So much more than the roof over your head

By Dani Sheehan. 

See why the roofing industry leads to a lasting career and the many directions it provides to ensure you love what you do. 

When you talk to someone outside of the industry about what you do, have you ever found that it completely kills the conversation? “I’m in roofing,” you say, and they go, “Oh, okay, well...” and then they move on right when you’re ready to talk about the latest and greatest product or why you love a particular roofing system. For those in the industry, there’s a reason people never leave when they get into roofing. It’s an amazing community and no matter what your job title is, it can be incredibly rewarding. We recently sat down with Christopher Hall, a senior construction manager for Weatherproofing Technologies Incorporated (WTI) to learn more about his work and why he loves roofing.  

Chris started with WTI as a Construction Manager in November 2019 after 13 years at a local roofing contractor. After working his way up from an estimator trainee out of college, he had been the Vice President and Divisional Manager when he found WTI. Now, he’s a Senior Construction Manager and often gets to work with new construction managers, training them, teaching them and watching them succeed. It’s one of his favorite parts of the job, and he also loves working with customers and learning about new products or finding new solutions to problems. 

He tells us, “I would say one of my favorite projects we did recently was for an elementary school in Pennsylvania. It’s a large project. We did a metal roof system over an existing shingle roof system. The project went very smoothly, great subcontractor, and just a beautiful end product.”  

When it comes to training new roofers in the industry and getting people excited about their job, Chris explains, “It’s something you have to kind of feel, and it sounds weird saying that about roofing, but it’s one of those things that if you don’t enjoy it, it’s not meant for you.” The joke is that once you get into roofing you never leave, but Chris attributes it to the opportunities within the industry. “It’s not just as simple as, okay, we’re going to put a roof on, and we have to manage it. There are so many components. There are so many things that I even see today that I’ve never seen before that we’re always learning. There’s always more.”  

Advancements in technology have made significant changes in how you replace someone’s roof. With new coatings solutions, it’s possible to build on existing roofing systems and as technology continues to improve, restorations will be even easier. There are so many new products coming out all the time that you’re constantly given the opportunity to learn something new and it’s hard to become an expert in anything. But that’s part of the fun. Chris continues, “You’re in an industry where roofs are always going to be needed and there’s so much opportunity for growth or specialization.... Once you get into it, once you dedicate yourself and embrace the industry, there are so many directions you can go.”