(LEAK REPAIRS)

What do you charge to fix flat roof leaks on hot built up roofs with a cap?

It's all about where you're coming from.

In my hypothetical hour and a half onsite with less than 20 minutes of on-the-roof time, each repair I'm dealing with might have a homeowner at home that you interact with before and after, frequently billing and collecting. Not to mention instilling in the customer when the next service will be needed and that it will save them money in the long run. That can eat up your time, but it's wellspent time in the long run.

I don't do flat roof repairs, so I could only approach it like I was reroofing it. I've got a 1 and 1/2 square flat roof to do this Spring for $6500. That puts me at $17,333.33 for the hypothetical 8 square, quick repair. (I'd knock off 333.33 for some of my customers)

egg Said: Eight squares of quality low-slope repair is worth $2800.

Yep, it is in the eyes of the building owner, especially when his $2800 allows him to not have to spend $100,000 for a new roof for several more years.

I'm disliked by some roofers in this area (hailbelt) because I often discourage building owners from buying a new roof during hail season, even if they legitimately need a whole new roof. Building owners feel really bad when they dish out $100,000 for a new roof, then a month later it gets wiped out with baseball sized hail and they realize that if they'd have waited through hail season, State Farm would have been paying most of the $100,000 they spent.

Eight squares of quality low-slope repair is worth $2800. In present-day dollars it always was. I don't spray anything, so it takes me longer but less than a day for sure. We do fine. Everybody has some kind of niche, even if it involves more than one type of application. Large commercial jobs isn't mine, so I won't be having any tanker truck or buying into bulk discounts. Usually.

"...Some guys do repairs as a way to get a foot in the door to sell a whole roof. I try to do repairs so the guy doesn't need a new roof...." I do both, depending on what is feasible. Sometimes both at the same time. We think long-term.

As long as we go for quality we're all good.

Exactly Shaggy!

Some guys do repairs as a way to get a foot in the door to sell a whole roof. I try to do repairs so the guy doesn't need a new roof.

i agree roofguy, ive done service the last couple of years, and average 3-4 a day. i take a little extra time sometimes the boss gets pissed, but its funny how ill get there and the customer will say youre the 3rd guy here. 90% of the time i never hear from that customer again, and 70% of the time it was something obvious.

[quote]The only issue I have is, as one who survives on repairs, I find it extremely rare to be able to do more than three in any single day. (Even if I fix multiple issues on a single roof, I only consider that one repair.)

If I charge $350 ea for 8 "patches" I did 8 repairs. Semantics. $2800 is what is the important number. Additionally, when I tell people our rig can do 100 sq ft in 60-90 seconds sometimes they think I'm full of it...until I show them proof on our video wiht a clock running in the background. Many times we've "chopped" 400 SQRs in a day with 3 men. This is akin to a 2-3 ply fiberglass mop job, but actually lasts much longer.

[quote] How long is the setup and cleanup time for one of your rigs?

If you're pumping from the onboard bulk tank, and the roof is ready, it takes about 10-15 minutes to get your hoses on the roof, and a second guy is carrying up a box of glass so no additional time for that. Guy #3 is starting the rig. Not very long. We don't flush our hoses at the end of the day, just pull a rubber glove of the nozzles, roll up the hose, wash your hands and go home. I dunno, can be done in 15 minutes, or you can take 30 minutes, depends on how bad you want to go home. Can it take 45 minutes, or 60? Yep, if you aren't in a hurry it can take as long as you want.

[quote]Before I got the spray unit that I now use for a moss treatment, I sometimes applied it by running it through my pressure washer. The actual application time would be under 5 minutes (it had better be, because the machine was pumping over $30 per minute in chemicals.) But with setup and teardown time, it would be at least an hour-and-a-half job.

Sheesh, even SPF doesn't take that long. :)

Years ago I challenged all comers in other roofing systems to see if anyone could keep up with us - it was a very public challenge. Nobody accepted, they all knew that no SPF rig, no hot BUR rig, no mod bit crew, no EPDM or TPO crew could do even 25% of what can be done with a chopped glass rig in a day. And I'm not just talking about a Kold King rig, Kade's rig could kick their rears too.

I know I know, speed isn't the ultimate goal. But keep in mind, this system works best for large commercial and industrial roofs - I wouldn't recommend it for a 10 SQR shoe store. Since we specialize in large roofs, big production numbers are possible.

OK, Roofguy, you got me. Sometimes I tweek people just for the sake of it. The only issue I have is, as one who survives on repairs, I find it extremely rare to be able to do more than three in any single day. (Even if I fix multiple issues on a single roof, I only consider that one repair.)

How long is the setup and cleanup time for one of your rigs? Before I got the spray unit that I now use for a moss treatment, I sometimes applied it by running it through my pressure washer. The actual application time would be under 5 minutes (it had better be, because the machine was pumping over $30 per minute in chemicals.) But with setup and teardown time, it would be at least an hour-and-a-half job.

wywoody Said: Roofguy, I look at your 8 repair-a-day formula and then remember you said you live in a town of 1300. A town that size might have, what, about 150 flat roofs? So in one months time, youve repaired every roof in town, made lots of money. But what are you going to do the next month.

I live in a town of 2100, which is a 6 minute drive to a city of 210,000 (Lubbock). Our other roofing company is in Dallas. The 1300 pop. town is Spur, where I lived about 10 years ago.

You guys look too deep into the minutia in a hypothetical. :cheer:

Incidently, the hypothetical was extremely conservative. The bottom line is this: The customer doesn't find nobility when you take 3 days to repair 8 leaks that I can repair in 3 hours using high production equipment, even if we both charged $2800. It's a little like the Ace Hardware guy complaining that Walmart's $5 Crescent Wrench isn't as good as his $13 Crescent Wrench. We had this same debate on RCS many moons ago. The contractor who has done his homework and invested in high capacity and low cost has two choices: 1. He can bid lower and get more work...whereby his competitors label him a lowballer. or; 2. He can bid what everyone else does and make a lot more profit...whereby he's labelled greedy.

It's a catch-22.

Roofguy, I look at your 8 repair-a-day formula and then remember you said you live in a town of 1300. A town that size might have, what, about 150 flat roofs? So in one months time, you've repaired every roof in town, made lots of money. But what are you going to do the next month.

glassemulsion Said: The golden rule in sales is never leave money on the table! with that said run your business with honesty and give fair pricing. somtimes i feel i am two low thats why i ask what the going rate is.

I hope you found what you are looking for. I know I didn't learn anything but I already know what I charge and it works for me. Now if I can just round up 8 roof repairs tomorrow....

The golden rule in sales is never leave money on the table! with that said run your business with honesty and give fair pricing. somtimes i feel i am two low thats why i ask what the going rate is.

jimAKAblue Said: Ive re-read the thread and the only post I understand is mine LOL. You guys have your own cryptic way of discussing things and very little make any sense to me; not that it matter.

We're roofers, what do you expect? If we all spoke the same dialect, that could lead to agreement, and there is no point in letting that happen.

I've re-read the thread and the only post I understand is mine LOL. You guys have your own cryptic way of discussing things and very little make any sense to me; not that it matter.

jimAKAblue Said: Err...im kinda sorry that I spoke up.

Carry on...

You said $250-$350/SQR sounded cheap. It is cheap. But then I was criticized for making too much profit at those numbers. So one guy thinks I'm too low, another thinks I'm too high. I must be about right. :cheer:

But this goes back to an age-old argument on RCS. One in which I think people get it wrong more than right. How much profit a guy makes in a day isn't really part of the equasion. If he has invested much time in getting the same materials for a lot less money than the competition does, and he has invested in equipment that can install 40,000 sq feet while the competition can do maybe only 5,000 sq ft or less, has he gouged the customer when his competition grosses a lot less in a day? No, he hasn't. All that matters is the customer is getting the same quality roof that lasts the same number of years - how much money each contractor made per day is not part of the equasion as far as the customer is concerned. I answer to my customer, not to other roofers.

I've been doing this awhile myself.

Three hours does this hypothetical job. Start to finish.

Driving time was not addressed for a good reason. One, in this area you can be from one end of town to ther other in 15 minutes or less, at rush hour. Two, these were very round numbers - my cost of emulsion is closer to $456 rather than the $570 I used. I figured conservatively because we're dealing in round numbers here.

In my hypothetical I figured 1 hour spraying time to do 8 SQRS. I also figured 20 gallons per SQR when more like 15-18 will do the job. Our rig does around 1 SQR every 60-90 seconds (see a 10' x 10' area done with timer running at video below). You can do the math, even with accounting for time for moving between patches, the 1 hour I budgeted is more like 20-30 minutes.

The point being that I figured very conservately at every juncture, and the other details you mentioned are more than absorbed into the mix. The job has $2100-$2200 gross profit in it, just like I said it does.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IvSPG9bnpM

I don't know how long you've been roofing - evidently a long time. But it's a mistake to pass me off as some rookie who doesn't know how to calculate cost. I've been doing this 31 years - which may not be as long as you have been doing it - but my 31 years includes in excess of 20 million SQR feet of personal experience. I'm no rookie.

A guy asked a very simple question, I gave him a very simple and accurate answer.