| 69 KDM Roofing CONTRACTING 027 225 4223 KDMRoofing Your Trusted Partner for Roof Installations T T Russell Fredric Expertise in all things roofing Today, the company’s work is split between Gerard pressed metal tiles and long-run roofing. Twelve years working for experienced roofing contractors gave KDM Roofing owner/operator Kyle McGee the technical grounding and confidence to establish his own Invercargill-based business. Kyle started roofing as a teenager, spending two years with a local long-run roofing company before moving into pressed metal tile work. He completed a metal tile apprenticeship with contractor Jason Swain, then spent another six to eight years working with well-known roofer Sonny Williams. By the time he established KDM Roofing six years ago, Kyle had about 12 years’ experience behind him. “I probably knew enough to try and give it a go years beforehand, but I thought there’s a lot of technicalities and other complicated things in roofing that you can come across, so I thought I’d just learn as much as possible off the best.” The opportunity to start KDM came when the South Island distributor for Gerard pressed metal tiles wanted a new installer. Kyle was one of only two installers available at the time and agreed to take on the work, including new homes under a nationwide agreement with a franchise home builder. The business began with Kyle working alongside colleagues and subcontracting between jobs. It has since developed into a three-person team, with two employees, including an experienced roofer who has worked with Kyle since the beginning and an apprentice about two years into a pressed metal tile apprenticeship. Today, the work is split between Gerard pressed metal tiles and long-run roofing. KDM handles new builds and reroofing, with work ranging through the southern region from Invercargill to Te Anau, Gore and Milford Sound, as well as Queenstown. For new builds, builders generally provide plans for Kyle to price, while reroofing involves meeting the client, measuring the roof and discussing the options before providing a price. The quality of the finished roof comes down to more than the materials. Framing, installation methods and decisions made around weather and working conditions all have an influence, while Kyle pays close attention to the condition of the tools used on each job. “If your snips are rubbish, they’re not going to cut very well. Your tools being in good condition means you can do nice cuts and leave a proficient-looking job.” That attention to detail has developed through experience, with years on the tools. “Being in the industry so long, you just spot things like that. It becomes second nature to you.” Professionalism extends beyond the physical work. KDM has applied to become a member of the Roofing Association of New Zealand (RANZ), the national trade organisation representing professional roofing contractors and the wider roofing industry in New Zealand. For Kyle, membership will provide another source of industry knowledge and support while giving customers greater confidence in the contractor they are dealing with. For Kyle, the standard of work demanded for such a critical component of a building’s structure is straightforward: do the job properly, with the experience to recognise the details that make a difference. “To me, there’s no other way to do it than properly. That’s the way I look at it, because any other way to me is not a way, and is not acceptable.”
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