Getting Started

pyroracing85

Hello all, I am a civil engineering student and I am curious on how to get into the roofing industry. I have been looking at how the roofs are put together.

Please if there is any direction you can send me (online, books) please let me know

I am trying to learn by volunteering at habitat for humanity.


(P.S. I am not new to the construction industry I have done drywall and interior construction for several years)

Ed the Roofer

First, you should check out the roofing product manufacturers web sites and gather thier installation instructions up and see the similarities and differences.

Then when you are reasonably sure of your absorption of the roofing knowledge for residential shingle roofing, you should take the online test from Certainteed for the Master Shingle applicatator, aka MSA.

That would provide you with the installation instructions.

If you are looking more into the manufacturing process, then study and take the Shingle
Technology Manual for the Quality Masters Test and credentials, also from Certainteed.

Ed

747

Good for you. That a great organization. I haven't seen them around my area. If i had i would donate my time if i was down.

pyroracing85

What are some roofing manufactures web sites?

Ed the Roofer

Don't they teach you how to look up stuff in college?

1st, if I didn't know who they were, I would Google Roofing Material Manufacturers.

Then to narrow it down, I would search either commercial or residential or shingle roofing manufacturers.

Are you just that lazy, that you want someone else to look things up for you, or is this really the state of our countries education system?

First, try to figure it out yourself, as you will learn more that way. After you get some results, report back as to who you had discovered. I already gave you the name of one of the most prominent manufacturers in my first reply post to you. Use that as a start.

Ed

MJW

You are already on the wrong track. You need to learn how to work first. That is unless you want to be like alot of people online here. They know how to tell someone something or copy and paste a link of a study, but they have never laid a shingle.

Now, do you want to be a roofer or a pencil pusher? Either way is great, but you have to decide that first. If you are talking about how they are put together, that is framing or engineering, not roofing.

RooferJim

testing 123

RooferJim

Best way is to work as an aprentice on a roofing crew. Do you have a strong back? thats how I started.

RooferJim
www.jbennetteroofing.com

dougger222

I agree, you gotta start at the bottom, sorry bro.

I worked as a laborer for three summers before I laid my first shingle.

Nothing is better than being able to talk the talk and also walk the walk.

Dave Mac

Im a firm beleiver in this myself, Learn the craft side first, then the buisness side, makes for a well rounded buisness person in the end. I often say a builders should have to build a entire house by hand by themselves, before they get a builder licence.

Goodluck
dave mac

2ndGen

My advice, find a company that deals in different types of roofing (commercial and residential), but before you go there, find yourself an old timer. Apprentice yourself out to him. Try to learn as much as you can from him. Now, not all old timers are great roofers...but if you're lucky, you'll find a real craftsman who can teach you something that books or websites won't teach you..."how" to work.

Before you can even pick up a hammer, you need to master a broom, to tie a ladder to a truck rack, to store tools, to set up equipment, to properly set up a ladder for climbing, to organize a work site so that it's clean and safe.

Just a quote for you: "Think like water."

It could take you years to become a roofer or you could become one in months. It all depends on "you" and your desire. Skill can be aquired, but professionalism is a direct result of your personal character.

Read everything you can on the subject...research the websites, but all of that is just support for your actual working on the job. You're lucky in that you have all these sources at your disposal. I'm 38 and am considerably young for a roofing professional. You will find that you can work this trade for the rest of you life. I began at 14 with my father. But I was going up since I was 5.

Do it right, and the money will follow.

Business wise? Do all the work yourself. Period. Don't trust anybody. You will get screwed. Accept that as part of the losses and sacrifices. But, if you persist, just as the cream always rises to the top, so will you. Develop a reputation for doing a good clean job. All the marketing in the world will not substitute for a solid reputation.

2ndGen

I originally posted my answer without having read what was already here. But look at the repetition in my advice along with these other professionals from all around the states.

I believe we are almost all in agreement. I basically repeated what they already said without having read their posts...that alone should tell you that our advice can be trusted.

Great minds think alike.

Also, along with accepting our advice, create your own identitiy as a roofer. Don't compete with anybody else...compete with yourself. Work to better yourself. Always. You will NEVER master the roofing trade...you will only contribute to it. Systems change every few years. You will always be learning. Don't ever rest on your laurels. Don't ever feel like you've made it. You can have faith that you are good at some point and you can value your craftsmanship and take pride in it, but don't ever think that you are done learning.

For the first 6 years of my professional life, I thought I was The *****. My father always slapped my ego down. It wasn't until I was about 20 years old that I realized that I had never layed a perfect roof up until that point. I had to call my father and humble myself to him and to accept his words as my own from then on...(said in a strong Puerto Rican accent) "You never stop learning. Don't think that you know it all just because you can nail a shingle. You will always be learning on the job. Nail it right. Do it right. That's the only way to do a job. Any job. You're a roofer. You're supposed to stop the water from coming in. Your job isn't to make the house look good. Your job is to protect the customers house. It'll look good automatically if you just do it right in the first place."

Lastly, roofing is a great responsibility. If you mess up, people will lose alot because of you. Your actions may end up in their losing personal effects, in their home being damaged...it's a big responsibility for you to present yourself as a person that they can trust with their home. I've made mistakes...not many, but enough to know what "the right" thing to do is.

Oh yeah, buy the best tools you can afford. And keep them dear to your heart. Keep them clean, organized, stored well and safe from thiefs. Trust me, after having the handle of a blue gripped roofing hatchet turn green over the years from the very sweat that comes from you hands, nothing will hurt you as much as having that $30. hammer stolen or lost. $30. is nothing, an hours work when you're good, but nothing will replace the years you spent with that hatchet. Value your tools for they are your life. They are literally the spoons that feed you (something else my father taught me).

Good luck.

RooferJim

2nd Gen. that was awesome ! very well put. Your father has great wisdom.

RooferJim
www.jbennetteroofing.com

dougger222

2nd Gen, very good posts. The posts should be sticky'ed on the top for newcommers looking to get into the trade, lot of good info there.

I'm only 28 and people are trusting me roofing their million dollar houses more and more. Some of the home owners can tell if your passionate about what your doing, this is huge to secure a job. Confidence is also important. Age has little to do with how to run a business. Ben Franklin retired at 48.

There are too many roofing contractors out there who just don't really care about the home owner(s) or their most valuable asset their home. Take for example a storm chasing company who hires used car salesaman and immigrants.