Many Florida homeowners own storm panels they can't put up by themselves. The panels are heavy, a house can have dozens of windows, and a lot of owners are older or live alone. When a storm is coming, they start calling around, and too often they hear "no."
Homeowners are asking, and many companies say no
- Some shutter companies won't do it. One Central Florida storm panel maker states on its HomeAdvisor listing that it does not put up existing shutters before a storm or take them down after, and tells homeowners to contact a local handyman.
- Homeowners struggle to find help. One Florida homeowner with 26 windows and 3 doors wrote on Angi that hiring a handyman to put up her panels proved impossible; her neighbors did it before Hurricanes Matthew and Irma while her husband was deployed.
- The work is real effort, every storm. Panels have to go up before each storm and come down after it. That is exactly the job an older homeowner can't do alone.
Our suggestion: offer a storm panel service
- Up before the storm. Your crew puts the homeowner's panels up when a watch is issued.
- Down after the storm. Your crew comes back and takes them down.
- Roof check included. While you're there after the storm, you look at the roof.
Why it works
- You're at the house twice, before any other roofer.
- You've already helped. The homeowner trusts you before there is any damage.
- If the storm hit the roof, you're the one standing there, with a blue tarp on the truck. See why the first roofer there with a tarp usually gets the roof.
- Your sign-up list becomes your route. Sign homeowners up early in the season and you have a list of houses to check the morning after every storm.
How we help you run it
- A storm panel service page and Google post so homeowners searching for help putting up shutters find you.
- Storm Watch in your client portal tells you when a watch is issued for your counties, so you know when to start your panel route.
- An after-hours AI receptionist takes the sign-up calls when your office is closed.
Before you start, check with your own insurance agent and attorney about ladder work and anything your license requires. Safety comes first: harnesses and ladders done right, and no one on a ladder once the wind picks up.
The trust you earn on the ladder is the contract you win on the roof.
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