# Everyones a roofer



## johnk (Apr 23, 2007)

What really bugs me is countless people i talk to tell me how easy they think roofing is.I had an electrician tell me he watched someone do a torch-on and how easy it looked(what a maroon)Ive been torching for 15 yrs and there is always room for improvement.Ive laid down the torch now for tpo,but that besides the point.Ive seen so many roofs that look like they were applied by school children and it probably was these idiots that thought roofing was so easy.Roofing takes years to master and even then there is always something new to learn.Every job has its own obstacles.So there really isnt anything easy about roofing,but it is very easy to run your mouth


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## reveivl (May 29, 2005)

Everyone's a roofer, but not everyone is a good roofer. Or a plumber, electrician, drywaller, finisher, etc, etc.

The point is to be good at whatever you do (or hire the appropriate trades) and charge accordingly, the phone will ring...

Everything looks easy if you're good at it, I just spent a day under the supervision of an electrician twisting wires and making every mistake in the book, at one point I said "one day I'll teach you how to build stairs and you will look this dumb." He laughed and said "you're not doing so bad, I'll let you build the stairs."


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## theroofinggod (Jun 28, 2007)

usually the thing those guys do best is talk


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## Chris Johnson (Apr 19, 2007)

You guys can have all the roofs you want...I promise I don't want your job.


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## 2ndGen (Apr 6, 2006)

I had one customer complain about the price of the job "*after*" I did the job and wanted to renegotiate the price. 

They said that it was too easy for the money I charged. 

Now, let me set up the story...
it was a 2 story 3 layer tear-off, 
brackets and planks all the way, 
bad access to the house, 
lots of details and dormers and long valleys,
and it was typically 97-99 *humid *degree days! 

I lost it. 

I told them the only discount I'd give them is that I'd go right back up that ladder and tear off the roof and take their decking as collateral until they payed me. 

I turned around and told my guys that the customer didn't want to pay us and that I wanted them to tear-off the work we just did and to throw it on the ground. Without missing a beat, they began putting their belts back on and began to climb back up the ladders. 

Of course, the homeowner had a change of heart. 



*I hate the ones who say "I could do it myself, but..."*



One homeowner who was one of these "it's so easy" types pushed me to my limit (again). He claimed roofing wasn't so hard. 

I told them to pick up a bundle. That's it. Just pick it up. 

They couldn't even lift the bundle off the floor. 

I told them to imagine picking it up, 
walking with it on their shoulder,
carrying it up a ladder 2 stories, 
getting on top of a plank and walking it up the roof. 
80 times throughout the day. 

And I said it in a *not *so nice way. 


They didn't say another word to me after that. 

(My temper wasn't very good for business.)


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## tinner666 (Nov 3, 2004)

I had one call the other day. 35mile drive. I pointed out my $25.00 TRIP FEE AND $250.MINIMUM CHARGE. He proceded to tell me that since it was only about 4-5 shingles blown off a 4 year old roof, the repair would only cost $25 total.:laughing::laughing:

Needless to say, I never heard from him again.:notworthy


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## 2ndGen (Apr 6, 2006)

tinner666 said:


> I had one call the other day. 35mile drive. I pointed out my $25.00 TRIP FEE AND $250.MINIMUM CHARGE. He proceded to tell me that since it was only about 4-5 shingles blown off a 4 year old roof, the repair would only cost $25 total.:laughing::laughing:
> 
> Needless to say, I never heard from him again.:notworthy



I had one guy offer me a whopping 20 bucks for a one hour 2 man repair to his roof. 

He said times were bad and that I should be happy to have work.

I told him fine. I told him to give me the $20. first and that I'd be back the next day to do the job. For some reason, he didn't want to do it that way. :whistling


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## dougger222 (Jan 29, 2004)

Had a home owner and his kids tear off a home which I shingled in. The tree fort roof was about a square and when the house was done asked how the tree fort was going. The home owner came up to my vehicle were a couple workers were sitting and waved a $20 spot in front of them asking if they'd go shingle the tree fort! They sort of gave him a funny look but after he left they got talked into doing it. 

While the workers shingled the tree fort the home owner and I drank captain cokes in the garage! The workers sort of thought he was trying to get me drunk so I'd forget to ask for the payment.

Got the job done and paid and have done a number of jobs for him for my full asking price with no problems. Perhaps he decided his roof would be my test.

Speaking of tree forts had a big wig 3M home owner on the most exclusive lake in MN make me tear off and shingle the tree fort with the extra shingles. Two weeks later his house got hit by lighting and he said he only found four staples and a pop can which he thought was the painters after we finished. On that job must have spent 2+ hours on my hands and knees cleaning up the landscaping after the initial cleaning. More than likely the staples came out of the downspouts.

Had a couple home owners critisize my price for a roof bid over the phone but never after the roof was done. One builder though after getting the invoice said, "I should have been a roofer", and "I think I"m going to have to get a loan for this payment". The first comment was after doing a $2,200 roof in one day with my dad. Wow huge money, LOL!!! The other was a 75sq 12/12 roofed in the dead of Winter, took 5 days.


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## RooferJim (Mar 6, 2006)

well just look at what a mechanic charges by the hour in a repair shop. Roofers dont always get the respect they deserve. We work on heights in sometimes unsafe conditions protecting the homeowners assests. Shelter is a basic human neccecity and without a good roof you aint got it. Bad roofers and new contruction guys give the impression that a roofer is a roofer a comodity trade of unskilled labor. Nothing could be further from the truth.
When I got my Journeymens certificate after graduating from the roofers apprentiship program I considerd it a great honor. Another point is to look at our workers comp rates compared to that of a auto mechanic. We are a respectable trade, we just have our share of fools in the trade that lower the bar, but in reality they are not worthy of the honorable title of Roofer.


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## troubleseeker (Sep 24, 2006)

The operative word here is "roofer". Big difference between a roofer and a shingle nailer.:thumbup:
I'm with chris johnson on this one too, don't have to worry about me wanting your job.
Problem is, every unemployed hack with a ladder , a truck, a bundle of base flashing, and a bucket of mastic is suddenly a roofer. No clues about anything else.


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## Teetorbilt (Feb 12, 2004)

I'm one too:whistling Got all of the info off of this site and did a neighbors shed with shingles, far from any of my specialities. Going to do my own shed with metal. First timer but how tough can it be?


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## apkole (Mar 18, 2006)

Just noticed a blue tarped roof a mile down the street from my home. Our roofs have about a foot of snow on them right now. I seem to remember what looked like a homeowner project this last summer on that house. Tarp covers the area where the attached garage roof intersects the siding on the house wall. 

Yessir, how hard can it be. Any one can nail shingles. Flashing? Where we live, we don't need flashing.

With number of Michigan unemployed climbing, and most of them blue collar, I can see alot of new "competition" showing up this summer.


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## Mike Finley (Apr 28, 2004)

It's easy to do any trades job in construction ....

... that's the way most think, cause in their minds all they are thinking about is the 'easier' task.

Anybody can replace a p-trap. Let em figure out proper venting...

Anybody can replace an outlet. Let em figure out how to upgrade a service...

Anybody can nail on a shingle. Let em figure out how to thread a valley so it doesn't ever leak. ..

:no:


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## johnk (Apr 23, 2007)

Anyone probably could roof a shed,I could think of a hundred things you couldnt roof right,read all the books you want.No learning like hands on:furious:


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## 2ndGen (Apr 6, 2006)

troubleseeker said:


> The operative word here is "roofer". Big difference between a roofer and a shingle nailer.:thumbup:
> I'm with chris johnson on this one too, don't have to worry about me wanting your job.
> Problem is, every unemployed hack with a ladder , a truck, a bundle of base flashing, and a bucket of mastic is suddenly a roofer. No clues about anything else.


What's the "big difference" between a Roofer and a shingle nailer?

(I'm a Pedigree Roofer! I could roof carrying a ladder while peddling a bike and wearing my hand tools around my waist! :laughing


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## 2ndGen (Apr 6, 2006)

Mike Finley said:


> It's easy to do any trades job in construction ....
> 
> ... that's the way most think, cause in their minds all they are thinking about is the 'easier' task.
> 
> ...


I have a lot of respect for my fellow tradesmen. While I can install my own lighting fixtures or add an additional socket to my house, I don't. I wouldn't. I know the basic fundamentals to electrical work, but not the trade secrets that only a Master Electrician can develop. The last thing I would do is electrical work...I'll call in an expert to do such an important job. I could tune up my truck, but I wouldn't rebuild my engine (much less call myself a mechanic). 

Who in their right mind would hire a Walmart Associate to do brain surgery on them?


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## 2ndGen (Apr 6, 2006)

johnk said:


> Anyone probably could roof a shed,I could think of a hundred things you couldnt roof right,read all the books you want.No learning like hands on:furious:



Yep. Wanna impress me? Shingle in an eyebrow window, or cut a 30' valley perfectly. Show me a consistant 1" overlap around the perimeter of an out of square roof. Bring a roof around over a dormer to meet up with the other side of the field. Or how's about a 30 foot eave to ridge run with 3 tabs with perfectly aligned keys/cutouts. 

In fact, install 3 tab shingles on a 120' X 40" roof without allowing the courses from varying no more than 1/8".

Or work like my old man...install a roof with a large field area (50 squares+) *without *using a chalkline to keep your courses straight. 

But first, you're going to need a set big enough to carry in a wheel barow for those times that you have to work 40' in the air on mansard roofs on windy days between two houses that are maybe 4' apart. 

There's a reason we're such a unique breed, there's a reason construction workers gasp when you tell them what you do for a living...we are the most unorthodox tradesmen of all the trades. 

And that's why I'm great at it. 

:thumbsup:


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## Brock (Dec 16, 2007)

Have to admit I taught myself to roof in about 15 minutes, and probably have done over 300 reroofs and new construction to date. I have taught several newbies to roof and would say all of them were experts within thirty minutes or so. I would compare it to learning to drive a car or learning to stack blocks. It's just not as fun. BTW you would get run off one of my jobs if I caught you chalking course lines. If you have to do that you need to get an office job.


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## reveivl (May 29, 2005)

"...construction workers gasp..."


Let's not get carried away.


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## Patrick (Apr 12, 2006)

Brock said:


> Have to admit I taught myself to roof in about 15 minutes, and probably have done over 300 reroofs and new construction to date. I have taught several newbies to roof and would say all of them were experts within thirty minutes or so. I would compare it to learning to drive a car or learning to stack blocks. It's just not as fun. BTW you would get run off one of my jobs if I caught you chalking course lines. If you have to do that you need to get an office job.


Interesting


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