# One man crew



## Kmart88

I am sick of skyrocketing prices for insurance and materials.... Does anyone tackle roofs by themselves to avoid a ton of headaches?


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## chrisp87

i cant see the point if your installing new roofs. repairs are 1 thing. if you figure the amount of time involved being a 1 man crew you could be out selling more jobs instead and save killing your back. making way more profit


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## HartsRoofing

try and repair if possible


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## lukkychucky

Materials affect everyone so thats not what is really buggin ya. So it seems that your disgusted with the cost of WC insurance and that only affects the ones that actually carry it. It's the good old American Way. Put so many rules, regulations, taxes and other mandatory expenses etc. on small businesses that its much cheaper to have foreigners make products over seas and ship them back here. The only way to beat the game is not play by the rules. Thus we have the roofing industry in the current pathetic condition that it is in. And I can't see it getting any better anytime soon, If ever! All these added costs are passed on to the homeowner making a $3,500 roof cost $10,000. And they wonder why our economy is not strong anymore. HA!!!!


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## Kmart88

Yeah your right. I don't see how it's possible to be competitive when other foreigners come bid the job for half of what I have to. The economy def isn't helping. Material costs are up. Then I got those crews buying from Home Depot and they get materials for less than I can a my supply house. It's frustrating. I get a decent amount of work from Fannie Mae. They don't pay great but it's good fill work. I'm thinking about just saying screw it and doing these houses by myself. And repair work as well.... Idk workers comp is ridiculous


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## Gutter_Supply

My in-laws hired a guy once that was a one man show. He did the roof all by himself and also installed new gutters and new vinyl siding through the whole house. Took him longer than if he had a crew, was very meticulous, clean and just kept to himself while working.


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## carlnwo

If you wanted to go it alone, id suggest you trade on the extra attention to detail etc.

This way you create unique value....also trade on your experience and it will be YOU doing the job, not some newbie whos just come out of college!

You will be amazed how many people prefer a proper tradesman, even if on their own!


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## Gutter_Supply

*agreed*



carlnwo said:


> If you wanted to go it alone, id suggest you trade on the extra attention to detail etc.
> 
> This way you create unique value....also trade on your experience and it will be YOU doing the job, not some newbie whos just come out of college!
> 
> You will be amazed how many people prefer a proper tradesman, even if on their own!


I agree. The man who worked on the in-law's project was recommended by a friend of theirs. We were not disappointing and he did an excellent job. He was very polite when I met him and I went over the pricing with him. Everything was fair. He picked the materials except for the siding color. 

Other than that, a very good handyman who gets business through referrals.


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## Dallas-Roofing

In my opinion, you have to have at the very least a 6-man crew on every job. We are located in North Texas and we get a lot of hail activity here. Our crews can provide about 30 sqs of shingles a day. Depending on the pitch type of shingle etc. We have to operate this way or we would loose out on the rest of the homes. It is not worth the opportunity cost. 

Devin Mahdi
Roof Repair Dallas


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## hotrodo351

when the boom was going i did my own roofs for almost 15 + years. 98% tile roofs, ofcourse i had a company that loaded the tile but the rest i did myself. i even did a 100 square torch down with 1000' of Z-bar myself. i was lucky that i could always stay ahead of the other subs therefore never holding anything up. make thing even better im here in arizona and the summer gets to 125 degrees, but those temps also affect other subs. havent done that for about 6 years now. for the last 6 years its been recover which i have one man that does 1/2 the roof and i do the other 1/2. figure it keeps me in good shape, beast going to the gym, and i get paid for it. by the way im 62 years old. but i hear you = when you work on them yourself you know there done right and its something to do, and MONEY. i still do small jobs myself, 10 squares or less, shingles and torch, plus tile repairs. good luck with which ever way you go.


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## roofsmith

I worked as a one man show for years as a sub and home owners were always surprised when i showed up and they asked when the rest of the guys were showing up and i would tell them it was just me. You could see the uncertanty on there faces as they would look at me then at thier roof. After one day of watching me work the uncertanty look was gone and switched to impressed. I would always get referals and was in high demand for my quality and profressionalism, then i was asked to expand and start a crew. So I did slowly. went from me to having a crew of six and quality went down hill. I had to acked more like a babysitter then a roofer and couldnt watch everyone all at once. The company I subed for started getting call backs and started telling me that this was very unlike me and my work as they never had any complaints until then. After a couple months of that and getting frustrated I started getting rid of guys and started to try to find guys who would repressent me and my work. Was a very stressfull time


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## frank1976

Got lic abouth a year ago bussines is NOT good any advise roofing brother's I'm in California.


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## Maxon100

Ya you can do the roofs by yourself, thats how a lot of new companys start out but you will get burned out pretty quick doing them by yourself. I would try to get a least one or two people you know personally that have their own business license that could help you when they need some work. Just check the rules for a sole proprietor in your area before you take this route. Good Luck


http://stormproofroofing.org/


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## Hardt Roofing

I try do as much as I can by myself. I get a lot of repair work which is perfect for working alone. I have seen quite a few old-timers that only work by themselves. You have to ask yourself if they know something you don't.
_____________
David
www.hardtroofing.com


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## Randy Bush

I guess I would probably be consider a old timer, 64.. But I work most of the time by my self prefer it that way, although roofing is not my main stay and do mainly steel roofs when it is a roof. It might take me a little longer to do the job, but I still make good money on the job and if any problem there is only one person to blame.


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## spicher40

A couple things. You can get insurance Under Home Improvements or Carpentry with "occasional roof coverage". Roofing Insurance is alot more than the rest of the industry. 
Second, I have other friends that have their own businesses help me on my roofs, tear off, etc. They have their own insurance, so I do not need to worry about workman's comp, health insurance, etc. This keeps my overhead low, and my close rates high. I get about 2 out of 3 jobs I bid, and have a good referal based growth.


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## MissFonzi

Lol


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## Hardt Roofing

I also work on as many projects a I can do by myself for many of reasons. I am 41 and I'm starting to feel the effects of 23 years of roofing. Roofing keeps us old timers in shape, After this winter I know I'm out of shape and anxious to get back to it. I did a small repair and half of the muscles in my body were ripped apart. keep on keeping on.
David
www.hardtroofing.com


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## hotrodo351

i havent gotten burned out on working by my self and have been doing it for over 20 years. love it. every day i say im going to do a certain amount, then thats it, go home, take a nap and get up and do what i want. it nice to have employes, if you can find decent ones, but true you have to do a lot more work to pay all the insurances and all to go with it, but that how you hopefully build a big business. employes, dump truck, fork lift and so on and so on. for some people it come easy, others it cost them every day. luck has a lot to do with it.


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## dougger222

Spent 10+ years roofing solo and it's taken a toll on the body. Now other than simple repairs sub out the roofing work. 

There were days I'd nail down 30 squares by myself. 

My policy is for roofing and it's not cheap! My wife's policy is for everything except roofing and they know I do the roofs through my company anyways. Me $5K a year hers $1,500 a year and her business revenues more than mine, LOL!


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