Tag: roof coating specialists

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The Fluid Applied’s Rising Tide

Fluid Applied Growth

In the last 15 years the Fluid Applied industry as a whole has been gaining traction in all facets. In the last 5-7 years, the curve has been virtually straight up. This is also a growth trend that doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon. The list of FA products and systems available are long & extensive. Today we are going to talk specifically about waterproofing/air barrier, insulating & roofing systems.

On the waterproofing & Air Barrier front, Fluid Applied systems are proving themselves to be front runners in the industry, solving age old building envelope waterproofing issues. A couple companies that have really took a front running position are PolyWall and Prosoco. These 2 companies have amazing products for basement/wall fluid applied membranes and sealants that eliminate the typical failures we see with sheet systems failing at the seams. Remember the primer behind the sheet product typically is not serving as a quality waterproofing system.

The Prosoco line of products focus mainly on above ground & include air and water barriers, liquid flashings, & joint/seam fillers. They have proven products that even have a Cat 5 (155 mph+ wind rating). Using these 2 companies line of products allow you the contractor to apply proven products/systems to buildings. This lets you be confident and know that they are going to perform and do the job that you were hired to do.

“On the Insulating side it is pretty well dominated by spray foam. “

Spray foam’s ability to be applied by a trained professional allows it to go on in a liquid state and then expand 30-100x its volume to fill any voids and stop airflow all while providing a stable R value. When you combine spray foam with your exterior water/vapor/air barriers you create a building that is ideal for energy efficiency and healthy air quality. As long as you work with a quality HVAC that understands air exchanges and air tightness in construction then your on your way to a quality building envelope.

Now lets move to the roof of the building. The line of Fluid Applied products and systems for roofing has literally exploded exponentially in the last decade. They have taken a larger piece of the pie in commercial roofing, & its one that continues to grow annually. Some major players in this field are Progressive Materials (Mainly silicon), Tropical (Mainly Silicon), Aldo (multiple chemistries), Henry (acrylic & silicon), 838 Coatings (multiple chemistries), Gaco Western ( Mainly silicon), & the Conklin Roofing Systems which produces multiple chemistries.

I have personally used almost if not all of the manufacturers listed above. Most if not all the products have all served the purpose that we used them for. But our go to systems have predominately been the Conklin Roofing Systems for a handful of reasons. Firstly the products are some of the highest quality products that we have used. Secondly the training and knowledge base that is available from other existing veteran Conklin contractors is available to new contractors. Thirdly is the companies proven longevity (42+ yrs) and systems approach to roofing. They are not called Conklin Coatings, it is Conklin Roofing Systems for a reason.

“They provide in house almost every product required for their systems.”

Those products include cleaners, caulks, fabrics, primers, coatings and specialty products in certain circumstances. Their 40+ years of successful manufacturing is an added bonus and peace of mind to have in your corner as well. If you have any interests in learning more about the fluid applied roofing industry then shoot us an email at RoofCoatingLife@gmail.com. We would gladly help you position yourself for success.

No matter how you slice or spray it the Fluid Applied Industry is growing and does not look to be slowing down. It is a huge opportunity for you as a Coatings contractor to capitalize on an industries growth. This allows you to provide services and solutions that will solve your clients problems.

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Spec’ing Products for Roofs

Ok bear with me this week is a Looooong post but worth it so read to the end. I recently read an article on the Facilitiesnet.com site/forum (great site BTW) that brought out a few topics that I feel can be expanded on. One of the topics was about which product should facility managers, architects, owners, engineers and contractors specify on a given building.

The author of that article broke it down into the 3 big categories as most do and based the decision more on existing substrates than on specific products & systems. While I agree I still feel there are more situations that the decision should be based more on the system as a whole not a single product or existing substrate.

My point is that there have been such improvements in technology in certain chemistrie’s that the window of differences is becoming very narrow.

The industry and the demands from the end user have dramatically changed what’s expected and what’s required from a fluid applied system. Here’s my $0.02 when we are talking Fluid Applied Roofing systems.

Yes in the consideration on which product/system to use, one should always take existing substrate into consideration. Also we should be looking deeper into the specs of a fluid system and how is it going to enhance or decrease the effectiveness of the existing system once its applied. Remember there are a whole lot of existing restoration opportunities that include: Metal, EPDM, CPA, PVC, TPO, Hypalon/CSPE, Spray foam, Mod Bit, BUR, concrete as well as multiple boardstocks. This is a lot of opportunity for error if not looked at with a open mind and a complete system approach.

Today most all of the quality roof coatings are pretty compatible with these substrates.

Acrylics with the use of a primer can pretty well be applied to all of the above and have great adhesion and long term performance, but do require do diligence on insuring positive drainage. Another concern or issue can be the way that certain substrates literally drink coatings such as Mod Bit, to the point that if aged to much it can take so much acrylic to get your specified mil thickness that a silicon or urethane would have been a better choice financially for the building owner.

Secondly Certain solvent based products for example are not typically spec’d for single ply’s such as EPDM or Mod Bit because of the reaction from the solvents and the EPDM/MB. Also remember that in some circumstances a primer is typically required and recommended to insure that no excessive bleed out happens that could cause dis-bonding/adhesion issues.

Now recently there has been a barrage of silicon manufactures start flooding the market with advertising and claims that it is the best all around product for fluid applied systems.

Now before you get to worked up realize we actually market our own silicon manufactured specifically for Conklin and only Conklin by the BASF company in a private labeling agreement. Unlike many other silicon companies who are having their products produced by 1 of the other 5-6 producers in the industry.

The number one problem with the ‘cure all’ approach is that silicon is being promoted with the so called easy way out, but doesn’t fix the problem. It is no different than putting brand new tires on a car that is severely out of alignment. Yep you have good tires that will do the job, and the cars going to drive fine, but guess what until you fix the front end alignment you basically put a fake facade on that car and will end up spending more money on tires and possibly other issues from the root cause.

Fluid applied roofing systems should be treated like any other system in the way that the NRCA regulations state for ponding water.

If the roof has more than 1/4” of water in an area after 72 hours it is deemed ponding and needs attention. Reasoning behind this is many layers deep.

  • 1: It can be a weight issue if the area is of large sq footage and the buildings dead load can’t handle the additional weight that the water adds to the overall dead load.
  • 2: It allows for enhanced degradation of the roofing system in place, no matter what the technology is. It does this via excessive dirt pick up, increased heat gain via UV absorption (bad for white roofs designed to be cool) and holds pollen, leaves, tree buds and debris that hold moisture and don’t allow for proper dry outs cycles between weather events.

There are products &/or methods that can be used to remedy those low spots whether it is a high build lightweight filler or spray foam or even internal drains, if there is a will there is typically a way to get the water off.

If our industry is going to continue to move forward and capture market share we have to have all hands on deck promoting and providing viable alternatives that follow Roofing Industry standards set forth. If we have manufacturers that are willing to promote a product even though it goes against the Industry standards I feel we are doing ourselves an injustice that will hurt us long term. 

Just as silicon in my opinion is incorrectly marketed as ponding water exempt, and even used by many reps as a stand alone selling point, you have the exact opposite on the acrylic side of the equation. Acrylics can not take standing water for the length of time that most roofs that have water ponding issues but hold up extremely well on slopes surfaces as long as due diligence is given to quality control & mil thickness. The Problem commonly seen in the acrylic industry is guys using a cheap product on any roof even if it has water drainage issues and premature failure is inevitable.

Urethanes are the black sheep of the family due to minimal resources placed into that chemistry.

But due to raw material outlooks and demands from the industry on sustainability the Urethane market share is growing very quickly and looks to continue its growth into the future. Urethane is ideal for Restaurant roof restorations and roofs with high levels of animal fats or chemical contamination plus gives no issues/concerns with re-coat’s within any reasonable time frame of weathering. Also from a ponding water standpoint quality urethanes will hold up as well as any of the Big 3 chemistry’s.

All in all the Fluid Applied Industry has lots to offer and has a solution for the vast majority of the existing roofs out there. But as with anything else in any industry there is seldom a 1 system cure-all that’s the best decision for every party involved, so let’s promote the Industry as it is needed to be which is a diversified, sustainable, evolving, problem solving industry that’s here to stay.

Chad Hedrick, owner of Roof Coating Life commits to helping 10 new Contractors succeed in the Fluid Applied Industry each year. He’s selective in this process because realistically, his time is limited. He offers his valuable time and best mentor ship to the guys who are serious about making 30%-50% profits with Roof Coatings. Check out the Requirements for working with Chad to see if you might qualify.
Get the FREE eBook “7 Unique Ways To Market Your Fluid Applied Roofing Business.” It’s packed with outside the box Marketing Strategies (Strategy #6 landed us 5 commercial projects last Summer!) that will help you best serve your clients and live the Roof Coating Life like a boss.
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Market or Exit

One thing that is quite obvious is that Marketing your coating business is of the utmost importance. But sadly the vast majority of contractors are unprepared for this aspect of their new business and thus suffer and sometimes even fail because of it.

In order to accumulate qualified roof leads, a Marketing Strategy that is tailored to your business, resources, demographics and even your personality needs to be implemented into your business as soon as possible.

Plan to invest a minimum of $5-$10k in your business if you want to accelerate your results.

The sooner it is implemented the sooner your return on investment will happen. Many marketing techniques exist in today’s business world. However with our 20 years of fluid applied experience we have settled mainly on 4 marketing strategies that have consistently proven capable of producing substantial business within 2 years and often see great results in year one. The single greatest hurdle to seeing success is the failure to initiate a strategy quickly and thoroughly.

Marketing & advertising are designed to produce leads & from these leads if properly nurtured Sales will result. But first you must set your course with a strategy and invest into it to see the fruits of your labor.

Here are the strategies that we have see work in our industry.

  • #1 Direct Mail is a staple for our guys efforts and should definitely be entertained in yours. Here are a few highlights on DM. The list, the piece and the mailing house. The list is the names and addresses of the potential buildings that you are interested in bidding roofs on. You can use your own list if you have one, but if not there are a multitude of list companies out there that can provide you with a list.
  • The piece is the actual postcard, trifold or other piece of mail that will physically be delivered to your list. Whatever you choose to use, here is a tip, put your face on it so it builds rapport with your client so they feel they get to know you in your branding campaigns.
  • The mailing house is where the work gets done. You deliver your piece and have your list sent to them electronically and they will do the hard work. They will run your piece through their equipment that will print your address and the postage onto the piece and then they will combine the common zip codes and deliver them pre-sorted to the Postal Service to help reduce your postage costs.

Warm up those doors.

  • #2 Cold Calls are an easy way to drum up leads as well. Cold calls allow you to take rain days and build your own lists that you can then use as your own verified DM campaign list.
  • All a Cold Call needs to consist of is simply stopping in and getting a business card or name of the decision maker for the buildings maintenance. You are not necessarily trying to sell anything, mainly making your name known and seeing if you can get the decision makers info for later use. TIP: Use one of your pre-printed direct mail pieces as something to leave the secretary so when they get your next piece they now have see it 2x at minimum.

Don’t give up on face to face.

  • #3 Trade Shows can still be beneficial lead generators. One Main reason is that you are typically the only commercial roofing contractor there at the show and all of those that attend the show either own, work at or know someone who owns a commercial or agricultural building that could use your services. This alone is a good reason to attend shows as it builds your brand for typically a small cost. Combining DM and tradeshow’s is also a very effective combination.
  • #4 Lead generation through social media. Having a business page that you consistently post pics of your work &/or problems that you solve for building owners is a very effective method of lead generation.  Using Facebook ads targeting audiences that are in your geography and fit the profile of the type of customer your after has become a large player in the service based industries.

Using these strategies all at the same time playing off of each other builds credibility and Brand awareness and can often maximize the dollars you are spending for best ROI. Whatever you do just implement one as soon as possible so you can start seeing results.

If your interested in more details on these methods we share things in way more detail with our Roof Coating Life clients and would love to help you build your business.

Chad Hedrick, owner of Roof Coating Life commits to helping 10 new Contractors succeed in the Fluid Applied Industry each year. He’s selective in this process because realistically, his time is limited. He offers his valuable time and best mentor ship to the guys who are serious about making 30%-50% profits with Roof Coatings. Check out the Requirements for working with Chad to see if you might qualify.
Get the FREE eBook “7 Unique Ways To Market Your Fluid Applied Roofing Business.” It’s packed with outside the box Marketing Strategies (Strategy #6 landed us 5 commercial projects last Summer!) that will help you best serve your clients and live the Roof Coating Life like a boss.

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What are your Customers Costing You?

Do you know what a customer costs you? I recently read a story about a guy who had a friend ask him for a reference to a good roofer. He responded and said no problem you need to call “this guy” and even called his roofer friend and told him that the friend was expecting his call.

His Roofer friend did call and set up an appointment to check out the roof, but about a week or so later when he asked his friend to see how it went with his “Roofer” his friend said your roofer called and set an appointment and never showed or ever followed up so I already had another guy do the job. Can you imagine the embarrassment of him being the one who recommended the roofer and then having him drop the ball like that.

So it got me thinking what did that customer cost that roofer?

Not the profit he loses, but the actual lead acquisition cost for a customer. We all have them but few know the actual cost associated with it.

Quality Contractors actively market their roofing companies using Direct Mail, Digital, Shows, Web site, Social Media & More.

That all amounts to some sort of annual $ spent on marketing. Now I know this customer was basically a freebie but since he dropped the ball lets run some numbers for your business.

  • First: lets take the total $ you spend annually on marketing.
  • Secondly: Let’s take that number and divide it by the total number of jobs closed in that same year.

Here is an example:
Digital Ad Spend: $5,000
Web Site: $3000
Direct Mail: $7500
Trade Shows: $2500
Social Media Ads: $4000

Total Spent: $22,000
This is definitely not a huge ad spend, I know companies who spend this on strictly digital media.

Now let’s look at the total number of customers acquired in that same time period.

Let’s assume you did 1 job every week in the Midwest Roofing season which is about 30-36 weeks so lets assume that is about 20-25 commercial roofs & 15-20 repairs, for a total average of 40 clients.

So $22,000/40 clients = $515.71/client cost.

So using this analysis that guy lost $515 not to mention the profit that he left on the table by just not showing up. This is a unique way to look at your marketing so your team understand the importance of following up in a timely fashion. So when anyone on your team does something to lose a customer you can put a dollar figure on what it cost your company.

So when you are looking at new marketing methods you can do an analysis with this method to see what kind of numbers you are going to need to see an ROI. Marketing is expensive and not only can it drive profits, but it can cost as well, you just need to know how much so you can evaluate and adapt.

Chad Hedrick
Roof Coating Life

Chad Hedrick, owner of Roof Coating Life commits to helping 10 new Contractors succeed in the Fluid Applied Industry each year. He’s selective in this process because realistically, his time is limited. He offers his valuable time and best mentor ship to the guys who are serious about making 30%-50% profits with Roof Coatings. Check out the Requirements for working with Chad to see if you might qualify.
Get the FREE eBook “7 Unique Ways To Market Your Fluid Applied Roofing Business.” It’s packed with outside the box Marketing Strategies (Strategy #6 landed us 5 commercial projects last Summer!) that will help you best serve your clients and live the Roof Coating Life like a boss.
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People don’t buy a roof they buy YOU

I’m not certain but I don’t think many property owners just sit around day dreaming of buying a new roof. Actually most probably have nightmares due to the costs they know they will incur. So when your clients sign the dotted line what are they really buying is “Piece of Mind” “Fear of Loss”, etc.

There can be numerous reasons why and understanding them and tailoring your marketing towards those can make it more effective and shorten the sales cycle.

Let’s try and figure out why clients buy and why they choose you.

The obvious reason for a new roof is strictly necessity of protecting their assets. Being that a roof is the single most important piece of a building envelope when it comes to protection from the elements, keeping that in good working shape is a common reason for a re-roof. If that is a driving force then weighing your marketing towards that is key. Let’s say the economy is really slow you could use your fluid applied option as a low cost method of securing a good working roof for way less than a traditional tear off & re roof.

Maybe it is the only way or more of an investment or need for a real estate transaction to go through. If that is the reason then focusing on how your system can offer a new warranty for less $ up front and is sustainable is a great way to market.

Sometimes in the commercial world it is simply a financial reason or one that is motivated by cash flow. Focusing on that and how you can do as much roof up to what their capital expenditure cap is a great way to get your foot in the door.

Now the question is are you considered a status contractor that makes them feel comfortable?

Or are you more of a value oriented contractor that makes them feel as if they are getting a great deal. Or are you the one known for doing high quality and being honest?

Identify the buying reasons and incorporate methods to make that stand out to your potential clients. If you find those reasons you will be doing more installs than selling and that is a good thing. Now that you know these reasons you now have to set your self to be the one that they feel can provide those solutions, so let’s cover some basics of how you can fit one or more of those desires.

  • 1: Keep your trucks and workers in a neat and orderly fashion. Big companies wear uniform shirts for a reason it shows character.
  • 2: If you have a showroom keep it aesthetically pleasing and make it stand out.
  • 3: Make sure the voice on the end of the line that is as wearing your phone calls is the happiest person in the office. They are the first impression and can carry a lot of clout on how you are perceived. If they can’t answer the call make sure they call back as soon as possible.
  • 4: Same goes for your employees make sure they know that for the benefit of the company they need to be kind, compassionate, and enthusiastic around the public.
  • 5: Your marketing materials may need a face lift, make sure they are not dated and say something about you unconsciously that you don’t want to be said.

Use these methods to live the “Roof Coating Life”

Chad Hedrick
“We Bleed White”

Chad Hedrick, owner of Roof Coating Life commits to helping 10 new Contractors succeed in the Fluid Applied Industry each year. He’s selective in this process because realistically, his time is limited. He offers his valuable time and best mentor ship to the guys who are serious about making 30%-50% profits with Roof Coatings. Check out the Requirements for working with Chad to see if you might qualify.
Get the FREE eBook “7 Unique Ways To Market Your Fluid Applied Roofing Business.” It’s packed with outside the box Marketing Strategies (Strategy #6 landed us 5 commercial projects last Summer!) that will help you best serve your clients and live the Roof Coating Life like a boss.