work to ensure that what I said would be done gets done and that it gets done the way I said it would and when I said it would., making and keeping all appointments. And when all is finally done I always ask "Is there anything else I can do for you today?"

I could go on and on trying to describe what is "good enough" but basically for me, anything less than the above is "not good enough".  I understand that many companies can not do some of the things above like meeting every client personally or performing the work personally that's just how I roll!   :)

Bump

I suppose good enough would be walking away from a job with no debris in the yard, siding is as clean as when you got there, gutters are clean and operable, Ice and water shield was tucked behind the gutter, Drip edge metal was used, Starters where offset from one another, all the manufacture specs where achieved, no debris left on the roof, plastic strips removed from all of your cuts, ice and water shield sandwiches the valley area and around all penetrations, chimney was not straight but cut in using a riglet and done according to specs in the industry, and last but not least THE OWNER PAYS FOR HIS ROOF ENTIRELY...

I have my own set of standards but over the years I have had to take in to account our foreman's standards. As long as the roof is completed according to the manufacture specs. Why sweat the small stuff that will never get noticed? A good roof that doesn't leak and looks aesthetically pleasing to the homeowner is good enough..

Lanny, Depends where you are I suppose. I would'nt dream of doing a roof without edge metal, and up north you gotta have it for use in conjunction with I+W shield.

Nice John.

Good points lanny I adhere to a system for "boilerplate residential". We always install roofing the same way. We use the upgraded products much like you described, as needed. I will never disagree,however, with a homeowner about an upgrade he wants after I have explained why I think he doesn't need it.

All very valid points. I strive to strengthen the "weakest link"

Woody, it is often the things that we do even if no one is looking that make the difference. Well done!

I have developed my system over the years. It amounts to a many small things I do differently. I run a vertical chalkline to make sure the tile is laid square, even on shake tile. I make an extra miter cut on the trim where it meets at the top of a hip. Even though tile specs allow a variety of flashing options, I always go with the option that keeps water above the tile even though most are more labor intensive. I blend the tile while loading and never have color blotches. I was using antiponding metal on almost all jobs for 10 years before it was required. I use 6v valley, while most competitors use 5v or single v. My underlayment upgrades are different than my competitors. I clean all cutting dust stains off the tile.............

I rarely even tell potential customers of these differences, I just do them because they are MY standards.

We have all seen roofs where they "racked" the shingles straight up the roof with a 6" offset and never bothrered to strike any lines. It is not uncommon to look down the rows and see a 2 to 4 inch "wah wah" in the rows. Even if they pull a line at the top to straighten them out so they look straight from the ground, this would not be acceptable to me. I like to see the rows all be parrallel to each other and there is no reason in my mind that there should be more than a 1/4" deflection from straight on anything.

When nailing or stapling, even on the Certain Teed shingles where they have the "wide track" I like to see the fasteners evenly spaced across the whole length of the shingle and within the "small" lines that they "recomend" for best performance. Nails should be driven "flat" and not cutting into the shingle. The bottom shingle should overhang the drip edge about 3/8 to 1/2" That would be "good enough" for us!

Good enough... is when you deliver to your customer's expectation. The trick to to make sure you and your customer have the same expectation.

I'll just say that all my roofers always complained about me making them do things the best possible way. You know how roofers are. They are like poker players. Everyone thinks their the best that ever lived. Its an Ego thing! lol

I guess that says quite a bit!

Heres your pic john