c/roofers

Old lead flashing lessons came in handy on a modern chimney repair!

Explaining my job to kids always leads to the funniest questions

Yesterday, a little boy asked if I ever get to ride the shingles down like a slide.

Simple stretch I do to avoid knee pain after long days on pitched roofs

I do this calf and hamstring stretch before I head up on the roof. It takes two minutes and has really cut down on the ache in my knees by the end of the shift. Just hold onto something stable, bend one knee, and lean forward until you feel the stretch in the back of your leg. Do it for 30 seconds on each side, and you'll notice a difference.

Vent: Saw a roofer working without a safety harness yesterday.

It's reckless and puts everyone at risk, doesn't it?

My underlayment overlap habit fixed my callback problem

I used to rush through laying underlayment without checking overlaps. After a leak on a past job, I knew I had to do better. Now, I always pause to make sure each sheet overlaps by at least six inches. I keep a tape measure handy for a quick check. Since doing this, my jobs have had zero leak issues. It only adds a minute or two per roll, but it's worth it. My team now does the same thing after seeing how well it works. This simple step really improved our work quality.

Vent: Adopting a no-exceptions harness rule transformed my approach to safety.

I used to brush off fall protection for quick repairs, thinking it slowed us down too much. After a close call that shook me, I mandated harnesses for every job, and we haven't had a single incident since. How do you handle pushback from guys who think it's unnecessary overhead?

Shoutout to the teams who push back on aggressive schedules for membrane installations

Everyone says to cram jobs in before the weather turns, but that haste led to a major failure on my last project. I now advocate for buffer days, even if clients grumble about the delay.

I finally voiced my skepticism about mandatory third-party inspection protocols

Maybe it's just me, but I think the push for mandatory third-party inspections on every residential reroof is creating more problems than it solves. I mean, I've dealt with inspectors who delay jobs for days over minor details that don't affect performance, idk, it just feels like added bureaucracy. Last spring, a simple shingle replacement got held up because the inspector insisted on a permit revision for a vent placement that was to code. It's frustrating when these processes eat into timelines without clearly improving quality.