DERRY — In the present shaky economy and in the face of recent natural disasters, companies specializing in additions — the 'little guys' — are often better positioned to offer services than the bigger companies that depend on new construction.
Rather than try and sell a home in these economically challenging times and then struggle for financing to build new, many homeowners are settling for smaller projects. Some choose upgrades and additions to their existing home, perhaps new windows, new doors or a new roof.
The people fighting their way back from the flooding caused by recent heavy rains, and homes damaged by the recent tornado in New Hampshire are providing work for the 'little guys' in the home building trades.
One of those small companies is Duguay's Roofing. Owner Dan Duguay is serious when he says there is nothing too small for his company to take on, nor too big for them to tackle.
His company set out to take advantage of the warm weather to get some roofing jobs done, but the constant rain has hampered things. But he is confident he will finish everything he has lined up before the snow flies and a different kind of roofing work starts.
When the snow piles up on house roofs, homeowners have two choices –ignore it and hope ice doesn't back up and cause leaks — or get the snow off the roof. For many homeowners, the risks of climbing out onto an icy, snow-covered roof aren't worth it.
"My specialty is roofing – everything that has to do with roofs," Duguay said. "We are at home on roofs summer and winter."
Duguay was an apprentice roofer for a couple of years and then worked for other roofing companies before taking the plunge into the world of the self-employed.
"We are doing well," he said with a smile. "I started with one employee and I now have five employees and we can field two crews when necessary."
He says from providing customers with a free estimate to leaving a property totally clean and free of shingle scraps and nails, his company is all about service.
"Customers really appreciate this attention to detail and it is important to please customers because word of mouth advertising is the best," he said.
In addition to replacing roofs, Duguay's also does roof repairs and provides snow removal services. He also does snowplowing and while most of his snowplowing activity is commercially based, he says he will consider requests for residential snowplowing on a case by case basis.
For more information call 231-7359 or online e-mail Dan at Duguays1roofing@yahoo.com.
