The Roofing Professionals Westside have been doing roof repairs in Sydney for over 20 years. And this is what we have found about the roof repair business:
For the best roof repair outcome, you need the most comprehensive information
That is why is a roof repair checklist is needed
When a roof is leaking, it is stressful. Initially, all the stress is on the homeowner. A leaking roof means that there is something wrong with the house – specifically the roof. What is wrong with the roof and what to do about it? Although the first reaction nowadays is simply to Google “Roof repairs near me”, there are other considerations and things that can be done to ensure a successful roof repair…
In situations of overwhelm, the solution is to boil the data down to a simple checklist. This list becomes the guide to a roof repair outcome that is logical and not tainted by the emotions that a faulty roof can generate.
Who can use a roof repairs checklist?
If you are a homeowner and you start getting a water leak in your house, you need a checklist to head you away from making the wrong decisions. Leaking roofs are not a thing that a lot of homeowners need to deal with. They do not know what to do if the roof starts leaking – so a checklist constructed by an experienced roof repairer who has extensive experience in repairing Sydney roofs, is an essential tool to discover.
Although our roofers spend all their time repairing leaking roofs in Sydney, when they come to do a roof inspection – they will need their own roof repair checklist. This makes it easier to track down the roof leak and the necessary repairs needed. Even though each roofer has a mental checklist that they use when they go looking for the cause of roof leaks, there is nothing like a comprehensive checklist generated from the experiences of a multitude of seasoned roof repairers who have spent countless hours in the suburbs of Sydney – just fixing roofs.
The day comes when you have organised one of our roof repair teams to do their magic. These roofers have another checklist that they follow. Armed with the initial roof inspection data, they need to tick off the items on the list to enable them to drill down to the essence of the roof repair job. Documenting the work done is an important item on the roof repair team’s checklist – because it means a higher success rate in the leak repair. And this valuable information is needed if we ever need to return (in the case of a continuing leak).
When the roof repair work is complete, “The office” needs a checklist to document and close off the roof repair job and maintain the all-important warranty service.
Together, all these checklists add up to our:
ULTIMATE Roof Repair checklist below.
The Homeowner roof repairs checklist:
It is raining and you have a roof leak. It is not the end of the world. There are certain things that you can do to take the stress out of this unfortunate situation.
You have a checklist.
Go through the checklist below. It will ease your mind and you will get a better end result.
- Buckets and towels. If you can put a container under the drip, this is the first step. If there is splashing, this is where towels come in. If the drip is running down a wall, then the towel is the weapon of choice. The aim is to soak up as much of the water from the roof leak as possible.
- Ceiling collapse: If you have a new roof leak, it is unlikely that the ceiling will collapse if you take some precautions. It takes a while for a ceiling to go ‘soft’ and pull away from its fasteners or the glue spots. If there is a lot of water – don’t let it spread, you need to make a means of letting it drain through the ceiling. Put a hole in the ceiling. A Phillips head screw driver is a handy tool for this. And if there is a hole then the container can go directly underneath the stream of water.
- Electrical safety: You are unlikely to get an electric shock from the roof leak. The safety switches/fuses will automatically trip out any circuits that get water-logged. Just leave all lights and power on.
- Assess the situation: Relax and review the situation so far. You have done as much as you can to minimise damage. Now is the time to get outside help to get your roof repaired.
- Home insurance: Most people have a home insurance policy. Find out your insurance provider and contact them for advice about your policy cover and what they can do about getting your roof repairs done.
- Emergency Services: If your insurance company does not give you any joy, the local State Emergency Services (SES) will come out and make your roof safe while you organise for your roof to be repaired.
- Organise roof repairs: Most good roofers in Sydney will be busy. So you need to be patient. Do not use the first available roofer. Just Google “Roof repairs near me” and you will be given a whole list of Sydney roofers near where you are. Do some more research about which roof repairers are most likely to be able to fix your roof properly. Then be prepared to wait.
- After roof repairs: You are not expected to be an expert in repairing leaking roofs. But your roof repairer should be. When paying for the roof repair work, make sure that there is a good warranty attached with your payment. Keep the roofer’s details handy and let him know after the next rain(s) how the roof repairs are performing.
- Roof maintenance: If your roof repairer is a good one – use him for your roof maintenance advice and any future work.
The roof repairer inspection checklist:
When a roof inspection is done, it is better to have some sort of checklist so that we can generate a more relevant roof repair quote with some idea of the likely repair methods that we will use.
- Site access: Requirements for getting to the repair locations will be different for the roof inspectors and for the actual work to be carried out by the roof repair teams. When the roofers come out to do the roof repairs, they will be looking at the most convenient and safe access point. It is better for them not to have to go through the house. So, external access to the roof is important.
- Get the full story: Questions are the key to understanding the nature of the roof leak. Ask the homeowner as much questions as possible. When did the leak start, how bad was it, is it the first time it leaked, have roof repairs been carried out recently, how long has the current homeowner been in the house, are there pictures or videos of the leak when it happened, has the insurance company been contacted, how long does the homeowner intend to keep the house for… and a few more. The more the data collected, the better the solution.
- Survey the roof: Sydney roofs are all different. Some roofs are more prone to leakage problems. Check how the strong the roof is for foot traffic – because you may damage the roof during the inspection, or when the roof repair work is done.
- Zero in on the roof leak location: Locate the leak inside the house and translate this onto the roof. This will take some patience and skill. But this is critical to finding out why and where the roof is leaking.
- Be in solution mode: The key is to come up with the most appropriate solution for the homeowner (based on their circumstances). Run through the database of roof repair solutions and find the one that most suits. If the situation is novel, contact colleagues for help.
- Record details: Take as many pictures as needed of the area where the roof is leaking and the general layout of the roof. Closeups of the likely problems will help. Drone pictures and videos may be needed for the bigger jobs. Our memories can be defective – so it is best to trust digital data.
- Report findings to the homeowner: Use the pictures taken on the roof to give the homeowner an indication of where the roof leak is and what is causing it. Inform the homeowner that we will produce a detailed quote for the roof repair works needed and this will usually take a few days.
- Upload all roof inspection data: All photos, notes and videos will be uploaded to cloud drive so that the team in the office can review and prepare the quote.
- Monitor progress: With so much activity, it is important to track the quoting process so that no one is forgotten.
Checklist for the roof repair team:
When the homeowner becomes a client, the best chance of getting a roof repair done right is to start with as much information as possible.
The roof repairer needs to pick up the details from the inspection data to ensure continuity. The roofer who does the actual roof repair work will not usually be the one who has done the roof inspection. When roof repairer comes out to do the actual roof repair work, this will be the checklist that will be used.
- Roof repairs data dump: Pick the brains of the roofer who did the roof inspection. Download all the data from the cloud drive and talk to the inspection roofer about the best way to approach the roof repair work.
- Collect materials: Pick up all the materials need for the roof repair job from the store and purchase any other materials on the way out to the site. Always have handy spare material because you never know what the day will throw at you.
- Inform client: Message or talk to the client about an estimated time of arrival and whether someone needs to be home.
- Roof access: Choose the closest and safest means of access onto the roof area where the roof repairs will be carried out. Plan out fall prevention system.
- Document the roof repairs: Take pictures and/or videos before, during and after the roof repair have been carried out. Once we start working on the roof, there will be changes. It is important to have evidence of the state of the roof prior to any roof repair work. The ‘after’ pictures just will show a repaired roof – so it is important to have ‘during’ pictures to document the work actually done. This is particularly important if the roof repair does not work and we need to do a review process to formulate another repair solution.
- Clean up: Leave the roof in the same or a better state than the way it was before the roof repair works commenced. This also means that every single tool that is brought onto the roof is spotted and picked up. The next person who gets on the roof will appreciate a tidy roof. Besides, leaving tools on a roof becomes an expensive bad habit.
- Close off roof repair job: Message the client that the roof repair work has been carried out and that an invoice will be emailed out. Upload all roof repair data to the cloud drive. Let the office know that the repairs have been done.
- Onto the next roof repair job: This will be usually be ‘tomorrow’. Repeat, improve and have fun.
The office roof repairs checklist:
Administration is usually not fun. When things are not fun, mistakes will be made and that is why the office folks need a checklist to tick off.
- Data dumps: Data will be uploaded by many roofers on a daily basis. This is a lot of data and the only way to manage this is to start by making sure that it is filed correctly and available on request.
- Website: Most enquiries for roof repairs will come through the website. The website is the doorway to the world and will get very busy. Incoming data will need to be processed correctly. Scheduling roof inspections using this incoming data.
- Quotes: Retrieve relevant data to produce a detailed quote for each roof repair inspection done and email out to homeowner as soon as possible.
- Scheduling of roof repair work: Prioritise the urgent jobs and smooth out the workload for the roof repair crews together with fitting in with the client’s timetable. This is the supreme act of juggling.
- Manage the unmanageable: The weather is the constant unknown. The office is responsible for calling the shots when weather conditions and client expectations change.
- On top of the cash flow: Paying workers and creditors on time is good practice. When we receive timely payments for roof repairs carried out, the cash flows positively. A business with negative cash flow is of no use to anyone.
- Manage the warranties: When it rains again, there will be more new enquiries. But it can also show the shortcomings of some of our roof repair jobs. The quicker we can get to look at a warranty job – the more we can learn and the easier to do a better leak repair. Warranties are priorities.
- Look to the future: Times are always changing. If there is such a job description as a futurist – then it is a job for the office.
How to use the ultimate roof repair checklist?
If you are a homeowner, grab your black checklist at the top of the page and start ticking off the items. When you get to the end, you deserve a rest. Make yourself a cup of tea.
Then you can read the other roof repair checklists. This is how all roof repair companies should be approaching the way they do their roof repair work. The reality is that most people take short cuts.
… But it will give you an idea of what needs to be done to get your roof leak repaired properly. You can then head to our home page and get immersed into the world of getting a roof leak repaired in Sydney.
If you are a roof contractor, take the checklists and use them in your business. Everyone will be better off if you do. If you embrace “the way of the checklists”, we may be working together one day…
