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Up On The Roof

By Scott Rodgers

Republish: EasyPublish™
Published: 24Aug2009
Word count: 524
Viewed: 142 time(s)

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Have you ever wondered how professional roofers do it all? Well, sometimes it's not so easy: more than one project has become a logistical nightmare. Sometimes, it starts at the very beginning when you have to figure out how to get yourself and everything else upstairs.

I've been out on any number of projects like this: the whole thing seems doomed from the start. You get the contractors to dump the tarpaper, shingles, and everything else - and you're looking at it from the ground floor, walking around the house, looking for the best starting point.

While you're assessing the project, you may see that there's no real access point from the outside. You figure there's some place from the inside, a trapdoor or some kind of point to accessing the roof. But that's not always the case, and if you do find an access point, that doesn't always take care of the problem.

So many times, you'll find that trapdoor, and realize that because of how the inhabitants have used the house, the access point just isn't accessible. There's a bunch of junk piled in front of it, or its walled off.

That's when you have to think about getting specialized machinery before you can even start the project. If you have a superhuman crew, they get all the stuff up on ladders, but that's usually asking way too much. What you need to do is hire a scissor lift or some other piece of equipment to quickly get the materials up top side. I've been known to ask clients about access points before I ever go to the site. I've also been known to bill them extra as a line item if I need to rent a lift. After all, it's an extra expense for me, not to mention the hassle. On top of bringing the whole crew and ordering all the materials, getting a lift there is a big additional part of the job, and I don't generally eat that cost.

It's also not agree with start out a job. Any ambivalence about how the project will start understandably gets the crew jumpy. On the starting day, they're ready to get started - beginning a project gives it its own momentum, and interfering with that momentum is sometimes a recipe for disaster. Some might not think about how important momentum is on the job like this, but experienced professionals can tell you that there are some signs from the beginning of a project on how well, or not so well, it's going to go.

So, if you're the one who's in charge and responsible for figuring out access points, to a little homework at the beginning of the project. Get involved earlier to avoid problems later, and be that point person everyone can depend on to troubleshoot the logistics of a project, so that everybody ends up happy. This is a skill set you will use often in the field, something you can rely on for greater profit and prosperity, and a general practice that you can find will give you greater peace of mind while you're out on any job.

Scott Rodgers is a professional roofer who has spent a lot of time on top of houses. Take a look at more of his work at http://www.eLocalRoofers.com

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