Maintaining roofs and relationships with maintenance departments

By Anna Lockhart.  

Invest in future opportunities through service and maintenance offerings.

In a recent CoatingsTalk, host Megan Ellsworth sat down with Chris Huettig and John McDermott from KARNAK to discuss the importance of maintenance work in the coatings industry and ways contractors can best market and position their repair and maintenance services to customers. The two emphasized the impact of building relationships with building owners through providing maintenance services and how that can lead to great opportunities, both now and later.  

As the industry continues to innovate and produce high-quality coatings designed to expand the lifespan of roofs, building owners are starting to look to coatings professionals for help in providing maintenance for their aging roofs. John shared, “80-85% of low-slope roofing in the U.S. is single-ply. So, what does that mean for roofers and building owners? There's a very large need for repairs and preventative maintenance. No matter how good some of the systems are, there's just so much of it out there.” This large portion of the market, combined with the fact that most commercial roofs aren’t designed to last like they used to, means that the need for coatings is at an all-time high.  

As these membranes start to age, and the cost of replacing them continues to increase, the argument for investing in maintenance becomes hard to ignore. Chris shared, “Maintenance is critical for anything in our lives. If you want things to last, whether it's our cars or our homes, roofs are no different. We need to show them love and provide that maintenance, so we get the most out of that dollar spent on roofing.”

“As contractors, we owe it to our building owner clients to tell them about maintenance and to really hit it home because it is important,” Chris emphasized. “On the warranty side for these single-ply membranes as well as just any kind of coating, maintenance is going to be required by the manufacturer. As part of the owner's skin in the game, they need to hire these contractors to perform proactive maintenance on their roofs to make them last.”

By doing the necessary maintenance, contractors are keeping in consistent contact with the building owners, creating a trusting relationship that can lead to many more opportunities down the road.  

Read the transcript, Listen to the conversation or Watch the video to learn more about the importance of service and maintenance offerings.