Holiday Gifts for the Contractor in Your Life

By Don Kilcoyne, GAF.

All year ‘round, roofing contractors spend their time, energy and considerable talents helping to make homes and businesses safe and dry.

How do you reward such selfless dedication to protecting what matters most? By making sure your favorite roofer has a holiday to remember. (And if your favorite roofer is yourself? That’s OK too!) 

The GAF ProBlog is proud to present these last-minute gifting recommendations for contractors and the folks who appreciate them. 

Safety First

Does anything say “I care about you” quite like a stocking full of personal protection equipment? Worker safety is a primary concern for all GAF factory-certified contractors, in both the residential and commercial categories. 

First of all, every roofer deserves the kind of professional safety training they can get from GAF CARE: the Center for the Advancement of Roofing Excellence. To find out about local course locations and times, contact CARE at 1-866-671-2273 or email CARE@gaf.com

In addition to training, chances are good that your favorite contractor can — and will — use something on the following list. But be sure to talk to them before shopping, to make sure you’re choosing equipment that suits their work routine. Most of these items can be found right at your local big box home improvement or local hardware store. 

• Protective gloves — You can never have too many

• Protective eyewear — These get misplaced more often than mobile phone charging cables

• Earplugs — When using loud power equipment

• Hard hats — Because gravity is not always your friend

• Steel-toed boots — Boots in stockings? Why not?

• Safety harness — This is a bigger investment, so be sure to talk it over and make sure you’re getting one your roofer will be able to use. 

Tools

We hear from roofers every day who started their business with a ladder, a beat-up pickup, and a discount nail gun. So however successful your favorite contractor may be today, you can be sure they’re always happy to work with new high-quality tools. Here are some of commonly needed items in a steep-slope or low-slope roofer’s toolkit:

• Ladder — Unless you’re Spider-Man you’re going to need one eventually

• Nailgun and Compressor — The quintessential roofer’s tools

• Roofing hammer — All-in-one cutter and driver

• Circular saw — Cordless, of course

• Battery charger — With spare batteries for productivity

• Reciprocating saw — With wood and metal blades for versatility

• Power drill or Impact driver — Cordless

Be sure to check out discounts on tools and equipment, available for GAF factory-certified contractors in the GAF Contractor Zone. (Login required.)

Technology

The roofing business is changing fast. New roof measurement and project management technologies are helping contractors work faster and more effectively. If you really want to surprise your contractor, think about gifting them one of these:

• iPad — a digital tablet makes it easy for GAF factory-certified contractors to access great GAF tools and programs in the GAF Contractor Zone, such as GAF QuickMeasure (roof reports in under an hour), WeatherHub by Accuweather, GAF Rewards, and much more. 

• A Drone. Residential and commercial contractors alike have adopted drone technology for faster and safer roof measurement and estimating. For a complete drone measurement and project planning package, check out the Fly Business Class offer from GAF and Loveland Innovations (also available to GAF factory-certified contractors in the GAF Contractor Zone). 

On behalf of the GAF marketing and communications elves, we wish you and yours a Happy Holiday Season and a safe, healthy and prosperous New Year.

Learn more about GAF.

Original article source: GAF