I hate to tell you, but the reality of roofers sucks. Very few roofers own their own labor. Most sub out to whatever the next crew of illegals that are available. Most roofing companies are just salesmen and they are all using the same illegal labor. After going through about 4 roofers, I finally found one that also has his own crew, but he also subs out whatever work his crew can't take on. He tries to schedule his crew for all of my jobs.
Thinking about self-contracting our new home build
- Thread starter 93Cobra#2771
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You’re not wrong about most of it. I just wouldn’t get hung up on whether the roofers are 1099 or not. If people were willing to pay 3x for the company who employs their roofers in the traditional sense then the “good” companies would go that route. Reality is next to nobody is willing to pay that premium for a “feel good”. I wouldn’t be so egotistic to assume I’m the foremost authority on the subject but I do a lot of roofs and we are one of the good guys. I don’t have a crew that hasn’t been with us for less then 5 years and a crew that’s been with us for 20. We stay busy enough to not lose good crews.
Tying that into op’s question I can tell you my margins are typically 20-30% and I can get the material 10-15% cheaper then you can and my crews are going to charge an individual at least 15% more for labor so it’s a wash.
Tying that into op’s question I can tell you my margins are typically 20-30% and I can get the material 10-15% cheaper then you can and my crews are going to charge an individual at least 15% more for labor so it’s a wash.
Being a one of one job means that you are absolutely last priority for any sub you hire. Not a great place to be.
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