Every contractor needs their set of essential equipment, and the roofing contractor is no exception. If you are thinking about getting into the business, here’s a brief list of the essentials that you will need to get started.

General Contractor’s Equipment

Some of a general contractor’s equipment is more universally needed than others, specialized or not. Check out the list of general equipment you will need to arrange first:

• Stable, heavy-duty ladders and wheelbarrows.
• Electric drills, cordless drills, drivers, bunghole mixers, and drill bits.
• Pop-rivet and caulking guns
• Shears, hammers, mallets & chisels, wrenches, screwdrivers, punching tools, coring tools, motorized handsaws, and hacksaws.
• Sharpies, nails, screws, and measuring tapes.

Fall-Protection and Other Safety Equipment

Safety roofing equipment is essential for all types of contracting work, and some of it is common to all sectors. However, fall protection is the primary concern for roofers and construction workers. This includes but isn’t limited to harnesses, anchors, self-retracting lines, seam room clamps, lanyards, and other, job-specific fall arrest kits. You should be able to find these, as well as any other specialized fall-protection equipment your roofers might need online. In addition to fall prevention kits, your workers will also need hard hats and steel-toed, soft-soled shoes with excellent traction.

Specialized Roof Inspection Equipment

In order to get the job done, roofing contractors must provide their workers with the following equipment.

Moisture Meters – They are one of the core inspections tools for roofers, as these allow them to check for moisture retention in the roof and potential water damage that may have stemmed from it.

Coring Tool – Used to collect a roof material sample (2-inches normally), so that it can be examined for the overall composition of the roof’s materials and any potential damage hiding just below the surface.

Optical Comparator – This is a rather complex tool for inspecting, measuring, and adjusting coating thickness. It’s a curious combination of a powerful eyepiece and a measuring scale.

Roof Cleaning Equipment

These will vary a bit, depending on the job at hand, but the following roof cleaning equipment is usually considered to be essential for roofing contractors.

• Power brooms and stiff-bristled brooms
• Spud bars or better yet, motorized spudders
• Different sized vacuums from trailer mounted hydro vacuums to backpack vacuums
• High pressure water jet washers and high-pressure air blasters
• Trash chutes and dumpster trucks.

Roofer’s Specialty Equipment: Application and Removal

Once again, what you will need here will depend largely on the job itself. Nevertheless, here’s a brief list of specialty roofing equipment for application removal.

• Paint rollers, pens, and air-free sprayer machines
• Seam rollers
• hot air guns (welding)
• Motorized roof cutters
• Spud bars, pry-bars, and roof hatchets
• Linoleum knives

Some of the equipment mentioned here, especially the trucks and other expensive equipment can be easily rented to save cost. In fact, only buy the safety equipment for your workers and the specialty equipment which you need on a regular basis for your jobs as a roofing contractor.