Roofing Jobs: Residential vs Commercial

You need a roofing job done on your home or business, and while looking through the phonebook or internet you find that some Dallas or Fort Worth roofers and roofing repair companies are listed as either commercial or residential roofer. Maybe even some claim to do both! What’s the difference? A roof is a roof, right? Well… not so much.

The first thing that differentiates a residential roofing job from a commercial roofing job is the type of building the roof is for. Just because you bought what used to be a house and turned it into an office for your real estate company doesn’t make it a commercial roof. On the other hand, the roof of an apartment complex might just classify as a commercial roofing job even though it’s a residence. If you’re unsure on if the building you need re-roofed classifies as residential roofing or commercial, call the Dallas or Fort Worth roofing company you have in mind and ask.

Another difference between commercial roofs and residential ones would be the size of the job itself. How many square feet is the roof? How many workers will the Dallas roof repair company need to send to your location to do the job? Many residential roofing jobs only require a single contractor, where as commercial roofing jobs typically require a whole crew.

Many commercial buildings also have a lot more protrusions than a residential building. A residential home will typically only have a chimney jutting out. A commercial building, on the other hand, may have smoke stacks and ventilation systems and pipes, and mechanically wiring, and a roof entrance, and a skylight, etc. All these pose obstacles for the roofer, and in some cases so much that a crane has to be called in to aid with the job. Restaurants especially have lots of external machinery on the roof which can cause problems for the contractors doing the roof job.

Unions also factor into what makes a commercial job different from a residential one. Many roofing companies are a part of a union so that they can get the higher paid unionized commercial roofing jobs. Many unions will not allow their members to work union jobs. This is the case for most roofing jobs. A commercial roofer with a union can’t work the non-union residential job, because his union and labor costs won’t allow it.

The products and tools needed for the job can make a difference too. A residential roofer might not have the tools required to handle the bigger scale job of a commercial roof efficiently. They might also not have adequate manpower. There are even new developments in the roofing industry that are bringing about products designed especially for commercial roofing jobs. Products like rubberized roofing materials which are phasing out hot roofing.

So first, you’ll need to find out if your roof is residential or commercial. Most of the time it will be obvious (a house VS a mini mall), but for those that are closer to being both, check first. Also, make sure that once you know what kind of roofing job yours is, that you hire a roofing company capable of doing that type of job.