EP #29 Extending Roof Life: How Roof Maxx Is Saving Homeowners Thousands

Ever wonder if there's an alternative to costly roof replacement? Nick Roberge of Roof Maxx reveals a game-changing approach that's saving homeowners thousands while extending roof life by 5+ years.

Drawing from his 20-year background in Marine Corps aircraft maintenance, Nick explains how the same preventative maintenance principles apply to your home's most important protective barrier. The revolutionary process uses a soybean-based oil treatment that restores flexibility to brittle asphalt shingles – much like hand lotion revitalizes dry skin. At roughly 20% the cost of roof replacement, this solution addresses both financial and environmental concerns.

The conversation debunks common roofing myths, particularly the widespread belief that any roofing issue requires complete replacement. Nick's service includes comprehensive maintenance tune-ups that identify and fix potential leak sources like nail pops and loose flashings. As he points out, you wouldn't expect a 30-year roof to last three decades without maintenance – just as you wouldn't drive your car for years without changing the oil.

Beyond the technical aspects, Nick shares his entrepreneurial journey from Marine Corps retirement through Syracuse University's Entrepreneurial Boot Camp for Veterans to finding the perfect business match. His advice to aspiring business owners resonates with authenticity: find something that genuinely works for you, be willing to invest in your business, and remember that marketing is an investment, not merely a cost.

Curious if your roof qualifies for rejuvenation? Most roofs over eight years old are ideal candidates. Nick offers free assessments and can be reached directly at 540-427-6324 to answer questions about this eco-friendly alternative that keeps asphalt shingles out of landfills where they take 300 years to decompose. Learn more about how this innovative approach is revolutionizing roof maintenance in the Fredericksburg area.

Nick Roberge

Roof Maxx

[e-mail]

roofmaxx.us/fredericksburg-va

[phone]

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Fredericksburg Neighbors Podcast
, the place where localbusinesses and neighbors come
together.
Here's your host, Dori Stewart.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
Welcome to another episode of the Fredericksburg
Neighbors Podcast.
We love introducing goodneighbors to great businesses,
and today joining me on thepodcast is Nick Roberge of Roof
Maxx.
Nick, welcome to the podcast.

Speaker 3 (00:27):
Hi Dori, thanks for having me.

Speaker 2 (00:28):
Yeah well, I'm excited to learn all about your
business, so why don't we startoff there?
Tell us a little bit about RoofMaxx.

Speaker 3 (00:36):
Sure.
So what Roof Maxx does is werestore roofs, we do not replace
them.
We do this through preventativemaintenance actions and by
treating the shingles asphaltshingles with a soybean-based
oil, and it makes it last longer.
It gives it another five years.
It's a lot cheaper than gettinga new roof typically about 20%
or so of what the cost of a newroof is.
And now just you know, we canclean it up on occasion if

(01:00):
that's what's needed, and that'sbasically what we do.

Speaker 2 (01:03):
Interesting.
So instead of a, or is itinstead of a roof replacement,
or does it just, you know, kindof make it last longer?
Dive in a little bit about that, yeah, so so it.

Speaker 3 (01:16):
it's really designed to keep your current roof on
longer, so we're just trying toadd life to it.
A lot of homeowners arefamiliar with maybe some basic
automotive maintenance.
You drive your car for so long.
Eventually you're going to getan oil change.
It's kind of the same conceptsMaintenance is maintenance.
I've been in the maintenancefield for many years and it's a
lot of the same concepts,regardless of what you're
working on.

Speaker 2 (01:36):
Nice, nice, so yeah, so continue with that.
What was your journey like?
How did you get into this?

Speaker 3 (01:45):
Yeah, so, like I said , I'm a maintainer.
My background I did a lot ofaircraft maintenance in the
Marine Corps for about 20 yearsprobably about 12 to 13 of that
or so and again it's the sameconcepts when I had retired
about, I guess, about 10 yearsago now it goes by fast project
management work when I hadgotten out and then I was kind

(02:09):
of sitting behind a desk toomuch and needed to get back
outside again.
So I had gotten a businesseducation type of opportunity.
Through Syracuse Universitythey actually have this
entrepreneurial boot camp forveterans.
It's all paid for.
It's a fantastic program.
It really just kind ofenlightens somebody who's not,

(02:29):
somebody who's not done businessbefore and and just shows the
similarities and differences andyou learn from other successful
vet entrepreneurs what we callcome in and the professors that
they have their other studentsthat are going through their
MBAs, their other classmates,really your classmates really.
So that really helped me outquite a bit.
And then the Roof Maxxopportunity came along and I'd

(02:51):
been looking into probably 20 orso different types of
franchises, other types ofbusinesses, and none of them
were really fitting until thisone did, and the people are
great.
You get a lot of freedom to setyour schedule if you need to,
and it's it's been.
It's been great so far, so I'min my sixth year now, so
enjoying it and looking forwardto the future here.

Speaker 2 (03:13):
Nice Well congratulations.
Getting past that five-yearmark of a new business is a big
milestone.

Speaker 3 (03:19):
It is yeah, I need to hire soon.

Speaker 2 (03:23):
So tell me, are there any myths or misconceptions
that you hear about the industry?

Speaker 3 (03:30):
Oh, of course.
So roof rejuvenation for a lotof people is kind of new, but so
was, you know, treating yourbackyard for mosquitoes you know
, 10 years ago.
And now there's, you know, fivecompetitors in the area.
So I think a lot of people justthink that once something goes
wrong with the roof you have toreplace it.
And that's not the case.
You know, if you're missing ashingle, you get the shingle
replaced.

(03:50):
You know you don't need to holda roof because of that,
especially when it's five yearsold.
And we see that every.
You know.
Sometimes the other thing is isit's really just educating
homeowners about rejuvenation?
I mean, it's here to stay, hereto stay.
It's simple.
I mean, think of your hands inthe wintertime.
They get all dried and crackedout.
You know what do you do?
You put hand lotion on.
I mean it's the same sort ofconcept for a roof that gets

(04:12):
dried out.
Those original oils over timethey just, for lack of a better
term, evaporate and the shinglescan become brittle, they can
crack and break and we're justputting another oil into the
shingles to make them lastlonger.
Sometimes we will get a call afew years later saying, hey, I
have a leak.
Well, yeah, but the Roof Maxxtreatment is not designed to

(04:33):
stop leaks.
It's designed to condition yourshingles, basically, and make
them, make them better again.
Um, but we also go through anddo what's called a maintenance
tune-up and we're looking for,like nail pops and uh, loose
ridge vents, loose flashings,that sort of thing A lot of
common items that are reallygoing to cause a leak, so we can
address those as well.

Speaker 2 (04:49):
So you're saving people a lot of money.

Speaker 3 (04:52):
Sounds like yeah yeah , which we try to.
I mean I mean your roof.
You know we'll hear, yeah, I'vegot a 30-year roof.
Yeah, you can't leave your roofalone for 30 years and expect
it to last.
You got to have a little bit oftlc.
I mean it's the same again.
Same thing with your car get anoil change.
Or same thing with just otherbasic maintenance.
I mean you got to mow your lawnright.

Speaker 2 (05:11):
Right, yeah, no, I love that and thank you for
clearing up those myths.
I imagine you get that a lot.

Speaker 3 (05:21):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And we get about 10% of roofsthat don't qualify.
And if your roof doesn'tqualify, I'm just going to tell
you we're partnering up with afew other roofing companies in
the area or depending on wherethey're at, because we cover a
large, large area, mainlyStafford spot, see, and in
British burger.
Obviously we've got the KingGeorge down to Lake Anna, out
towards Culpeper a little bit Itry not to go north because of

(05:41):
the traffic, but other otherlocations up there.
So nice.

Speaker 2 (05:48):
So clearly you're working hard on your business.
What are you doing when you'renot working for fun?

Speaker 3 (05:55):
Yeah, it seems like my days off are when it rains,
because I'm not getting on acruise.
No just hanging out with thefamily, spending time watching
some favorite sports teams, andof course, we just had the
Stanley Cup finals and all that.
That was pretty cool.
I'm a pretty good baseball fantoo, and it's that time of year
where we're outside doing thebarbecues and the grilling and

(06:16):
all that.
So it's good, usually anythingto do with the outdoors.

Speaker 2 (06:20):
So nice, nice, love that.
So what is some advice that youwould give a new entrepreneur?
Or advice maybe that thatsomeone that you wish someone,
had told you when you firststarted your business?

Speaker 3 (06:36):
Yeah, no great question.
I would say just find somethingthat works for you.
I mean, I really never had anyidea that I'd be working on
roofs.
You know, I told you that sevenyears ago or so.
But again, like I said, sameconcepts it's the same.
I mean, I like it, it's thesame, but it's different.
You know, I get to a home andit's like, okay, I'm gonna get
on the roof this way becauseit's the safest spot to put the

(06:56):
ladder.
Of course you have a process togo through and inspect it and
check for things, but it'sdifferent.
Every time you get to interactwith a lot of homeowners, see a
lot of pretty cool layouts andeverything.
I'm getting ideas for aretirement home, I guess,
someday.
No, it's good, definitely for anew entrepreneur.

(07:18):
Find something that works foryou.
Don't be afraid to go out there.
I mean, you got to spend alittle money to make a little
money.
You know, we hear a lot of times, especially with, let's say,
marketing, it's more aninvestment, not a cost.
Right, yeah, but yeah, it'sjust yeah.

Speaker 2 (07:36):
If it doesn't work for you, you're not going to
like it and you're going to wantto do something else anyway.

Speaker 3 (07:39):
So, right Right, know what you're getting into and
and uh, but just be be happywith what you're doing.

Speaker 2 (07:42):
So great advice.
Whatever it is that you choose,you're going to be spending a
lot of time doing it, so makesure it's something you like.
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (07:50):
There's no more, if you're on a 40 hour work week,
that those are gone.

Speaker 2 (07:52):
So thank you for that advice.

Speaker 3 (07:56):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (07:57):
So what is something that you wish the listeners knew
about your business?

Speaker 3 (08:04):
Really just that.
You know, roof rejuvenation isa thing and it's here to stay.
You know, the technology hasbeen around since the early
2000s and just Roof Maxx is thefirst one to take it to market.
There's other you knowcompanies out there that claim
to be roof rejuvenation but youjust just looking at the fine
print, that's all I don't.
You know, we're trying not topay too much attention to some

(08:24):
of those.
You know, stay focused on yourown business.
I can tell you what I can do,but they're not all, not all the
same.
So just kind of.
Just kind of look into them,I'd say for other other viewers,
and just understand.
You know, again, our main thingis to keep your roof on longer.
We keep those.
You know, if you're not, if youchange the roof out too soon,
that's a roof.
You know, asphalt shingles thatare sitting in a landfill and

(08:50):
they take 300 years to breakdown.
So it's more eco-friendly.
You know, again, it's aplant-based bio-oil, so it's
anything.
Any overspray is perfectly safefor people, pets and the
environment and all that.
So yeah again, just do yourresearch.
There's plenty of it online.
We've got a ton of videos onYouTube and our local sites as
well.
Definitely get educated, youknow.

(09:11):
Read the frequently askedquestions and feel free to just
call us and ask questions if youhave them.

Speaker 2 (09:15):
Nice, and if they want to call you or find your
website, what's the best way forthem to reach you?

Speaker 3 (09:22):
Yeah, I believe you said you had the URL.
You can also call or text medirectly at 540-427-6324.
And, like I said, I'm happy toanswer any questions that they
might have.
Again, if they can go to thelocal site.
They kind of cut out one layerof talking to somebody else.
And, yeah, we're happy to do it.

(09:44):
We do free assessments, happyto go out and take a look at the
roof.
I'd say anything.
That's most roofs got to be,probably at least you know, I'd
say probably at least eightyears old or so.
If they're still new, theystill have the oils in, they're
still flexible, then they'reprobably good.
They probably don't even needus yet.
We do get a small percentage offolks like that too.
So we'll just make sure they'recalm in a few years.

Speaker 2 (10:06):
Nice.
Thank you, Nick, so much forjoining me on the podcast today
and sharing a Roof Maxx with us.

Speaker 3 (10:13):
I appreciate it Thanks.

Speaker 1 (10:15):
Thank you for listening to the Fredericksburg
Neighbors Podcast.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on
the show, go tofxbgneighborspodcast.
com.