hard to work for clients

I had a 70 yr old retired engineer call last week about a leaking chimney. At the time I was very slow. I spent an hour and a half talking to him on the phone finally getting off of it only by stating that dinner was done and I have to go. ( Dinner wasn't started yet ) :huh:

When I went to do the estimate, I had to repeatedly explain every little step that I was going to make concerning the repair. He questioned everything as if he knew a better way. Spent two more hours there during the estimate. Usually takes 20-30 minutes. Sometimes less.

When I went inside the house, the smell almost knocked me out. Same thing in the basement where he was showing me all kinds of left over stuff he had, trying to keep the price down. I lifted the garbage can lid to throw some trash in and there was a disgusting smell. He said quote " there's a dead possum in there". At one point we were standing there talking when all the sudden he let a huge fart that sent me scurrying up the ladder onto the roof. :lol:

I did the work in 6 hours that normally would have taken 4. He don't know it but this wasn't Ole Willie's first rodeo. I put $200 extra on the price because I knew what I was going to be up against.

Anybody else ever run into this kind of insanity?

NO, I don't.

There's more than one way to skin a cat. ;)

What is with the continous metal flashing? Don't you use step flashings between each coarse of shingles along the side of the chimney or along a side wall?

I've never really had a problem with J-channel but the client I was working for mentioned he thought it was suspect so I eliminated it from the chimney for him.

You know, that's something very few roofers think much about. Leaf debris and build up. It has a major impact on water flow in some cases.

It can obviously build up along walls as in your pic but this also happens even more often in valleys and can cause a leak during hard rains.

It also occurs around pipes, vents, and other roof protrusions.

OLE Willie Said:

I don't care much for J-channel...

I hope no one took that the wrong way. I try to go along with what the customer says they want.

Just not to the point of letting them cause a problem. Because if they have a problem then so do I.

Other times they just want something unnecessary done that will make the job a lot more difficult. In that case I will sometimes play along ( adjusting the price accordingly .

Had a guy call yesterday wanting a price to put tar around his pipes and chimney. I tell him I don't do that because it is very "sub par".

He says well back in the day that is what I used to do to my roof every few years but now I'm too old to get up there.

I say, well sir, why don't you allow me to fix it properly so no one has to get back up there for about ten years? ( That's about how long is left before he will need a new roof )

Another signed contract! :)

The stucco chimneys are a pain to work with in the rain forest as they tend to rot out over time.

They still make a good tool storage though. ;)

I guess it is the same in every trade. Plumbers listening to people telling them how to do their job, mechanics listening to people telling them how to fix the car. My oldest son is an electrician and his favorite saying is "They know enough to be dangerous."

This thread came to mind yesterday. In Home Depot BS'n at the contractor desk. Older gent strolls on over asking about plywood. The subject turns to his project. Apparently a roofer has been to his house several times to fix the same leaks. My ears perk up. May be I can help you I offered. Long story short I couldn't, "whew" I'm just thankful he wasn't my customer. This fellow had little knowledge. Making claims of vast roofing experende and know how. Must have gotten it off the net. :woohoo: :laugh: :woohoo: :side: :blink: B) :) :) B) Deep Down In Florida Where The Sun Shines Damn Near Every Day

I'm with seen-it-all.

Usually, I will pass on working for these people at all if upon asserting my knowledge and experience they choose not to believe what I am saying.

On my website and in all my other advertisements, I make myself out to be the expert. I sell ME. They know what they will be getting before they ever call or email and that is what I deliver.

I know the things that will cause problems and refuse to let a homeowner force me into doing that. I don't really mean to sound harsh but I guess what I'm saying is, it's my way or the highway! :dry:

But the customer's always right! Er! Right?

Correct answer: NO they aren't.

Sometimes they are like little children that need help to keep out of harms way.

Prime Example: The guy I speak of in this post insisted twice that the wall flashing going up the sides of the chimney should be on top of the shingles. :laugh:

That says something for referrals, which all of us already know. It doesn't matter how you pay attention to detail as far as quality is concerned. Straight at the top, cleanliness, and speediness = instant referral, quality be damned. People believe their neighbor over some roofer. I bet that cost her a good bit of change to get it done "right!"

I had a lady, a hottie, hire me to do her roof,, I came highly recommended, We worked on it the first day loading the roof and got about 1/3 of it done.

She came home, happy we were working and said it looked good.

Came back the next day to finish, she was crying uncontrollably, says one of her neighbors said we were putting the roof on wrong and she wants us off her property.......

fired us on the spot.

Many years ago a homeowner called for a complete replacement quote and started naming off the materials he wanted and "exactly" the way it all would have to be installed. He had been reading everything he could find online about how to roof a house.

I went over there, measured it up and did my best to explain to him how most of what he claimed to want was overkill and would make a slow hard job out of an otherwise fairly simple project.

I gave him a price to do the job the way we normally would and another price to do what he requested for $1,000 more.

He just looked at me like I was nuts and I never heard from him again. But that was all good by me.

egg: those flat top chimneys do make for a nice work station. Maybe you should design a nice portable light weight aluminum one that adjusts to the pitch of the roof that you can keep all your incidentals on. Take it from job to job, set it anywhere on the ridge, in the shade, in the sun. Nice place to sit and enjoy the view, think and smoke your pipe. Attachable recliner perhaps?

A lot of hard to work for clients get themselves into complex problems because they are usually anal to the point that they drive away any proficient tradesman that could solve their problems. I personally refuse to be micro-managed by a client. I can't afford to spend my time detailing and discussing the rational of every aspect of the job. Some clients tend to have gathered too much information about their problem and as a result will usually end up with a fast talking yes man that will promise them everything and in the end not deal with the problem at hand. The cycle repeats itself. I have walked from lots of jobs when the client seems to know the best method of repair, the best materials to use and how to complete the job in the shortest possible time.

You mean like this egg?

I had my smart phone sitting on top of the stack cap with the smokes and gatorade, jamming to some classic rock. I'm pretty sure the sound traveled down the chimney chase and into the house. :cheer: