Work is Slowing down

Hasn't rained here for about 10 days now so the work is drying up. ( pun intended )

No rain in the forecast for anytime soon either!

Time to hunker down and keep spending to a minimum.

How's the workload for you guys?

We finally got some rain this evening. Maybe a half inch. We got an inch last week but since July hit we have been really dry here. The first half of the year was extremely wet and the repair business was booming. We were 3 weeks behind. Without the rain the repair calls have all but dried up. Repairs are great for steady cash flow. I miss the steady flow of checks coming in. They average about $400 and 10 of those a week can really help the bottom line. As long as they are done right and don't result in a bunch of callbacks.

I had a few of those "bad experiences" myself.

I finally started making two seperate contracts. One for the roof replacement and the other for whatever else it was they wanted outside of that.

That way if some BS issue developed with the off work, the check for replacing the roof was still due and payable NOW.

We always did the roof work first too and waited for payment before starting the other work.

Many years ago I had a bad experience with a leaky gutter corner on a reroof. The customer was withholding the check (about 25k) until he knew the gutter leak had stopped, requiring 2 callbacks. So for over a decade after that, if someone mentioned leaky gutter corners, I said "call a gutter company."

A couple of years ago, though I started doing them for $35 per corner. Now I offer to do them to the customer if I see stains at the seams(except if they're scary, then I keep my mouth shut). Every case of gutterseal, about $100, I go through generates about $2100 for about 8 hours of extra work on sites that I am already working. I go through about a case per year.

As to my workload, I have about a week and a half to fill between now and mid-October.

Well, my state has a history of being called backwards.

Evidently it is an appropriate assumption because every time I mention a couple other small things up there, they want me to fix that too right on the spot along with the rest at no extra cost. :laugh:

I finally just quit telling them about it and let them call me back later when they realize there is another problem. :blink:

Willie, it goes something like this.....

Me- Got it done for you, you're all set. them- thanks, it went OK? Me- yup. I did notice a few minor things up there you might want to keep an eye on. them- really? serious things? Me- no, just some maintenance that should be taken care of before the snow flies. Them- should I be worried? Me- nope, not yet, but they could be a leak in the winter months. If you want I can come back before winter and run up there and take care of them, probably about $150-$200. no biggie, just pointing them out. You know what they say, "proactive, not reactive.". probably save you a few bucks now instead of when we have to remove snow and ice too. them- Yeah, why don't you put it on your schedule to come back later on when you're not so busy. Me- no problem, I'll give you a ring before I stop by.

$$$$$

yeah twill, before the sob's came in large numbers everyone had a big back log of work. I talked to a friend of mine that runs the biggest company in the state a couple weeks ago. Ten years ago they kept over 20 crews busy without any storm work and kept a 3-4 month backlog. I asked him how long before they could put on a roof. He says less than a week.

GKRFG, Good to hear someone has the work going on right now. I had ONE lead to run today but made the sale. So that will help.

That's very interesting GSD. Whenever I see something else wrong with the roofs and mention it they just act like I'm trying to sell them something they don't need. I finally just quit mentioning it to them.

Willie, when I'm doing a service call, as I'm doing it or after, I'll walk the roof real fast, write down a bunch of stuff about the roof. when I go down to the owner/boss, to go over what I did, I'll also tell them about what shape their roof is in, what problems are coming up that will be issues, and approx. the costs of them. Then I ask if they want me to throw some of the more important ones on the schedule before the weather turns so we don't have to include snow removal and dry time etc. to the service call. Most of them do a couple of the problems. they are nice filler jobs.

Not sure why but we are as busy as I have ever been. I am probably booked up to Thanksgiving which is a month earlier than our normal backlog at this time of year. I have 7 guys working and also have a few reroofs that I am subbing out to another roofing buddy of mine. I have 26 jobs on the board right now and the mad rush hasn't started yet. Usually the phone goes crazy starting middle of September with people who say they want the roof done before winter. Not sure what I am going to be able to do for them. I'll try to put them off until spring so that when winter ends we can hit the ground running. I can actually coast right now. Planning on another 5 long weekends off for fishing and camping in the northwoods and have a 10 day hunting trip planned for mid November. The older I am getting the more vacation time I am taking. B)

"Many years ago when I did installs, we kept a 1-3 month backlog of work all year round. That number began to shrink a little at a time over the years until it became a week or less. I think in large part illegal immigration is responsible for it."

The basic downfall of the American Economy has been too much capacity, whether it be mfg., or construction.

Whether it be a direct cause of a slowdown or indirect for any industry, people, ( shipping jobs overseas with generous tax breaks, or an illegal workforce here) needs to be sorted out on an individual basis.

A comforting thought is that 97-98% of the American Voters, vote for the destruction of the American Economy every other Nov.......we now lead the world in scams and invasions. A real classy bunch we are.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it! :laugh:

Wow! You guys covered a lot of topics in those 4 replies.

1) Lack of quality help

2) The fall rush

3) maintenance packages

4) weather patterns

5) Injuries

6) Smaller workloads than years past

I don't have any help so I don't have the first problem.

Don't do installs anymore so I don't get the fall rush anymore.

How does that work with the maintenance packages GSD?

We've had double the normal rainfall for the year so I guess I can't complain. I don't need a lot of calls to keep only myself busy. They will come in due time.

I've been fortunate enough to avoid injury for some 25 years now. I'm very thankful for that. A guy from another forum fell and dislocated his hip the other day.

Many years ago when I did installs, we kept a 1-3 month backlog of work all year round. That number began to shrink a little at a time over the years until it became a week or less. I think in large part illegal immigration is responsible for it.

We have been on a roller coaster ride all year. I'm about a month deep right now. Before 2009, we were 3 months deep every year w/ twice as many guys as I have now. Then the storm hit, super busy, and now super slow. Just when I think I'll be out of work, I sell 3-5 roofs. I cut tendons in my hand, another guy turned his wrist and has been awaiting surgery for 2 months. Plus many other excused absences this year has really made things trickle along.

I've got a lot of good bids working that I'm really hopeful about.

This week I have been working for the ER doctor who sowed my hand up the day I cut two tendons, did his roof and now his mothers. That will help pay my medical bills!

Going good. Rain here about 2 days in the week. keeps the service calls coming in but also my maintenance stuff is there and I'm working with a property management company to do exterior work that the city has ticketed them on a few houses. all in all, I'm pretty busy. trying to keep the schedule manageable.

Very slow......There's no qualified help out there anyway.

We just finished-up a charter school tenant finish, have a couple of small re-roofs and a couple of small condo projects, (under 100sqs each).....That's about all we've got on the books so-to-speak.

Bid quite a bit of work over the summer. Most went cheap. Some will call us in a few weeks in a panic to get-r-done before the snow flies.

There's typically a re-roof frenzy about Sept/Oct here, so I'm sure we'll be busy.