Coastal Roofing came into existence organically through a real estate investing business. We were buying and rehabbing houses to rent or flip and the number one challenge we faced in our business was finding professional contractors. That’s not to say that there aren’t any other reputable contractors in our area because there are, and we work with many of them and refer them to our customers on a daily basis. However, in a lot of cases quality contractors are booked for months at a time and simply can’t keep up with the demand. As a result, we sometimes had the unfortunate pleasure of working with fly by night and shady “contractors.” The experiences were stressful, costly, and eye opening to say the least. However, these experiences taught us a lot of what to look for when hiring help and red flags to avoid. We used this new perspective to envision the customer experience we wish we could find in contractors to build our company culture around. Our goal is to be set apart. We strive to be a company our clients can trust and count on.
Becoming the Reliable Roofing Company, We Dreamt of Being
In early 2019 we needed a roof replaced on one of our projects. We had gotten several quotes for the project and were surprised to see such a wide range of pricing and availability. Because of the timeline and budget, we decided to go with the contractor who could start the job right away and they also happened to be the lowest bid. At the time we felt like this was a huge win, but ended up being a total nightmare. The workmanship was terrible, they broke a window and damaged brand-new siding, tons of construction waste were left piled up at the property, and then months later we got hit with a $500 dumpster bill that the contractor didn’t pay. When it came time for me to hire a roofer again, I contacted an old friend who had over 15 years of experience in roofing and his work was exceptional. This is when we discussed doing something more long term. After a few months of planning and discussing business goals we decided to move forward.
We knew that in order to earn our place in the roofing market and gain the trust of our community, we had our work cut out for us. Shortly after we started talking to friends and family and building Coastal Roofing’s Facebook page. Calls started coming in we were servicing clients in:
Picayune
Bay St. Louis
Biloxi
Gulfport
Hattiesburg
Diamondhead
Ocean Springs
We wanted to make sure these companies knew they could trust us and count on us, so we backed our work with our 3 Year Limited Workmanship Warranty and made sure we were licensed and insured.
Expanding Our Reach in the Communities Around Us
Services
When we started, we had basic Roofing services like:
-Roof Inspections
-Roofing Repairs
-Roof Replacements
-New Roofs
–Shingle Roofing
-Metal Roofing
After doing several roofs in the community, clients started asking us if we did commercial roofing. At the time, I wasn’t sure if we were ready to move back and forth from residential to commercial roofing, but I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to grow our business. So, like any striving business owner, I said why not. We loved the growth, our days were long, but we loved knowing that we had the trust of our customers, and we loved the smiles on their faces when they saw their new roofs, so we just kept pushing.
We knew if we wanted to keep growing, we had to come up with something that the “other” guys didn’t have. We knew we couldn’t just rely on being good and dependable. We needed to add services that fly by night roofers didn’t provide. That’s when a silent partner came up with roof protect. Roof Protect is a maintenance program designed to help increase the longevity of a client’s roof. Whether they purchased their roof through us or with someone else. It’s a yearly roofing maintenance program designed to help maintain your roof and check for possible issues. Not many customers are aware that you should be inspecting and maintaining your roof on a yearly basis. In fact, some people only look at their roofs after something major has occurred.
Bringing in the New Guy
Every day it seemed like clients from new areas were calling and we didn’t quite know how we were going to handle the growth. At this point we were receiving calls from potential clients in Louisiana that had roofing needs. We wanted to grow but we didn’t want to lose sight of who we were. This is when my partner and I felt it was a good time to bring in Ed Stone. A retired sheriff’s K9 handler with over 13 years of working with the Saint Tammany Parish Sheriff’s office. It was a perfect fit to grow our business. Ed doesn’t only handle our day-to-day operations he helps connect our company to several of our areas. With him we are able to reach cities like
Slidell
Covington
Mandeville
Pearl River
Madisonville
Hammond
New Orleans
He helps ensure that our Louisiana family gets the same loyalty and support we strive for. Just as we officially were launching our expansion into Louisiana and being a licensed and insured roofing company, Hurricane Ida hit.
Going Through the Storm
August 26th we started to monitor Tropical Storm Ida. We were hoping this storm would stay small as it moved through. However, we quickly learned that it would be something more. Our staff started to worry about the community and sprung into action. We jumped on our social media platforms and started reaching out to our communities. We reached out to our suppliers to make sure we were supplied with materials we knew we would need after the storm rolled through. We started creating videos letting people know we would be on standby immediately after the storm to help start patching roofs. At this point we didn’t know how severe it would be. We just wanted our friends, family and customers to know we were there for them. The storm took an unexpected turn and the cone of uncertainty was even closer so we prepared even more. The day after the storm hit our phone did not stop ringing. Our staff immediately dove in where they could. Tarping roofs, scheduling roof inspections, cleaning debris and doing whatever needed to be done for their families and our clients. Our hard work and dedication to our local communities was paying off because our sister communities could see it. We started to get calls as far out as Lafourche Parish. It was then that we decided to build out more crews and go into our new servicing areas:
New Orleans
Metairie
Destrehan
Laplace
Hammond
Ponchatoula
Our team is still working on servicing our areas to make sure everyone is ready for this upcoming hurricane season. No matter how big our company gets we want it to always be known as a Roofing Company you can trust and rely on. A company that will be here for your new roof and your replacement 20+ years from now.
Two Years and Counting
Starting from not much more than an old tool belt of tools and a Facebook page and Instagram page, two years later Coastal Roofing is one of the most reputable construction companies in our area. We have built a team of professionals that truly love what we do and the communities we serve. We have an A rating with the Better Business Bureau, and we are members of Picayune Chamber of Commerce as well as the St. Tammany Chamber of Commerce. We attribute our success to the integrity of the people on our team and to our commitment to excellence. That starts with putting together a skilled labor force to deliver the highest quality workmanship, and a team of sales and office staff to create a great experience for our customers. We have over 100 Google Reviews to prove it! We are excited to have our new division of Coastal Gutters that we recently launched, and we will continue to grow in our communities and meet the needs of our customers.
