New Customer Throws Us a Curveball!

Kinda. This gentleman owns over 200 commercial properties. He watched our crew installing a new foam roof with chopped glass 2 weeks ago - said he parked down the road and watched us frequently.

He was impressed with my son, Clint, and told him: "I met your crewman, Trevor, and he was very well-spoken and polite..."

We bid 8 jobs for him - from 1500 sq. ft. to 32,000 sq. ft - got them all. Said he'd keep a crew busy through November. Then when he found out we can get a winter grade foam chemical, he said he wanted us on his roofs for the next 18 months.

MikeH,

My old company has a chemical for cleaning the hoses and will even eat hardened ISO.

http://www.sprayez.com/p-141-surf-x-flush-2000.aspx

Mike H Said: Having made the investment, did the training,.... nothing but frustrations were the result. Pinholes in polyurea over foam plagued us constantly. Of the maybe 6 days in Ohio where it seemed suitable to spray, things were OK, but I just couldnt do what we wanted to do in the weather we have to work with.

Perhaps with a coating other than polyurea we might have had a better experience, but there came the day that I just said screw it. I wasnt going to be one of the guys that contributed to the bad foam reputation, and lost money on every job we did as a result.

Then there are the thousands of dollars spent on clogged lines etc because it just wasnt used enough.

I love Tom Hay. But me & foam have had a rocky relationship.

:laugh:

clover83 Said:

Is Conklin any good if the applicator is decent?

Considering their stuff is just private labelled, I'd say most of it is fairly decent, but they are the "Amway" of the roofing world. Why anyone would want to pay more for something they can buy cheaper and with the real manufacturer's name on it is beyond my ability to comprehend.

Roofguy: [ New Customer Throws Us a Curveball! ] Congrats on the landing of projects...nice to know at least a few months the work is there....

Find foam is not really that bad to do once you get the hang of it...and depends on where you are living also determines the application. Take time to learn and practice you will get it...www.roofingsanrafael.org

I'm coating one w/ GacoFlex that is 8-9 years old. Blisters everywhere that we have to cut out and fill with that expensive liquid tape. This is for our lumberyard or else I would have never jumped in to this situation.

Is Conklin any good if the applicator is decent?

I'm thinking maybe it's a geographical thing?

I haven't seen too many SPF roofs around here.

Mike, we had issues with crossovers when we were just starting but rarely have them anymore. There is a sharp learning curve but we seem to have survived it. We keep a spare Fusion AP gun and if we have an issue we don't screw with it, we just swap out and keep spraying.

Having made the investment, did the training,.... nothing but frustrations were the result. Pinholes in polyurea over foam plagued us constantly. Of the maybe 6 days in Ohio where it seemed suitable to spray, things were OK, but I just couldn't do what we wanted to do in the weather we have to work with.

Perhaps with a coating other than polyurea we might have had a better experience, but there came the day that I just said "screw it". I wasn't going to be one of the guys that contributed to the bad foam reputation, and lost money on every job we did as a result.

Then there are the thousands of dollars spent on clogged lines etc because it just wasn't used enough.

I love Tom Hay. But me & foam have had a rocky relationship.

:laugh:

Clover, at least around here, SPF gets badmouthed mostly by guys who can't do it. It doesn't take much investment or skill to install mod bit or TPO, but if you want to install good foam roofs you'll spend at least $100k and have to have a good bit of training. It's a lot easier to do a bad foam roof than it is a good one. There is a LOT of skill and knowledge involved.

To a lesser degree, chopped glass is the same. You'll spend at least $50k getting everything you need, and you aren't going to be able to teach yourself and get it right.

Forever we have marketed price, but we're going the other direction with foam. We are working hard to do the little things better so that we can demand a higher price than joe blow foamer charges. We give extra attention to conduit and gas lines laying on wood blocks, we use the higher grade coatings not just the cheapest we can get, we tape straight edges on wall flashings, etc. Toward that, I coined a new phrase that I like to use: You Get What You Spray For!

So what your saying is foam roofs got a bad name how? From bad installers?

:laugh: :laugh: Ive heard that about some other types of roofs too! *cough* asphalt shingles

No need for archives - you were right and I was wrong. :-)

I'm slow to catch on but I eventually do...usually.

Sooooo, no "wish Vickie had archived all the old Tom Hay posts" or gee Tom this foam chit aint so bad? :laugh: