Metal Roofs and Economic Crises

Perspective is everything when it comes to judging circumstances, and to illustrate I offer the summary of two recent conversations.

In the first, I spoke with the owner of a roofing contracting company about the state of business. To say he was pessimistic would be grossly inadequate. “Despondent” or “shell-shocked” are probably more apt. In any event, he was unable to grasp how his recently successful business was now on the verge of failing and he was wondering from where he might find his next job. He was down from six or seven installation crews to one, and even they were not working full time.

You see, he had built his business installing roofs for “tract” builders. As a result, he had enjoyed a robust enterprise for nearly 10 consecutive years. Now, there is no tract work at all, and what was left was so competitive as to be worthless. What puzzled me, even at the time of our talk and even though discretion prevented me from commenting at that moment, was that he would be surprised at all by the turn of events. Did he not see that he was supplying labor to an industry that was rolling in an orgy of speculation and leverage? How could anyone think that the constant parade of new developments would continue unabated into the indefinite future? Was he surprised that I was not?

My second conversation was with an established contractor specializing in remodeling and custom building. His perspective on the current state of business mirrored my own: Things were definitely slowing down, but there was still plenty of projects needing attention and although one had to be more competitive, there was no shortage of good business about.

Stepping back, it makes perfect sense that the owners of buildings that have moved little, plan on staying put, and remain proud of their home or business have changed little. Their priorities remain the same: efficiency, low maintenance, good looks and long service life. No wonder metal roofing is the fastest-growing segment of the roofing products industry. I'm reminded of a trip to a South American country where I was struck by two things: How slowly things were built, and what attention was given to the details. The explanation by my host was rather simple, “That it takes a few months more or a few months less to build hardly matters when the owner is planning to live in that house for the rest of his life, and then pass it on to his children.” How could I argue with such sound logic?

At the end of the day, an owner is still going to spend more money on a nice metal roof that one of the disposable alternatives (like asphalt), but when this recession has faded into history with all of the others, the permanence of metal will remain. I'm glad metal is my business.