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The roof took 40 minutes. The report takes your evening.

You were on the roof at 2 with the phone, took 30 photos slope by slope, talked the damage into a voice note on the way down, and the homeowner asked when she'd have something in writing. The writing happens at 9 tonight at the kitchen table: which photo is which slope, what the measurements were, a summary she can read and hand to her adjuster. Or it happens Thursday, or it doesn't, and the roofer who showed up with a report the same afternoon gets the job.

Every piece of that report exists by the time you climb down. The photos are on the phone, in order. The measurements are in whatever you measured with. The findings are in the voice note. What's missing is two hours of typing, and that's the part I'd hand off.

I'd have each photo labeled by slope and damage type from your tech's own notes, the measurements dropped in, and a plain summary written from what the tech said. You read it on your phone before the truck is out of the driveway, fix whatever it got wrong, and the homeowner has it before supper. Nothing in it says what her policy covers, because that was never yours to say.

Then it keeps running without you watching it. Every Monday a fake inspection goes through every step, you get a text only if something broke, and once a month you get one short note of what it did.

What I'd set up

Your tech's photos and voice note come back as a report the homeowner can read: each photo labeled by slope and damage, the measurements, one plain paragraph on what was found. You read it on your phone and approve it, she has it the same afternoon, and the same report does for her adjuster if she files. Friday it checks back with her, and every Monday it tests itself.

  1. Your tech decides what the damage is. The report only writes up what the tech said.
  2. It never says what a policy covers or what a claim will pay. Those questions go to the insurance company.
  3. No prices in the report. Those are on the estimate.
  4. Nothing goes to a homeowner or an adjuster until you've approved it.
  5. A fake inspection runs through it every Monday, and you hear about it only if something broke.

The inspection, the call on what the damage is, and the estimate stay with your people.

Watch one roof become a report before supper

Working demo

One roof, 12 photos, a report before supper.

Put your company's name in, then follow one roof from your tech's photos to Teresa's phone. You're the owner.

Company, homeowner and roof are made up. The report and the texts were written in advance and play back in your browser. Nothing you type leaves this page.

It signs the report and every text here, and never leaves this page.

  1. Tuesday

    A roof in Gallatin, five days after the storm.

    12 photos and a voice note

    Everything the report needs is on the phone before the ladder is.

    Teresa, Gallatin. Two-story, architectural shingle, four slopes.

    12 photos, in order

    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
    • 4
    • 5
    • 6
    • 7
    • 8
    • 9
    • 10
    • 11
    • 12

    Voice note, on the way down

    North slope first, street side. Six creased tabs, two missing by the chimney, flashing's lifted. East is hail, eleven hits in a ten by ten. South and west are clean.

    From the measuring app

    • 16 squares on four slopes, all 6/12
    • One chimney, two pipe boots
  2. Tuesday

    Driveway, truck running. The report, on your phone.

    Read it, move one photo, approve

    You move one photo and tap approve.

    Roof inspection report

    For Teresa, Gallatin, from Station Camp Roofing

    North slope: six tabs creased, two missing by the chimney, flashing lifted, gutter dented. East slope: hail, eleven hits in a test square. South and west: clean. 16 squares, 6/12.

    North, street side 6
    • 1Wind: Creased tabs along the ridge
    • 2Wind: Creased tabs, closer
    • 3Wind: Two tabs missing by the chimney
    • 4Flashing: Chimney flashing lifted
    • 5Gutter: Gutter dented under the chimney
    • 12For the record: Front of the house, from the street
    East 4
    • 6Hail: Test square, eleven hits
    • 7Hail: Hail hit, soft spot
    • 8Hail: Granule loss
    • 9For the record: East slope, whole
    South 1
    • 10For the record: South slope, no damage
    West 1 moved by you
    • 11For the record: West slope, no damage

    What we found on the roof, not what your policy covers or what a claim pays. Those questions go to your insurance company.

  3. Tuesday

    Teresa's phone, two minutes later. Then Friday.

    Teresa has it before you pull out

    Sent the same minute, followed up Friday.

    1. Station Camp RoofingHey Teresa, Station Camp Roofing. Report's at the link, estimate's under it.
    2. Teresawow that was fast, thank you

    Friday, 9:00 AM

    1. Station Camp RoofingMorning Teresa. Report come through OK? Need anything, just reply here.
    2. Teresayes got it. adjuster is coming tuesday at 10, can somebody be here

    Text to you

    Teresa, Gallatin: adjuster there Tuesday at 10, wants you on site. On your calendar.

  4. Monday

    Every Monday, before anyone's up.

    It checks itself every Monday

    A fake roof through every step each Monday, and one short note a month.

    Monday's test: pass

    From the test phone: four photos, a voice note, one measurement.

    • 6:00 Photos labeled, 4 of 4.
    • 6:01 Report built, the line about coverage in it, on your approval list marked TEST.
    • 6:02 Test deleted. Nothing sent to anyone.

    The text you'd get if it failed

    Station Camp Roofing Monday test: the report was built but never reached your approval list. Check today's inspections by hand. Joe got the same text and is on it.

What a late report costs you

Put in your average roof job and how many a week go to whoever sent a report first, and the figures change with them.

The starting figure is an example on the low side. Change it to yours.

Count last week's inspections you wrote up days late or never got to.

What you're losing

A week
$8,000
A month
$34,667
A year
$416,000

Rough math: the week times 52 for the year, divided by 12 for the month. Nobody's published how many jobs a late report loses, so count yours for a month.

How you'd set this up yourself

Five steps, and none of them needs a particular product.

  1. Have the tech say the slope before the photos

    On the roof, say the slope out loud into the voice note before shooting it: north, then east, and so on. The photos come down in order, so the note tells you which slope each run belongs to.

  2. Ask the AI for the labels and the summary

    Paste the voice note and measurements into a business AI account with training off (two questions first), add the photos, and ask for a label per photo and one paragraph on what was found. Nothing about coverage, claims or price.

  3. Read it on your phone and fix it

    Check every label against its photo; it will put one on the wrong slope now and then. Your name goes on the report, so you read every line before it goes.

  4. Send it the same day, with the estimate

    Text the homeowner the link from your own number, estimate behind it. One report serves the homeowner and the adjuster both, so there's nothing to rewrite if a claim gets filed.

  5. Set the follow-up, then count

    A reminder three days out: "Morning, did the report come through OK?" At month's end, count the reports that went same day and the follow-ups that got an answer. Those two numbers tell you whether to keep it.

If you'd rather not build this, I'll set it up on the phones and the measuring app your techs already use, test it every Monday, and send you the month's note. You approve every report before a homeowner sees it.

Contact

Let's get the report out before supper.

Work that eats your week. Sales lost to problems nobody gets to. I fix both, some of it AI, a lot of it plain automation. The first call is free.

What helps me answer well

  • What the business does and who does the office work
  • Where the time goes, and where the sales slip
  • What you run on: phone system, QuickBooks, spreadsheets, scheduling
  • Whether you've tried AI before, and how it went
Joe Hill, head and shoulders, dark green backdrop

Joe Hill, Infrastructure & AI. Portland, TN.

Email joe@joehill.net

I read every message myself, and the reply comes from me.

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