RoofersCoffeeShop https://www.rooferscoffeeshop.com/ Roofing Forum, Classifieds, Galleries and More! en-us Where to Start With Offering Siding Services https://www.rooferscoffeeshop.com/post/where-to-start-with-offering-siding-services where-to-start-with-offering-siding-services Mon, 07 Mar 2022 06:00:00 PST

By Evelyn Witterholt, RCS Reporter. 

Useful tips and resources to help your roofing company start taking on siding projects. 

With materials being difficult to come by, some roofing contractors have struggled to take on more roofing projects. Because of this, many contracting companies are looking into offering siding services. For those who want to get into siding but are unsure of where to start, Quarrix has your back. Recently we spoke with Nick Nobbe, senior project manager at Quarrix, about what roofing companies can do if they are starting to offer siding services. 

Nick says that a lot of people view the roof as a separate entity from the house overall, therefore they might not see why it’s important to even learn about siding. But customers on roofing projects may have questions about the siding of their homes, so it’s important to have the knowledge to answer their questions. “You want to be educated on the full system and you want to understand, so at least you can address any questions that might come up,” he said. 

By offering siding services, your contracting company will be able to take on more jobs, but where do you start? Getting educated is the first big step you want to take when getting into siding. Quarrix has training programs on siding for contractors and sales teams. These training programs help contracting companies understand the importance of rainscreen systems that Quarrix offers. They train people to understand the ins and outs of installation, project specifics, jurisdiction codes and more. 

“It's all rolled into a simple, easy-to-digest presentation,” Nick says. “And we like to tailor it based on the style of projects that a contractor or a group of contractors might have.” 

Nick recommends contacting Quarrix by email to get started with their training program. He also says that by calling their customer care number, you can get routed directly to him for any technical questions you might have. “We are very collaborative with our customers and love to engage with whatever their needs are. Even if there's not an immediate need for a project, always still happy to have those conversations,” Nick said. 

Learn more about Quarrix Building Products in their RoofersCoffeeShop® Directory or visit www.quarrix.com. 

Listen to the entire podcast to learn more about offering siding services and what resources Quarrix has to help you!

]]> Why Your Contracting Company Should Offer Siding Services https://www.rooferscoffeeshop.com/post/why-your-contracting-company-should-offer-siding-services why-your-contracting-company-should-offer-siding-services Wed, 16 Feb 2022 06:00:00 PST

By Evelyn Witterholt, RCS Reporter. 

Learn from Nick Nobbe about how your roofing company can use Wall Protection products to expand your business offerings. 

In Season 4, Episode 2 of Roofing Road Trips, Heidi J. Ellsworth talked with Nick Nobbe, senior product manager at Quarrix, about how your roofing company can benefit from offering siding services. Nick also goes into depth about Quarrix’s innovative Wall Protection products which are equipped with rainscreen technology. 

Contractors are well aware of the material shortages the industry is facing. “When you’re pigeonholed to one specific thing, and all of a sudden the supply of shingles drops, then you might not even have enough materials to complete jobs,” Nick said. He heard that a lot of contracting companies were still doing well though because they are offering other services, such as siding. 

For contractors who want to offer siding services or already are, Quarrix’s line of Wall Protection products are great to use because they are specifically designed to keep moisture out. Their ProTect Furring Strips and ProTect Drain Mat are made with rainscreen technology which prevents moisture damage in two ways: By providing a drainage plane for moisture to get out and a channel of airflow to dry out any excess raw moisture. 

Nick says that this rainscreen design “helps to keep all those materials healthy and reach the end of their usable lives versus degrading earlier.” He also mentions that the air gap acts as a barrier against UV rays which in turn helps with heating and cooling the home. 

He also recommends that contractors do research as some jurisdictions and manufacturers require a rainscreen be installed in siding projects. “A lot of the siding manufacturers are requiring it now in many instances to help prevent any premature deterioration of their product,” Nick said. 

Learn more about Quarrix Building Products in their RoofersCoffeeShop® Directory or visit www.quarrix.com. 

Listen to the entire podcast to learn more of Nick’s recommendations when offering siding services and how Quarrix can help!

]]> Nick Nobbe – Quarrix Wall Protection, the New Frontier! https://www.rooferscoffeeshop.com/post/nick-nobbe-quarrixwall-protection-the-new-frontier nick-nobbe-quarrixwall-protection-the-new-frontier Tue, 01 Feb 2022 09:00:00 PST

By Evelyn Witterholt, RCS Reporter. 

Join Heidi as she talks with Nick Nobbe about why your company should get into siding and what wall protection products he recommends. 

In Season 4, Episode 2 of Roofing Road Trips, Heidi J. Ellsworth spoke with Nick Nobbe, senior product manager at Quarrix. While Quarrix offers many great roofing products, Nick brings attention to their wall protection product line which uses new rainscreen technology. 

It might seem unnecessary to want to use wall protection products for your roofing company, but Nick breaks down why it’s worth considering. With material shortages hurting the industry and potential jobs, it’s lucrative for the sake of your company to provide other services. Siding is a great secondary service to offer because siding materials are not facing as many shortages as roofing materials. 

Nick says that it also benefits your business to have knowledge about siding because homeowners may have siding-related questions. “If you have roof to wall transitions on your house, they might ask you about that,” Nick said. “And if you don't have answers on what to do there, and you're just going to wing it when you get up there or hope your crew has some ideas for what they're going to do, it doesn't lend itself well helping you win the job.” 

Quarrix offers a line of wall protection products if you are looking into offering siding services. They have a series of furring strips and a rollable drain map, both of which create a rain screen gap between the wall and exterior siding. “They go in between the house wrap and the siding material, and it creates a gap,” Nick explains.  

When discussing what makes a good wall protection product, Nick believes it’s all about what the product is made of. “It really comes down to having really good materials, having materials that have that drainage capacity,” Nick said. “We use very durable weather-tested materials and durable engineered plastics.” 

Listen to the entire podcast to learn more about offering siding services and Quarrix’s line of wall siding products! 

Learn more about Quarrix Building Products in their RoofersCoffeeShop® Directory or visit www.quarrix.com.

]]> RoofersCoffeeShop® Will Be at IRE 2022, Will You? https://www.rooferscoffeeshop.com/post/rooferscoffeeshop-will-be-at-ire-2022-will-you rooferscoffeeshop-will-be-at-ire-2022-will-you Mon, 17 Jan 2022 18:00:00 PST

By Cass Jacoby, RCS Reporter.  

IRE promises to be one of the biggest events of the year, check out who will be at the expo! 

This year’s International Roofing Expo (IRE) promises many exciting events, products, classes and more. The expo will take place February 1-3 in New Orleans at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center.  

RoofersCoffeeShop® will be on the beat, sharing information and broadcasting live on YouTube. Additionally, you will find President Heidi J. Ellsworth moderating a panel on how to work with young people who are interested in roofing. The session takes place Tuesday at 7:45 a.m. - 9:15 a.m. CT 

The Coffee Shop will join many great manufacturers, distributors and associations as they share new ideas with roofing contractors. Make sure you stop by our booth, number 249, and visit our RoofersCoffeeShop partners too:  

Don’t miss out, register today for IRE 2022!

]]> Nick Nobbe - Quarrix Wall Protection, the New Frontier! - PODCAST TRANSCRIPTION https://www.rooferscoffeeshop.com/post/nick-nobbe-quarrix-wall-protection-the-new-frontier-podcast-transcription nick-nobbe-quarrix-wall-protection-the-new-frontier-podcast-transcription Tue, 11 Jan 2022 12:30:00 PST

 

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of an live interview with Jennifer Stone and Renae Bales, the co-chairs of National Women in Roofing. You can read the interview below, or listen to the podcast. 

Speaker 1:
Welcome to Roofing Road Trips with Heidi. Explore the roofing industry through the eyes of a long term professional within the trade. Listen for insights, interviews, and exciting news in the roofing industry today.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Hello and welcome to another Roofing Road Trips from Roofer's Coffee Shop. My name is Heidi Ellsworth, and we are here today to talk about more than roofing. When you're talking about roofing, people think, well, it's just the roof, but every contractor out there has had to work with the transitions between wall to roof, walls on the roof, wherever it may be, wherever you're putting that together. So we have today, Nick Nobbe from Quarrix here on the show to talk about those transitions and also a little bit about maybe how you can bring more siding into your business. Welcome Nick.

Nick Nobbe:
Thanks. Thanks for having me Heidi. I'm glad to be here today.

Heidi Ellsworth:
We are always glad to have you. We've had a couple of podcast now and it's always fun. Nick, just for those who maybe haven't listened to our last podcast, can you introduce yourself and just kind of tell us a little bit about Quarrix?

Nick Nobbe:
Yeah, so I'm the technical product manager at Quarrix Building Products. And at Quarrix we're a company who we really focused on protecting the home and buildings if I have to simplify it down. We have a series of products, on one category is adding protection, so that's more focused on ventilation. We have roof protection, which is a couple protective accessories to keep that roof protected and healthy. And then the third is wall protection. That's really what we'll be focusing on today. But I think the story of how we've evolved as a company in terms of, we used to just be a ventilation company. We've focused on ventilation and we've grown to realize that there's a lot of opportunity in wall protection and it was a much missed part of the home and structures. And I think that's one of the things we'll definitely talk about today is where roofers can start to focus on growth and opportunity as well.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah, I like that. And you think about dormers, you got to have wall protection with dormers. Whatever you're doing, whether you're moving down onto the sides of the building or even dormers or other types of structures on the roof, this is a really important product for contractors to protect the home. I love that, protect the building. That's so cool. So before we get into that nitty gritty, what are you seeing Nick with contractors who are expanding their business beyond roofing onto exteriors?

Nick Nobbe:
And so a couple things one, I think a lot of contractors realize every business wants to grow, it's always about growth. And a very natural way to grow for a lot of contracting businesses, especially when you're focused on roofing, siding is a very natural next step. And I think the nice thing there and the reason why is because you're still staying on the outside of the home and it all makes sense in terms of that story. I talked about with Quarrix in our story it's about protecting the home, you are an exterior solution company. So it all ties together from a sales, and a marketing, and a presentation standpoint to have those two together. Plus again, it gives you an opportunity to grow into a different category.

Nick Nobbe:
One of the interesting things though that I've seen, and I think a lot of contractors learned this during the pandemic and especially this past probably six to nine months where we saw significant shortages of raw materials and particularly asphalt shingles. The thing is, is when you are very pigeonholed to one specific thing, if all of a sudden the supply of shingles drops, then you might not even have enough materials to complete jobs. So what I was hearing a lot over this past year is the companies that were still doing well and keeping their crews busy were the ones who had other services they offered. And siding was one because siding wasn't in quite as much of a shortage as shingles were. So it's almost kind of a way to diversify your business portfolio too. And you can have different jobs going to help you when certain raw materials might not be as readily available. So it's also a way to keep your business going, even when certain parts slow down for a variety of reasons.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah, that is such a good point. And I think a lot of contractors have seen that. That you got to be able to offer what you can get around these material shortages and around labor. What can your crew do in the off season that makes sense. I think one of the other things that I've seen with contractors who have extended their business into exteriors, is they are able to build longer term relationships with homeowners and building owners. I mean, you really see that because you do the roof one year, you do the siding the next year, you do the windows the next year. All of a sudden you have a relationship with this home or building owner that when you only do one roof every 15 years, you don't have quite the same relationship.

Nick Nobbe:
Oh, for sure. Yeah. You were for sure going to make this, unless you do a very poor job on the initial installs, like whether it's the roof and the siding project, you were going to make the short list of the calls at least to come back and bid that other jobs. That's a great point that I didn't hit, but you're right. It's establishing that relationship and you're very, very likely to get a call because homeowners... Based on a lot of our research with homeowners, it really comes down to trust and name recognition and how much knowledge does my contractor have. They will have a good handle on that if they've worked with you in the past. But if they're only reading Yelp reviews or just assessing based off of your webpage, they have very little basis to make a decision of, is this a good contractor or not, but if they've worked with you, that's a pretty good indicator. So yeah, you're right. It's like you're going to be the first one getting the phone call.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah. And I want to remind everyone out there too, if you haven't listened to earlier podcasts or even our RLW, Quarrix does have an amazing homeowners study that Nick ran and did, which was across. Both written and verbal and interviews and just some great information that you can find on Roofer's Coffee Shop to really understand how those homeowners are thinking. And it really is about trust and that quality. Let's talk a little bit about, even if a contractor is saying, "I'm not going to go into siding, I'm happy just doing roofing," we still know there's going to be wall protection needed on many types of roofs. So as you're looking at that, what should a roofing pro understand about wall protection so that they can install it right and also make those transitions as they need to, especially wall soffit roof, all of that.

Nick Nobbe:
Yeah. To start high level on that one is just like going back to what I was saying earlier, it comes down to knowledge and trust. So if you can talk the talk a little bit, even if you're not doing a full blown siding job for homeowners, you better be ready because they might have. If you have roof to wall transitions on your house, they might ask you about that. And if you don't have answers on what to do there, and you're just going to wing it when you get up there or hope your crew has some ideas for what they're going to do, it doesn't lend itself well helping you win the job. So, I mean at a high level, it is just like you want to be educated on the full system and you want to understand, so at least you can address any questions that might come up, but to get more specific, like there are certain details that are important to know.

Nick Nobbe:
And even some things that in some cases might be going against or violating codes, if they do certain things like for example, let's say that siding system, if they put in a rain screen and they have an air cavity behind there for ventilation drain, which is great. If they vent that up into the attic though, that actually goes against codes, you're not supposed to be venting those. So if you come to find that, if you don't know, if you're not educated on the wall protection systems and rain screen systems and the codes there, you might actually not know that, that's a problem that you need to correct because that will potentially impact the ventilation in the attic space. So there are a lot of places and details where they can actually, it might seem surprising but it can affect the roof and the ventilation system too, based on those details.

Nick Nobbe:
So, and also on the roof, those roof to wall transitions, those are some of the most common areas where you see issues, whether it's like moisture buildup or leaks. So I think it's always really good to have that knowledge base. Now again, you don't necessarily need to be an expert and you don't need to be like... You're going to be targeting those projects all the time, but you do need to have some of that base knowledge to understand how do the roofs and exterior walls interplay with each other.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah, I think so. And taking the time to educate, you and I have talked about this a lot, educate obviously your crews. I mean that's a given, but also educating your internal staff, the people who are answering the phone, who are answering questions for homeowners. I mean really having them understand wall protection too is important.

Nick Nobbe:
Yeah, no for sure. And it just lends to that credibility. And everybody always asks me or I get forwarded so many technical questions a lot when we get phone calls or emails and you'd be amazed at how simple, I would say 85 to 90% of the questions are, and they're usually coming from homeowners sometimes from architects or builders. But a lot of times they are very simple things. And if you train your team on a couple talking points, not only are you able to address your customer's questions and concerns then, but also it just makes you and your company appear that much more educated and knowledgeable in the eyes of your customers. And again, it's not like you're having to make your team experts on very technical details. It's just a couple high level talking points and to be able to communicate features and benefits, things like that. It doesn't take a lot of time, but it goes a long way.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah. So true. So true. So, okay. We've been talking about this wall protection, but why don't you give us the overview on the Quarrix wall protection product line and tell us about your product and why it is making such a difference for contractors?

Nick Nobbe:
Yeah. So we have a series of furring strips and a rollable drain mat. It's one of those textured entangled net mats, and what all of those products do is they create a rain screen gap between your exterior siding and the wall. And they go in between the house wrap and the siding material, and it creates a gap. And there's a variety of different products that create different size gaps, but that gap is for that whole system is called a rain screen. And the idea there is you're doing two things. One, is you're providing a drainage plane. So any moisture that gets driven in behind your side material, because moisture just always finds a way in, it just naturally does. It's one of the unfortunate things, but it's what we got to protect against.

Nick Nobbe:
So allow that moisture when it does get in to drain down and out of your wall system. And second, what it does is it provides a little bit of a channel for air to flow to dry it out after that raw moisture has trapped in there. And that helps to keep all those materials healthy. And it helps them reach the end of their usable lives versus degrading earlier. And what we found is you can see this is starting to become a lot more of a trend. It used to just be out in coastal regions where they saw a lot of moisture, but now we're starting to see these rain screen systems being installed everywhere across the country. And you can see it just because we have firsthand experiences of it too. A lot of the siding manufacturers are requiring it now in many instances to help prevent any premature deterioration of their side and because what was happening is when the siding boards are sandwiched up against the wall.

Nick Nobbe:
And there's no way for that trap moisture to get out, it was degrading their materials and they were shortening the life of it. So from a warranty standpoint, it's becoming in some cases required, and now it's not fully across the board yet, but it definitely the industry seem to be trending that way. And it's a good thing because it helps keep your exterior of your house healthy. The last smaller benefit too of it is because you have that air gap that actually acts as like a radiant barrier in the sense of when that sun doesn't direct all the UV Ray that heats up your inner siding, doesn't directly transfer then into the house. So it actually helps with heating and cooling as well.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Wow. That's great. And well, I live in the Pacific Northwest and there have been a lot of siding failures because of that, because we have so much moisture. So yeah, it's not just a coastal thing, it's everywhere. And now with the weather changing as it has, and with all of the... I mean, look at the storms that we've had in December now, which is just crazy, homeowners are definitely going to be looking for these solutions to make sure that everything lasts as it should. And I love energy savings too. That's pretty awesome.

Nick Nobbe:
Yeah. A lot of benefits and it's not a cumbersome installation. It's just a little bit more time on the installers part, but it adds a lot of benefit in the long run, especially for that home.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Well, and talk a little bit about the technology behind your rain screen and the firring strips. How's that working and why is it so effective?

Nick Nobbe:
Yeah. So what we have is, I think it starts with the materials. If these are materials that are going to be keeping that siding healthy for the 20, 30, 40 years that they're supposed to last, you want to have something that can hold up to that one too. So we use very durable weather, tested materials and it's durable engineered plastics. And so with our firring strip line, they're very strategically designed and built to provide, not only creating that gap and supporting that whole system and creating that air cavity. But it also, they're designed with air channels to be able to allow that cross ventilation, because the thing is, think about it. If you just stuck a wood firring strip up vertically, every 16 inches on center on a wall, that's not going to allow air to travel horizontally.

Nick Nobbe:
So we've designed them to allow for that. Plus the thing is, if you're putting up wood firring strips, even if you do get that nice longevity in your siding, if the moisture does get to those wood firring strips, they are going to rot out [inaudible 00:16:17]. So you want highly engineered materials that are built to last. I also think about a lot of times we're seeing a lot more vertical siding installations now as well. It's just a stylistic trend, especially like wood based products. If you all of a sudden are installing firring strips horizontally, think about moisture draining down. It's going to pull on the top side of those with firring strips and then you're going to have lots of trapped moisture. So we've seen a lot of instances of that where it's a matter of you got to have the right products.

Nick Nobbe:
And that's where again, our drain mat it's about 90... I would say 92% open material. So it allows all that to track down and save our firring strips because of our drain and ventilation channels. They're designed to be able to handle that. So it really comes down to having really good materials, having materials that have that drainage capacity. And then in some instances you want to get more specific. So let's say for example based on your siding application, if you're doing maybe with stone or brick, a lot of that mortar can tend to fall in behind the wall and clog up certain products. So if you're using a drain mat for example, you want to make sure it has a protective like a membrane or a fabric on it. So it keeps the drainage portion of it protected. And so our drain mat has that and it stops, I think more from falling in.

Nick Nobbe:
And then let's say for example, if you're doing an open cladding system, decking on the walls, which is becoming a lot more of a trend, you want to make sure that you're putting firring strips behind that, that are UV stable because there's a little 1/8th, that [inaudible 00:18:02] gaps usually between the boards. So make sure you're picking the right product for your application. And luckily we've done some research on what applications are required and what are they looking for? And we've tailored products to do that.

Nick Nobbe:
But I just encourage contractors to do some research on it, figure out one, do I need a rain screen in my jurisdiction because in some cases you might be required to do it. Two, does your siding manufacturer, whatever siding material using do they have it as a requirement as part of their warranty because a lot more of them are doing it now than they used to. And then three is specific to your application. Is there a right product for you in your case. And make sure you're asking all those questions because then you can be putting the best system on to help with the longevity of that wall.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah. And you help with that sort training for contractors, right?

Nick Nobbe:
Yes. We do.

Heidi Ellsworth:
So talk a little bit about that training offering you have for the crews, but also for the sales teams.

Nick Nobbe:
Yes. So we do a lot of trainings with contractors, with installers. We usually get a mix of we'll have the installer teams on, but then we also do a lot with the sales teams and the admin teams as well. So it's a pretty, I would say all encompassing training where we start with the really high level of what is wall protection and what are rain screen systems. And we fill you in on the codes, but then go then all the way down to the ground level, technical installation questions and details, address project specifics. If somebody wants to do a training on a specific project and talk about technical details on that, we'll go all the way down to that level.

Nick Nobbe:
But it's all rolled into a simple, easy to digest presentation. So we collect it... And we like to tailor it too. So based on the style of projects that a contractor or a group of contractors might have. So we've been doing this for, I would say probably about a year now, because we've fully ruled out our wall protection line, but this goes back because we have had some of these products for many years and we just didn't really have the resources and I would say the time put behind them to really build this up. Because frankly, we didn't even see the need in the market for a long time. And then all of a sudden we start realizing, "Wow, a lot of people are doing these rain screen systems." So we do have the resources now to support for when contractors are looking to educate their teams.

Heidi Ellsworth:
See that's great. And really what you can do too, is taking that combination of the rain screens and the ventilation and everything you do that protects the building and having that bigger discussion too, because we know one thing doesn't just live by itself on a building, it influences everything else within that structure. So are you able to have through your trainings and everything mix that up a little bit?

Nick Nobbe:
Oh, for sure. Yeah. No, those are my favorites, is when we can do and we can position. It's like, "Hey, this is the whole home, everything's a system always." I always say that's the thing. I think one of the misnomers in building and construction is that the roof is the roof and the walls are the walls and they're all very isolated and independent from each other. But everything ties in together and even just comes down to, what is your HVAC system in your house, and do you have an in-home humidifier dehumidifier system? Because that is going to tie into how much moisture is in the house, which then ties into home much is in the attic.

Nick Nobbe:
And just thinking like that's one example, but there's so many instances where things that you might not think would impact other areas very much do. So I love educating our customers and anybody who's really willing to listen to say, "Hey, here's the whole big picture. Let's talk about it. And what are the challenges that you guys see on the field. And then let's come up with some solutions for that." So yeah, we can definitely package all of that up together. So it doesn't have to be just walls or just the attic or just something else.

Heidi Ellsworth:
I love it. And that just makes the contracting business even so much more powerful because you can talk to the homeowners across the board and help them. And I think that, even if you're not doing siding, if you are doing that wall to roof transition and you see something's wrong, you now can talk to that homeowner and be their hero and help them work through it. So just such a great sales and marketing strategy, but also just an overall business strategy for roofing contractors to either incorporate or at least be aware through the training of how to help their customers. So how do they get a hold of you. How they get a hold of you, how do they do this?

Nick Nobbe:
Yeah. I'm not too hard to find. If you go to quarrix.com, you can send us emails through that. You can call our 1800 number on the sign and you'll be able to get routed directly to me pretty easily. And I'm always fielding technical questions and always happy to do that or talk about of presentations or another way is, if obviously you're a Roofers Coffee Shop member, my contact information is on the website. I've done a lot of work with you guys over the last two years. So there's a lot of content there, but also my contact information is there as well. So I would say that's probably your best starting point. And then from there, just check out the Quarrix website @quarrix.com and you'll easily be able to get in touch with us and we'll be able to support whether it's training, whether it's product needs. We are very collaborative with our customers and love to engage with whatever their needs are. Even if there's not a need you need for a project, always still happy to have those conversations.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah. And for everyone out there, you can find so much from Quarrix on Roofers Coffee Shop just like Nick is saying. We've done webinars, we've had podcasts. We have all the information in the directory, which is very easy to find. And you can see them as we go into this new year at the trade shows, we'll be talking about that, getting you out there where you can actually see, get hands on. But I think that's really the key so often and distribution plays an amazing role, but to get that specific information, to get with a manufacturer like Quarrix, who really understands the overall building envelope that can make such a difference for your business. And Nick is awesome to work with. I'm just saying right now it's so much fun. That is cool. Anything else, any new things coming up for the year, Nick?

Nick Nobbe:
Yes. I'm glad you mentioned the trade. So we will be at IRE in new Orleans and I believe end of January, early February. So we will be there, we'll have a booth. So definitely stop by. We're pretty active on social media. And so we're always posting what's the latest and greatest, but we have a couple products that [inaudible 00:25:26] coming out in 2022 that I'm pretty excited for that I'm actively working on. But again, I think a big focus of mine in this coming year. It has been the last couple months, but especially thus upcoming year is going to be focusing on wall protection because rain screens are just becoming more and more common, more homeowners are asking for them. So I would just encourage contractors to at least to start some preliminary, do some research, do some reading on it, ask some questions on it.

Nick Nobbe:
If you have manufacturers, wraps or even in your distribution contacts, on the siding side of things, I would say ask some questions and take a look at that for your business because I know from our perspective at Quarrix is, again, I alluded to it. We've had just one single skew, a firring strip in our, we've had in our basket products for decades actually, but we never really put in the time and the effort and the resources behind it. And we just kept getting more and more questions. Architects were specifying it more and more. And we started to realize our industry is not quick to change. But it is starting to move and we can see this is becoming more and more common practice.

Nick Nobbe:
And I personally believe it's definitely not going away. This is not just a fad. And I do think it's going to start to find its way into a lot of codes in a lot of parts of the country, if not fully across the country. So I would definitely advise people to just start doing some research and asking some questions about this. And we would love to be your starting point for that to just help educate you. But if nothing else, I think listening to this podcast here is a great start. And we'll be happy to support along the way.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Well, I would encourage everybody out there. This is one of those nuggets. This is one of those things where you can really do something in your business that's different from everybody else and be on a leading edge. And with the way the weather is going with the way we're seeing the storms, this is the perfect time to be talking about this to your homeowners and incorporating it in your business. So Nick, thank you. I'm so excited to see you at IRE and check out all the products, we will be there also. And so this is another great opportunity to connect with all of you listening today and with Nick. So Nick, thank you so much for being on this podcast today.

Nick Nobbe:
Awesome. Thanks Heidi. I appreciate it.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Thank you. And thank you all for listening. All of these kind of information we're bringing to you every day through podcasts to really help grow your business. And you can find all of our podcasts under the read list and watch initiative under podcasts on rooferscoffeeshop.com or on your favorite podcast channel. So be sure to subscribe and get notifications so you don't miss a single one and we'll be so you next time on the Roofing Road Trips. Thanks.

Speaker 1:
Make sure to subscribe to our channel and leave a review. Thanks for listening. This has been Roofing Road Trips with Heidi from the rooferscoffeeshop.com.

]]> What Homeowners Really Value in a Contractor https://www.rooferscoffeeshop.com/post/what-homeowners-really-value-in-a-contractor what-homeowners-really-value-in-a-contractor Tue, 12 Oct 2021 12:00:00 PDT

By Colin Sheehan, RCS Reporter. 

Learn why this study suggests contractors train their entire team, from door-to-door salespeople to production. 

In Season 3, Episode 41 of Roofing Road Trips, Nick Nobbe of Quarrix Building Products joins Heidi J. Ellsworth to discuss data collected by Quarrix from a recent study. Designed to provide contractors with a better idea of how homeowners perceive the roofing process, this study suggests education is one of the most important things a contractor can do for their team and company. 

As the senior project manager at Quarrix, Nick brings all of Quarrix's services to life through his engagement with homeowners, contractors and distribution customers. He is the company’s necessary link that allows them to continue their passion: creating healthy homes and knowledgeable homeowners. 

Their research project consisted of several focus groups and surveys which interviewed people who either just had their roofs redone or were currently in the reroofing process. One of the most shocking points Nick and the team found was that 92% of homes across the U.S. do not have the right ventilation system, and that 60% of study participants did not know what type of ventilation they had on the roof.   

“Homeowners really don't know a lot about the ventilation,” said Nick. “We did find out that, not surprisingly, the bulk of the research and time they spent before their project [was] about the shingles.” 

Another surprising revelation this study highlighted was the homeowner’s lack of interest in bid prices. While many people assume the price of a bid influences a homeowner’s decision when deciding between contractors, almost none of the study participants named the bid price as the most important factor when deciding between contractors.  

“60 to 65% of people said that the number one factor was knowledge and expertise of the contractor,” said Nick. “So they wanted to go with someone who they felt like knew what they were talking about.” 

Further, homeowners were looking for a contractor they could learn from, who could educate them about their roofs and the process of reroofing.  

“I think it's so true that we need to bring more education to the field in general,” said Nick. “I would say the really great contracting companies educate their customer service teams and their door-to-door sales teams, and even their production people." 

Listen to the entire podcast to learn more about this revealing study and how you can increase your odds of being chosen by homeowners.

]]> Nick Nobbe - Selling Beyond the Shingles https://www.rooferscoffeeshop.com/post/nick-nobbe-selling-beyond-the-shingles-2 nick-nobbe-selling-beyond-the-shingles-2 Sat, 02 Oct 2021 06:00:00 PDT

By Colin Sheehan, RCS Reporter. 

What do homeowners value in a contractor? How important is your bid price? Listen to this podcast to find out. 

In Season 3, Episode 41 of Roofing Road Trips, Nick Nobbe of Quarrix Building Products joins Heidi J. Ellsworth to explore how contractors can successfully incorporate ventilation into their sales and education process for homeowners. The two discuss recent data, including how 92% of homes across the U.S. do not have the right ventilation system and how homeowners overwhelmingly want roofing salespeople who are highly knowledgeable, among other ventilation topics such as products, pricing, options and warranties. 

Nick is the senior product manager at Quarrix and acts as the company’s unofficial technical guru. Nick works to bring all of Quarrix’s services to life and helps educate contractors, homeowners and even distribution customers on the importance of correct ventilation. Everything he and his coworkers do at Quarrix can be tied back to creating a healthy, high-functioning home, paying special attention to the home’s exterior.  

One of Quarrix’s most recent research projects focused on understanding the industry from the homeowner’s perspective. They put together a series of focus groups and surveys in a variety of markets around the U.S. and interviewed people who either just had their roof redone within the last six months or were in the midst of a reroof project.  

“We found a couple of really interesting things,” said Nick. “I was just shocked at how little homeowners knew about ventilation. 60% of the people that we interviewed could not tell us what type of ventilation they had on the roof, whether it was box vents or ridge vents, or turbine vents, or some powered fan. They had no idea.” 

Instead, the bulk of the research homeowners do prior to a reroofing project is dedicated to deciding the type of shingles they will use on their roof.  

Another aim of the study was to find out what exactly homeowners look for in a contractor. Nick wanted to narrow down the most important qualities or factors that increase the likelihood of contractors getting selected for the job, and the results were surprising. 

“Not a single person chose the price as the most important factor of why they chose the contractor they did,” said Nick. “I can tell you from sitting in those focus group rooms, almost everyone consistently said that they would get two or three bids on their projects. And just about everyone told us that they did not choose the lowest bid.” 

Rather than price, 60% to 65% of people surveyed said the most important factor was contractor expertise and knowledge. Homeowners wanted someone they could trust, someone who could answer technical questions about products or quotes. Quite simply, homeowners are looking for a contractor who can explain their processes and educate them on what they are doing and why they are doing it. 

“They [wanted] a really solid answer for how things work. ‘Here's why I'm choosing the materials I'm using. Here's why I use this brand,’” said Nick. "So, it was knowledge and experience [that drove] homeowners to choose the contractor they did.” 

Listen to the entire podcast to hear more from Nick and how you can utilize the information from this study to increase your chances of being selected by homeowners. 

]]> Come See RCS at the Western Roofing Expo! https://www.rooferscoffeeshop.com/post/come-see-rcs-at-the-western-roofing-expo come-see-rcs-at-the-western-roofing-expo Fri, 17 Sep 2021 15:00:00 PDT

By Cass Jacoby, RCS Reporter. 

Don’t miss out on one of the largest regional roofing expos this September 21-23. 

Known as the premier regional roofing event in the United States, the Western Roofing Expo 2021 - September 21-23 at The Mirage Las Vegas - features a two-day trade show, 24 educational seminars, two keynote luncheons, the Roofing Games™, golf and sporting clays tournaments, an amazing welcome party and lively-silent auction and unbeatable networking with powerful industry connections. 

RoofersCoffeeShop® will be there, sharing information and handing out “Next Time You See A Roofer — Look Up To Them” bumper stickers. 

The CoffeeShop will join many great manufacturers, distributors and associations as they share new ideas with Northwest roofing contractors. View the trade show map to plan your time at the expo. Be sure to visit these RCS Partners: 

  1. ABC Supply Co., Inc. Booth 719 

  1. AccuLynx Booth 1029 

  1. Angi Booth 223 

  1. Art Unlimited Booth 611 

  1. ATAS International Inc. Booth 731 

  1. Beacon Building Products Booth 801 

  1. BITEC, Inc. Booth 306 

  1. CertainTeed Booth 909 

  1. Cotney Attorneys & Consultants Booth 1215 

  1. DaVinci Roofscapes Booth 912 

  1. Equipter Booth 208  

  1. EVERROOF Booth 613 

  1. Franklin International/Titebond Booth 724 

  1. GAF Booth 503 

  1. GCP Applied Technologies Booth 201 

  1. General Coatings Manufacturing Corp. Booth 712 

  1. Geocel (Sherwin-Williams) Booth 1106  

  1. Guardian Booth 226 

  1. HOVER Booth 828  

  1. IB Roof Systems Booth 300  

  1. ICP Building Solutions Group / APOC Booth 601 

  1. IKO Manufacturing Booth 919  

  1. Integrity Insurance and Bonding Inc Booth 125 

  1. JobNimbus Booth 930  

  1. Johns Manville Booth 1218 

  1. Leap Booth 419 

  1. National Roofing Contractors Association Booth 107 

  1. National Women in Roofing Booth 131 

  1. New Tech Machinery Booth 106 

  1. Owens Corning Booth 1101 

  1. PABCO Roofing Products Booth 301 

  1. Quarrix Building Products Booth 311 

  1. Roof Hugger, LLC Booth 832 

  1. S-5! Booth 1224 

  1. Sales Transformation Group, Inc. Booth 113 

  1. Sashco Inc. Booth 733 

  1. SIKA Corporation - Liquid Applied Roofing & Waterproofing Division Booth 324 

  1. SRS Distribution Booth 401 

  1. United Asphalts, Inc. Booth 728 

  1. Western Colloid Booth 406 

  1. Western States Roofing Contractors Association Booth 1219 

And don’t forget to check out ATAS International, Inc. at booth 731. Frank Saldana, product representative at ATAS will be speaking on Thursday, September 23 at 10:15 a.m. about Sustainable Building Envelopes. You won’t want to miss what he has to say.  

Check out the newest RoofersCoffeeShop eBook for Integrity Insurance and Bonding, Inc. and be sure to visit them at the show to learn more. 

Join Trent Cotney and the team at Cotney Attorneys and Consultants for the following educational sessions: 

  • Wednesday, September 22 

  • Navigating Legal Issues of COVID-19, Ben Briggs 

  • Empowering Your Field Leaders, John Kenney 

  • Navigating Material Volatility and Supply Chain Issues, Trent Cotney 

  • Thursday, September 23 

  • The History of Roofing, Trent Cotney and John Kenney 

  • Legal Issues When Using Subcontractors on Projects, Trent Cotney 

Register today so you don’t miss out on these opportunities to visit these RCS partners and better your business and roofing skills! 

Learn more about the Western States Roofing Contractors Association (WSRCA) in their RoofersCoffeeShop® Directory or visit www.wsrca.com.

]]> Nick Nobbe - Selling Beyond the Shingles - PODCAST TRANSCRIPTION https://www.rooferscoffeeshop.com/post/nick-nobbe-selling-beyond-the-shingles-podcast-transcription nick-nobbe-selling-beyond-the-shingles-podcast-transcription Wed, 08 Sep 2021 10:51:00 PDT

 

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of an live interview with Nick Nobbe of Quarrix. You can read the interview below or listen to the podcast. 

Megan Ellsworth:
Welcome to Roofing Road Trips with Heidi. Explore the roofing industry through the eyes of a long-term professional within the trade. Listen for insights, interviews, and exciting news in the roofing industry today.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Hello and welcome to another Roofing Road Trips from RoofersCoffeeShop. This is Heidi Ellsworth, and we are here today on this road trip kind of heading across country, but really looking up into the attic. Because today's topic is all about ventilation and I am so honored to be able to welcome back to Roofing Road Trips Nick Nobbe, the Quarrix Senior Product Manager. Nick, welcome to the show.

Nick Nobbe:
Thanks, Heidi. Happy to be here.

Heidi Ellsworth:
I love talking about ventilation with you, which is kind of funny. I mean, I'm sure some people are like, "Really?" But you always bring such a different spin to it. You really are not getting into the technical, but getting into the sales and marketing, which is one of my favorite things.

Nick Nobbe:
Yep. Yeah, no, it's funny because I came from outside of the industry many years ago and I really didn't know much about ventilation. And I think that almost kind of worked in my favor because as I started to gain that technical knowledge over learning from some people who really knew what they were doing and just going on tons of job sites, I gained all that technical expertise, but I still had that grounding and remembering what it was like to not know it.

Nick Nobbe:
And so now what I try to do when I'm talking to people about ventilation is kind of put it in terms that people understand and help people really understand the big picture. What does this all mean really and what does it mean to a homeowner? And how do you have those conversations with them rather than just diving into the weeds right out of the gate on the technical stuff? So yeah, I try to like kind of put it on a level that everybody can understand and relate to.

Heidi Ellsworth:
So smart, so smart. And so important for the end users, for the homeowners. I want to dive into that. Before we do, can you just share with everybody a little bit about Quarrix as a company and your role there and kind of just give everybody a little bit of a baseline.

Nick Nobbe:
Yeah, for sure. So yeah, like you said, I'm a senior product manager. I'm kind of our technical guru at Quarrix building products and we do a lot of things, but really it all ties down to creating a healthy home really. And especially it's on the exterior of the home and kind of that periphery of the home so we do it. We have our attic protection line, which encompasses a lot of different products that help ventilate the attic. And so that's making sure that you're keeping moisture from building up in your attic and heat from building out and keeping that attic space healthy.

Nick Nobbe:
We also have a roof protection line of products. It's a suite of products that helps keep the roof deck above your roof dry and protected from the elements too. So we have like a composite tile and we have our smart plugs and we have pipe flashings and other things to kind of help keep that roof itself healthy. And the last is our wall protection segment and we have a variety of products to help create rainscreen systems similar with your attic, that you're not having moisture buildup that's going to degrade your walls and your siding material.

Nick Nobbe:
So that's really what we offer. It's a whole suite of products across a lot of different areas, but again, it all ties down to how can we keep the exterior of the home healthy so that way homeowners are avoiding those really costly and damaging expenses over time? And I'm kind of just the technical guy who tries to bring all these things to market, bring these things to life and kind of help educate both contractors, homeowners, and some of our distribution customers too on kind of what it all means and why it matters to a homeowner.

Heidi Ellsworth:
I love that. I really think that the kind of looking at how you put it together makes a big difference too. I love the fact that you can do the whole exterior of the house and talk to homeowners about that. And I know that one of the things that you did was talk to homeowners about what they needed and what their thoughts were. And so you have some really good survey results, and I was hoping you could share those with everybody.

Nick Nobbe:
Yeah, for sure. It was probably one of the most fascinating projects I've done in my time with Quarrix because what we really were understanding is we know the industry from kind of the inside of it, but we wanted to understand it from a homeowners' perspective. So what we did was we did a series of focus groups and surveys in a variety of markets around the US and we pulled people and interviewed people who had just had their roof redone within the last six months or were in the midst of going through the process at the moment. So that was the qualifier. So it wasn't just people who had never had it done. These were people who were actually in the midst of it or had just wrapped it up. And we found a couple of really interesting things.

Nick Nobbe:
The first that you know is near and dear to what I do every day with ventilation was I was just shocked at how little homeowners knew about ventilation. 60% of the people that we polled and interviewed could not tell us what type of ventilation they had on the roof, whether it was box vents or ridge vents, or turbine vents, or some powered fan. They had no idea. So homeowners really don't know a lot about the ventilation. We did find out that probably not surprising, the bulk of the research and time they spent before their project and what they're deciding on, it's about the shingles. So we just kind of found that they didn't really think about. There's a lot of other things that go into a roof, roofing projects. So there was that, and yeah, so again, kind of a surprise to us.

Nick Nobbe:
Another thing we found too was we wanted to know why did homeowners choose the contractors that they did. What were the important factors for them? And as I'm looking at my survey results I have in front of me here, it still to this day kind of surprises me. Not a single person chose the price as the most important factor of why they chose the contractor they did. I can tell you from sitting in those focus group rooms, almost everyone consistently said that they would get two or three bids on their projects. And just about everyone told us that they did not choose the lowest bid.

Nick Nobbe:
So really what it came down to and it was about, again, 60 to 65% of people said that the number one factor was knowledge and expertise of the contractor. So they wanted to go with someone who they felt like knew what they were talking about when they had some technical questions about products or about why they were quoting the things they were doing, the things they were doing on that project. They had a really solid answer for here's how things work. Here's why I'm choosing the materials I'm using. Here's why I use this brand. And so it was really knowledge and experience was the driver for homeowners and why they eventually chose the contractor they did. So I thought those were two pretty big data points that jumped out to me during that process.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah, I agree with that. It makes so much sense to me. And I think sometimes we actually don't give enough credit to the end users, especially in today's age with the internet and everything they can do on their own research. So they already have done some of the basics and they want somebody who's knowledgeable to come and share that with them. I really see when you think about the length of a roof if it has bad ventilation, if you think about the health consequences to the home if it has bad ventilation, it seems to me like not just the salespeople. But everyone within the roofing business who's in contact with the home homeowner should be pretty well-trained on ventilation.

Heidi Ellsworth:
What are you seeing on that? Bringing that knowledge and that expertise really branding in the sales and also the whole roofing process.

Nick Nobbe:
Yeah, no, I think it's so true that we need to just bring more education to the field in general. And I would say the really great contracting companies because I work with lots of companies all across the country. And I see so many now are wanting to educate their customer service teams and their door-to-door sales teams, and even their production people. It's not just the technical people or just the person who's sitting down at the kitchen table for that final presentation to a homeowner. Because it used to be that you kind of have like one maybe expert on your team and then they would [inaudible 00:09:23] the questions and you bounce the questions to them.

Nick Nobbe:
But more and more I've seen, even in the distribution side too. I do a lot of trainings and a lot of these companies, they say like, "I want my counter people educated on ventilation too. They don't need to be like a technical expert diagnosing problems out on the job site, but I want them to be able to speak to this and understand why this is important. What the function is of the product that they're selling." So I do think it adds so much value. And I do see it differentiate the contracting companies that really do put this emphasis on educating their team and not just a couple people, but the entire team too.

Nick Nobbe:
And it helps everyone because then more roofs are being done correctly and ventilated properly. And then that means you have happier homeowners, you have fewer failures and fewer call backs, which is what we all want.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Exactly. And I think too, this training is really important that it is somewhat regional too. Because there's a lot of misconceptions that go along with homeowners and ventilation and even on a regional basis. What do you see with some of those misconceptions that the homeowners have, but also maybe some of the roofing contractors have especially as you look around the country?

Nick Nobbe:
Yeah, no, it is. It's very regional because it's very much like products that you're using. Whether it's to vent or even if you go out to Florida or California, you're going to see a lot of tile. And so they vent differently than you would with a shingle roof, but even within the shingle market there's a lot of different preferences of both products and even just kind of approach to how they vent in different areas. Like when I go down to Texas, it's the old adage of like bigger is better and everything's bigger in Texas. They kind of approach ventilation that same way.

Nick Nobbe:
I will say I'm talking with a lot of people who are definitely getting more educated on it and understanding that more is not necessarily better. It's about getting the right amount for that attic space in that roof. But generally I still have to fight that kind of perception all the time of like bigger is better and we want fans running all the time. Whether it's like a solar-powered fan or we want fans in our gateway walls. They want fans and movement, but I'm like sometimes static ventilation is a better and more productive option. So it kind of comes down to what's the needs of each roof.

Nick Nobbe:
So yeah and the Pacific Northwest and then the East, the Northeast, they approach things very differently too. So it is kind of overcoming the perception. And there's also the climate element of it too of when you're in a climate like Arizona where it's you're so focused on the sun and UV exposure and all that heat that gets transferred and transferred down into your attic. That becomes your focus and the drive for like why you're making certain ventilation decisions.

Nick Nobbe:
But when you come up to my market in Minneapolis or yours up in the Northwest too, it's like we're all about keeping moisture down in the attic and that's kind of a driver. Everybody's kind of got their differences, but at the end of the day I think my story is always the same is that if it's because of UV heat or if it's because of moisture like effective bag ventilation, it's important everywhere and a balanced system and meeting the code requirements. Those principles all play out the same in every market regardless. Ultimately, it just comes down to maybe like what product preference you have and then that's where we can kind of get into nuances. But ultimately, ventilation, proper ventilation, a good balanced system in every market is going to be the best route you can go.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Right. And also educating your homeowners because you can put it in the perfect ventilation system and if they cover it up or they put installation over it or they do whatever, it kind of goes back to that education. It's not just before the roofing project, but it's also after. And maybe even on service and maintenance to make sure that the ventilation keeps going. Are you seeing a lot of that?

Nick Nobbe:
Yeah, for sure. I think like you said, it's not a one-time thing and it's like it's not there forever. Sometimes you'll have your house painted. I can like see my house here. I have soffits that could probably be like [inaudible 00:14:04] my paint or house in the next year or two. I've seen a lot of houses where especially when you have smaller soffit intake vents, they get painted right over. So if you're not cognizant to that, then you are just completely cutting off your intake. Like when I hear Home Depot or Lowe's advertising the blown in insulation that you can do yourself at home like you can easily just blow this in your attic and it's going to help maximize your energy savings and all that. And I always cringe when I hear it because I'm just picturing homeowners just blowing all this installation cover and all their intake vents up.

Nick Nobbe:
It's like, "Hey, you may be saved yourself a little bit on your energy bill because you have better installation efficiency, but you're going to have roof problems and it's going to cost you a lot more to fix that because all of a sudden now you don't have intake air and all of a sudden moisture and heat gets built up." So I do think it's spot on for you to like kind of identify that. Yeah, it's an ongoing thing that you kind of just need to be cognizant about. It's really no maintenance. It's just making sure you don't do things to change the equation.

Heidi Ellsworth:
[inaudible 00:15:11]. But I also see for roofing contractors, we are starting to see roofing contractors who are starting to do service and maintenance programs residentially. And so they go out once or twice a year, clean the gutters, check the roof and really part of that should be checking the ventilation and checking the attic.

Nick Nobbe:
Yep, for sure. And it's pretty easy to do it too. It's not a time-intensive or extensive process to make sure that your ventilation is not blocked in any way and everything's still working and effective. So yeah, it's an important thing. And then that's also just kind of an upsell for a contractor too to feel like, Hey, if this is another service I can offer you on the contractor side of it, you're ensuring that, 'Hey, we're going to head off any potential future problems with this before they ever become problems.'" So you're kind of minimizing your risk of having claims and issues down the road, but at the same time it's like a business opportunity for you too.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah, it's a great business opportunity. I'm hearing a lot more about it. So it's really exciting. In fact, we'll be talking more about that in upcoming podcasts because there's a lot of contractors are already doing it, but there's a lot of contractors who are going, "Hey, this is part of it." And ventilation can play such a huge part of that. One of the things too is when you're looking really from the sales when you first knock on that door, you first get that lead all the way to handing them their warranty and everything.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Nick, how do you see ventilation working in that process of the reroof? How much should contractors really be talking about that and how much should they be talking about the warranty and everything else that goes with it?

Nick Nobbe:
Yeah, no, good question. I've worked with a lot of contractors on this of how do you incorporate this into your process? And ultimately it starts with the education piece and you don't need to give the homeowner a 30-minute ventilation presentation. But I do think it's important to have like some kind of piece or at least that you can put in front of them. It's just like a, "Hey, this is a simple, here's how attic ventilation works. And I want you to know that there are different products that can be used to do it too." So like it's kind of starts with just like a high level like there's intake and then there's exhaust and there's different types of exhaust vents. And I want you to know that as part of our process. We do the calculations to make sure that you have just the right amount of ventilation for your attic space.

Nick Nobbe:
And then the second piece of it and because you're basically what you're doing with that is you're helping the homeowner understand why you're doing what you're doing, but then you're also setting them up for the recommendations that you're going to make later. And this is where we based on all the research and the feedback we got from our surveys and focus groups, we found that homeowners really want to have choices. And if there's an opportunity to provide homeowners with choices beyond just shingles because a lot of contractors only quote different like a good, better, best, maybe with shingles. But what we recommend is do a good, better, best with some of your accessories too.

Nick Nobbe:
You could say like, I'll just come up with one example. It'd be like let's say they have box vents on the roof today. You could say, "Okay, my good version is we're just going to put more box vents back on like the same exact same thing you have. A better could be we're going to put like a ridge vent that's maybe like one of the soft [inaudible 00:18:55] vents that's a little bit more economy." And then your premium could be like, "I'm going to put on like a durable long-lasting ridge vent or I'm going to put on solar fans or something" and you can do that differentiation.

Nick Nobbe:
[inaudible 00:19:10] by having had that explanation beforehand earlier in the process about here's what attic ventilation is, here's why it's important. Now they have a grounding and a context for here's why they're recommending different things. And here's why this matters to me because if you just throw them three different products and say here's different price points, they're probably just going to pick the cheapest one. But if they have an understanding of, "Hey, this is why attic ventilation is important because it keeps moisture out of my attic and heat out of my attic. It helps extend the life of the shingles. It helps my deck from rotting out." Then they say, "Oh, you know what? I should probably pick the better or the best option for when it comes to ventilation."

Nick Nobbe:
So it's the twofold piece. It's first educate them and get them at least primed for this is why I should actually put some interest and time and effort into this decision. And then second follow it up with a good, better, best option and say, "Hey, you can structure it however you want," but ultimately give them some options. And then it's a way for them to make a decision where they can say, "I can have something better." And for the contractor really, then it's a way for them to be able to make more money and it's an upsell.

Heidi Ellsworth:
And I mean, it just makes sense as you're going through that process. You want the roof to last as long as possible. And if you're heating up the whatever the product is on the roof, if you're heating it up from the inside out, it's not going to last as long. And so it is really cool, really important.

Nick Nobbe:
Yeah, yeah. Vents are a small portion of a large roof purchase. So I think a lot of times people, they rank the importance based on the dollar value assigned to it. But it's really it's so critical. And even like pipe flashings too. The most common and likely place for leaks to occur on a roof are at pipe penetrations. So do you want to put on a three-year of $5 kind of like rubber boot that goes over or if you want to put on something that's all steel that covers up the pipe completely and never is going to leak?

Nick Nobbe:
Those are kind of the decisions that I think you can position them. If you position them to homeowners correctly, they're not going to want to settle, especially when they're spending the money that they are on their whole total roof.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah. I mean, when you're talking about the accessories; ventilation, pipe flashing, even underlayments. Those are such a small part, but such an important part because we all know the things that happen is those little leaks turn into big problems because of dry rot and moisture invasion, and everything else that goes along with that.

Nick Nobbe:
Yeah.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Wow. So one of the things I want to talk a little bit about too is we talked about educating the sales team, we talked about educating all the people inside. But I think it's really important too and especially in this day and age, especially after the last 18 to two years that contractors actually take the time to put this information on their website. Really have a spot, a research opportunity on their website for their homeowners on the importance of ventilation. How can you help them with that?

Nick Nobbe:
Yeah, no, that's perfect because you're right. So much became virtual in the past year, year and a half or even before that. I've talked to so many homeowners who of course they were doing research on their contractor before they hired them. And you're kidding yourself if you think that most of your customers haven't looked you up at least online before they decided to go with you, but there's a lot of things you can do on, on your website, whether it's just a simple blog post, whether it's like actually shooting a video, whether it's doing a Q&A with a homeowner doing a walk through on a project and saying, "Here's what we did and why."

Nick Nobbe:
And of course we can definitely, we're more than happy and would love to help contractors out with that too to say, "Here's maybe kind of some things that would be worth talking about. Here's what we've kind of gathered from hearing a lot of conversations with homeowners to say here's what's important to them." So we can help facilitate whether it's providing like a video script and kind of consulting on that or whether it's just having a chat with your team to say, "Hey, what's the messages that you want to convey to your customers? What's important to them?" And we can kind of help provide some of that technical expertise too to help speak to the ventilation aspects of it.

Nick Nobbe:
But there's a lot of ways we can help, but ultimately it's just we would love and anybody really I know in this industry wants to make sure we're venting roofs right. So if there's a way where we can come in and help get the right content on your website, we are more than willing to support that.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah, and I think it's so important. And really the thing is with RoofersCoffeeShop and Quarrix working together, we have a number of articles both on RoofersCoffeeShop and on our homeowner site askaroofer.com that allows contractors to actually come and get this information, use it. We always want them to use this information, share it out. Share out the blogs, share out on their social media. But your directory on RoofersCoffeeShop just has so much great information that I think as contractors for all the people out there, all the contractors, get it to your marketing folks, get it to your website people.

Heidi Ellsworth:
I know your survey shows and we're hearing this over and over again, homeowners are researching. So the more information you can get onto your website and your social media and your blog, the better it's going to be for your sales team at the end because a lot of the hard work's already been done.

Nick Nobbe:
Mm-hmm (affirmative), yeah. No need to reinvent the wheel. We've already done a lot of the legwork on all the technical information and how to package that up. So yeah, RoofersCoffeeShop and Quarrix to provide that and make it easy for you.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Make it a lot easier. So okay. As we kind of come to the end of our Roofing Road Trip here, what would you say is just some tips, kind of your top tips on using ventilation to close more sales for roofing contractors?

Nick Nobbe:
Yep. I'd say first it's come up with a really quick and easy way of what your ventilation pitch is to homeowners and how to convey that in a really obvious and quick to understand way. And just have that down for your team too because ultimately they're the ones out in front of the contractors. But I feel like homeowners will gloss over if you try to spend 15, 20 minutes with them trying to explain in detail how ventilation works. But if you can convey it quickly and convey the importance of it, "Hey, you're spending a lot of money on your shingles, but if our ventilation isn't effective and right, those shingles, they're probably knocking off a couple of years of their life because of it. And we could potentially have even bigger issues of moisture problems, mold buildup, whatever it is." So being able to convey that in a quick and concise manner, that I think is really critical.

Nick Nobbe:
The second is kind of like I talked about earlier is make sure your whole team is educated. And this applies to both contractors and to the distribution side too is like everybody who is interacting with any part of a roof really. If you're selling the products or if you're installing them, you should have some grounding and some basic understanding of how does ventilation work. Because then at least then you can make sure you're kind of checking the boxes that you're doing it effectively and you're putting the right products, the right amount of product and that kind of will help make sure you're doing things right.

Nick Nobbe:
And last is to help close more sales really again, provide homeowners with options. That was the big takeaway from all of our focus groups is that homeowners don't want to, especially in the midst of this big investment of this roof reroofing project, they don't want to make sacrifices. So give them options, give them a good, better, best. I can almost guarantee you that you're going to, one, you're going to make more margin because you're going to get more upsell opportunities along the way. And two, the homeowners actually see that. It helps build trust with them. And that might seem kind of strange, but really what it does is you are kind of putting the decision in their hands than versus just saying, "Hey, here's what I'm going to do. Take it or leave it. This is my quote."

Nick Nobbe:
So by giving them an opportunity to have that choice, we found that homeowners felt like they were in more control then of their process too so. And whether they choose the good, the better or the best, you can still make the ventilation system effective. It's not to say that one's going to be inferior or inadequate. You can still do the math. Make sure you have the right amount of vents. You're locating exhaust, top third, intake, bottom third, all that. And you can do all that, but it still helps. Again, you'll gain more margin and then build that trust with the homeowner. So give them those options. And I can promise you it's going to pay dividends in a variety of ways too [inaudible 00:28:57] sales.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Well, you already said it earlier on. The homeowners are wanting to work with knowledgeable experts in roofing. And so if you can bring this to the table, you're going to close more sales. I mean, it's not about price. It's about the right options at the right price at the right value. And so I want to encourage everyone who's listening to this too to really go back and visit Nick's RLW, the webinar we did earlier this year. We went a whole hour talking about this also with some slides and some different things on the survey. I just went a little bit deeper into all of this. It was really interesting.

Heidi Ellsworth:
And so I would encourage everyone to go out there, watch that, get the information off the CoffeeShop. And then if you want help with that elevator speech for your team, for your sales team on ventilation and how to incorporate it into your sales process, reach out to Nick. And you can find by just signing up for the RLW, they'll get your name and then get ahold of you. You can leave a note. You can leave a note all kinds of different ways on the directory or just go to Quarrix. So, Nick, thank you so much as always. I love these conversations.

Nick Nobbe:
Of course. Yeah, it's great to see you and it was fun participating.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Thank you. And thank you all for listening. Thank you for being a part of the Roofing Road Trips. You can find them on RoofersCoffeeShop under the RLW section. Look for the Roofing Road Trip podcasts and also look for them on your favorite podcast channel. Be sure to subscribe so you don't miss a single podcast and also be sure to check out our YouTube because we have all kinds of RLWs, new videos and informational clips. So be sure to subscribe there too. Thank you so much, have a great day and we'll see you on the next Roofing Road Trip.

Megan Ellsworth:
Make sure to subscribe to our channel and leave a review. Thanks for listening. This has been Roofing Road Trips with Heidi from the rooferscoffeeshop.com.

]]> Top June Stories: Award Winners, Sustainability and Staying Cool in the Heat https://www.rooferscoffeeshop.com/post/top-june-stories-award-winners-sustainability-and-staying-cool-in-the-heat top-june-stories-award-winners-sustainability-and-staying-cool-in-the-heat Tue, 20 Jul 2021 18:00:00 PDT

By Karen L. Edwards, RCS Editor. 

Here’s what’s trending on RoofersCoffeeShop® (RCS) this past month. 

In looking at our most popular articles for the month of June, safety in the heat was high on the list. We’ve been in the midst of a heatwave recently and it’s good to see that contractors were preparing for it last month so their teams would stay safe and healthy.  

Two of the top three articles were about solar power and commitments to a sustainable future, topics that are rapidly growing in interest. Other top stories included a project profile, tips on getting better online reviews, advice on implementing technology in your company and the importance of educating homeowners while you’re on the job.  

The top story of the month was the announcement from Beacon naming their inaugural female roofing professional of the year.  

If you didn’t get the chance to read any of these articles yet, follow the links below to check them out.  

Honorable Mention (#6-#10) 

10 - Santa Monica Roofing Project is a Work of Art 

9 - Why You Should Be Educating Homeowners While on the Job 

8 - Make Technology a Team Approach 

7 - Six Reputable Metal Coil Suppliers to Choose From 

6 - Follow Up Leads to Better Reviews 

Read the Top 5 articles: 

5 - Roofing Contractors Association of Washington Has Some Fun Summer Plans 

4 - Preventing Heat-Related Illness and Injury 

3 - GAF Reinforces Commitment to a Sustainable Future with Inaugural Social Impact Report 

2 - What Homeowner’s Want: Discreet Solar Power 

1 - Beacon Announces Winner of North American Female Roofing Professional of the Year Competition 

Get the top news each week in your inbox when you sign up for the Week in Roofing email newsletter.

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