You can be part of the $5.8 billion rcrcofing market

Er IFTY MILLION single family l- homes will be reroofed this year with2.4% of the jobs done by a do-ityourselfer and 0.7 % of them done by a contractor/d-i-y team.

As a dealer you can get your share of the $5.8 billion repair and replacement market by catering to the d-i-yer. How do you do it? With the help of several manufacturers who are catering to ttre doit-yourself roofing market. Call on them for literature, help in putting on clinics, and advertising support.

Story at a Glance

Ways to get into the d-i-y rcroof' ing market ... new packaging for non-professional users, literature, sales aids ... ways to convince consumers that they can do the job.

Georgia-Facific, for example, has what they call a "consumer-friendly" concept in packaging roofing products. Complete step-by-step instructions are included on the packaging plus companion literature. "The Reroofing Book" is part ofthe series of do-it-younelf books from the Great Possibilities home library offered by Georgia-Pacific.

Although it is designed for the do-ityourselfer, the publication should be required reading for every dealer and all sales people. In addition to explaining when and how to reroof, the booklet has the formula for determining the amount of materials needed, a complete list of tools and basic materials required including nails and additional materials like sheet metal flashing, asphalt plastic cement and 90 lb. mineral surfaced asphalt roll roofing.

A list of terms used in roohng will give the retailer and the customer a common vocabulary as well as the correct terminology for the various parts ofthe roof and thejob. Roofpreparation and stripping is explained in layman's terms along with instructions for applying shingles in various areas of the roof. Diagrams help to explain the procedures.

Equally important to the customer and the dealersince he is interested in keeping his customerare the safety rules. Proper shoes, safe working conditions, correct use ofa ladder, safe working practices and procedures such as wearing a safety rope or harness are explained clearly. Illustrations are used to reinforce the safety measures recommended.

A home center interested in increasing its do-it-younelf roofing sales should contact G-P for a supply ofthe reroofing books. In addition to giving it to customers, they should reproduce the material fcrmula, the materials and tool lists and safety rules for display in the roofing section.

The booklet used in conjunction with a presentation by a roofing pro can provide the lesson plan for a roofing clinic. As Steve Jackson, vice president of marketing and advertising in Georgia-Pacific's distribution center, explains "The consumer lacks confidence in his ability, and that's a major fuctor in doing anything, to take the next step forward." GeorgiaFacific has designed packaging and literature to give them the idea that they can, that it's easy, "to feel a little better about doing it themselves." That should be the aim of the retailer as well.

Although Georgia-Pacific has done an outstanding job of promoting reroofing as a do-it-yourselfjob, they are not the only manufacturer or distributor identirying it as such. Other roofing manufacfurers and distributors have labeled their products for do-it-yourselfuse and provided instructions aimed at the neophyte.