23 Roofing Tools Contractors Should Use

Essential Roofer Tools

We’re starting with the hand tools you must have in your toolbox or tool belt to help homeowners and businesses solve even the most complex roofing issues.

1. Roofing Nailer

Fastening roofs to the top of houses is crucial to every roofer's job. Roofing nailers, or nail guns, help to drive fasteners (nails) into roofing materials at a precise depth.

Unlike hammers, roofing nailers can deliver hundreds of nails into a shingle in a minute, depending on the firing mechanism. This makes them perfect for large-scale roofing projects, where time is of the essence.

They come in two forms:

• Pneumatic: powered by compressed air that needs a power source.

• Cordless: powered by a rechargeable battery

Note!

Nail gun injuries are widespread and sometimes lead to permanent disability or death. 

So, take time to read OSHA’s (The Occupational Safety and Health Administration) nail gun safety guidelines before you use it. Encourage your employees to do the same.

2. Roofing hammers and hatchets

Roofers use these tools to drive roofing nails into shingles or other roofing materials, such as underlayments.

How do they differ from traditional hammers?

Roofing hammers have claws designed for lifting shingles or cutting them to size. Their heads also have a gauge roofers use to achieve accurate shingle exposure and a magnetized face to pick up nails.

Some modern roofing hammers are even made from materials that reduce hand vibrations.

Although hammers are low maintenance compared to nail guns, they present a learning curve for entry-level roofers. Thus, the hammering tool you pick will depend on your roofers’ years of experience..

3. Roofing Knives

Roofing knives are used for cutting shingles into different sizes. 

Smaller than the other tools on this list, roofing knives are lightweight and perfect for trimming underlayments, shingles, and ice water protectors to size. 

Plus, their ergonomically designed handles fit snugly in the palms and prevent slipping.

Roofing knives come with trapezoidal, concave, serrated, or hook blades.

We advise using those with hooked blades since they don't catch or jam when cutting. Their hooked shape also makes it easy to cut materials without damaging the material underneath.

4. Roofing Shovels

Roofing or tear-off shovels are specialized tools for tearing off shingles quickly and easily. 

Most have a long, fiberglass straight handle with steel and serrated edges for pulling out nails from old shingles and other roofing materials. 

Some also have angled faces, so you don’t have to bend too low when using them.

Remember that pry bars and roofing shovels perform different roles: roofing shovels remove several shingles simultaneously, while pry bars remove them one at a time.

Include both in your toolbox.

5. Chalk Liners

Aligning shingles straight and level is crucial to preventing leaks and ensuring the roof's visual appeal. That’s where chalk liners are handy.

Available in any DIY store, they consist of a chalk-coated string wound around a reel and are used to make straight reference lines for installing shingles.

To chalk line a roof, roofers unwind the cord and snap it against the surface, leaving a visible white trace. This makes it easy to install shingles properly.

6. Tape Measures

When laying shingles, roofers must measure the space between each one and the exposure.

Tape measures are used for measuring distances during roofing. Those used by roofers are mostly made of metal.

Consider buying specialized roofing tapes with markings for installing shingles with 5-5/8 exposures to speed up your work. This is better than spending extra time adding up fractions to achieve the correct shingle exposure.

7. Caulking Guns

Seams and holes, no matter how small, let in rain and moisture, damaging the roof's structural integrity.

Caulking guns allow roofers to release the precise amount of caulk (a type of sealant) into a seam or hole. This prevents leakages.

Sealants come in different forms: rubber or butyl caulks, latex caulks, and silicone caulks. Rubber or butyl caulks are the best sealants for use in roofing.

8. Saws

This heavy-duty tool helps roofers cut through metal roofing panels, damaged deckings, and other roofing materials.

There are two basic types: reciprocating and circular saws.

Reciprocating saws are mainly used for renovations and demolitions, while circular saws are used for construction projects where achieving a clean and precise cut is essential.

9. Tarps

The weather may change while you’re still on a roofing project, exposing the roof and your materials to water damage.

In such a situation, roofers place a tarp over the roof and stack shingles to protect them from water damage.

Tarps are also helpful for protecting the customer’s property from damage. Roof techs lay them over the landscaping to collect loose nails and shingle fragments, which protects the plants and simplifies post-job clean-up.

10. Air Compressor

Once you decide to use a pneumatic nail gun, buying an air compressor should be next on your list.

That's because they help maintain optimal pressure levels in nail guns. This prevents delays and safeguards the roofing materials from damage.

11. Drills

Drills are a must-have for any roofer working with metal roofing panels. 

They are used to make holes in metal sheets and install screws to secure them to the roof.

Roofers use two types of drills: impact drills and driver drills.

Although impact drivers deliver lots of force for penetrating metal panels, the Metal Construction Association (MCA) advises against using them for roofing.

This is because the high torque and force they generate chips off the coatings from metal panels and destroy the heads of screws while they are being installed, accelerating the onset of corrosion.

12. Ladders

Roofers use ladders to climb up and down a roof. These ladders have ridge hooks at the top that grapple against the surface of steeply pitched roofs, and they also have wheels for moving the ladder up and down the roof.

Falls from ladders are very common. That’s why OSHA gives the following ladder safety guidelines for preventing falls:

• Choose the right ladder for the job

• Maintain three points of contact

• Secure the ladder

• Always face the ladder

13. Ladder Hoist

Per OSHA guidelines, you cannot lift shingles from the ground to the roof since they can cause you to fall and open you to liability. That's the role of ladder hoists.

Equipped with a flat platform or bucket and control mechanism, ladder hoists operate similarly to a conveyor belt to lift materials from the ground up and over onto the peak of a roof.

Powered by a hydraulic or electric system and connected to a ladder, they are cheaper than cranes.

14. PPE (Personal Protective Equipment}

Roofers are exposed to several safety hazards on the job site. These hazards come from working with power tools, ladders, toxic substances, harsh weather conditions, and electricity. 

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), such as fall protection systems, protects roofers from these safety hazards.

Examples of roofer PPEs include:

• Safety harnesses

• Lanyards

• Guardrails 

• Hard hats

• Cut-resistant gloves

• Extension ladders

Consult OSHA’s roofing safety guide to learn how to use this protective equipment properly.

15. Roofing Shoes

Without the proper footwear, roofers can easily slip and fall off roofs—especially those made of sheet metal—or ladders. 

That’s why it’s advisable to wear non-skid shoes with soft soles and sturdy grips that provide traction.

Also, any shoe worn on a roof must have a soft outsole to prevent dents and steel toes to protect the wearer from heavy equipment.

Better still, you could purchase specialized roofing shoes with magnetized soles that grip the roof and let you walk comfortably.

16. Roof Brackets and Toe Board

Working on steep roofs poses a severe hazard to roofers. A little misstep can send them falling from the roof to the ground.

Aside from personal fall arrest systems (PFAS) and roofing shoes, roof brackets and toe boards provide an extra layer of protection against such slips.

Both tools create a stable base for roofers to stand and hold materials on steep roofs.

While both brackets and toe boards help prevent workers from falling, they are constructed differently.

Roof brackets are metal supports that attach to a roof's structure and provide a temporary platform for workers to stand on while performing maintenance, repairs, or installation tasks. They are typically used on sloped roofs where walking directly on the surface would be difficult or unsafe.

A toe board is a horizontal board or panel attached to the bottom of guardrails on a roof or other elevated work surface to provide a footrest for workers, enhancing their balance and reducing fatigue.

17. Cleaning Equipment

A thorough cleanup of the work area after every job shows homeowners that you care about their property as much as they do and leaves a lasting positive impression.

Examples of cleaning tools include:

• Rakes for clearing shingles and stray nails from lawns and landscaping.

• Brooms for packing shingle fragments and nails from patios and deckings.

• Magnetic sweeper for picking up stray nails.

Now, there are other roofing power and hand tools we didn’t include in the list, but still deserve a mention, such as:

• Utility knife

• Shears

• Tin snips

• Seam rollers

• Hand seamers

• Benders

Roofing Software Tools

Above, we covered all the hand tools needed for roofing jobs. But there's still a need for roofing software tools that help you manage and grow your roofing business.

Fortunately, we have experience in roofing software, having built ServiceTitan, a robust software 100,000+ contractors—including roofers—use to manage their businesses and boost revenue.

The software has tools that automate marketing, invoicing, dispatching, scheduling, and payroll. Furthermore, ServiceTitan has a Field Service App that makes it easy for you and your techs to perform business processes in the field.

Let's take a closer look at some of the tools included in ServiceTitan for running roofing businesses.

18. Call booking tool

A call is likely a customer's first interaction with your business. Depending on how the call is managed, customers will leave with a negative or positive impression of your business.

Streamline your call booking with ServiceTitan. It helps roofing businesses:

• Effortlessly manage call booking: Get organized and efficient with call handling.

• Quicken the booking process: Save time and capture leads faster.

• Impress customers: Provide a smooth and delightful call experience.

For example, after seeing how the tool worked for other companies, Lance Bachmann, the owner of LB Capital Group, a private equity firm, wondered: Why wouldn’t this formula translate to roofing?

“ServiceTitan worked for HVAC; it worked for my other companies. What are the biggest things that matter? Call comes in, I book the call. Was it a lead or not? My salesperson goes out and closes it. Then it gets real simple. Did my crew go out and do the work? Were there any call-backs?” Bachman says.

“Well, (you can manage all of this) in one platform: ServiceTitan,” he adds.

That’s why, after purchasing Cherry Roofing and Siding, he put them on ServiceTitan. And in 1.5 years, the New Jersey residential roofing company grew from around $2.5 million in revenue to more than $20 million.

Instead of keeping customers on hold, ServiceTitan's Call Booking software has a cloud-based phone system (VOIP) that lets you take calls remotely.

This ensures you're always available, particularly when customers need you urgently after an extreme weather event, such as rain or ice storms.

The booking software also has drop-down menus with built-in prompts that guide CSRs to ask the right questions and get complete information and context from the caller. Anyone answering the call can see all the customer's information and mention their name, which gives a positive customer experience.

This ensures roofers pack their trucks with all the tools needed to execute the job.

Roofers can even play a recording of the CSR's call with the customer to hear a precise description of the customer's problem and ensure they are prepared before heading to the customer's location.

This tool streamlines your call booking process and ensures you delight customers from the get-go.

19. Marketing tool

ServiceTitan's Marketing tool helps growing roofing companies monitor the performance of their advertising campaigns and easily generate roofing leads.

The Locals Services Ads feature ensures you appear for high-intent queries like "roofers near me." It lets customers book your services directly from your Google ad, which populates into ServiceTitan.

You can also create and assign unique phone numbers for each campaign to track their real-time return on investments (ROIs).

ServiceTitan also delivers real-time insights on the performance of your campaigns using a marketing scorecard….

…and a heat map that displays the specific areas your ads are generating income from.

This tool ensures you maximize your marketing budget and only spend on revenue-generating campaigns. 

20. Scheduling tool

Roofing companies use ServiceTitan's Scheduling tool to ensure scheduling efficiency. This way, they can complete as many jobs as possible, prevent resource underutilization, and boost profitability.

The tool allows CSRs or dispatchers to schedule roofing jobs, maintenance checks, and one-time visits––weeks or months in advance.

You can also flag jobs requiring a specific skill, language, or hours, with unique tags.

So, qualified techs with the correct technical ability arrive at the customer's location with the right tools needed to finish the job.

Consider using this tool to boost scheduling efficiency and ensure techs arrive at customers' homes ready to work.

21. Dispatching tool

Roofing jobs are subject to weather changes. Techs and customers need to receive updates on daily dispatch changes, which is where ServiceTitan’s Dispatching tool comes in handy.

Roofing companies can ensure their techs and customers remain on the same page about arrival times and availability.

For example, Robert Maier, VP of Laing Roofing, says he uses it to communicate with techs and keep them updated, facilitating efficient dispatch.

For this reason, Laing Roofing grew from two to six trucks in just 12 months.

ServiceTitan’s Dispatching tool lets dispatchers see where each tech is in the job cycle and serve up new jobs for those rounding up.

This reduces schedule mixups and prevents unproductive back-and-forth calls between the tech in the field and back-office staff.

To prevent no-shows, the job confirmation feature sends automatic appointment confirmation text messages to customers and allows them to track the real-time location of techs.

This keeps the customer updated about tech arrival times and differentiates you from competitors—increasing the chances of them giving you positive reviews, referring others to you, and booking your services again.

However, unexpected traffic, car troubles, and weather can delay techs.

When this happens, our smart schedule optimization feature lets dispatchers reschedule the job or extend or reduce the time allocated.

See this article to find more tips for boosting dispatch efficiency

22. Payroll tool

We created ServiceTitan's Payroll software to help roofing companies and other home service businesses effortlessly manage payroll, preventing pay disputes and wage-related lawsuits.

You can monitor timesheets, tracking the time techs spend on each job-related task, such as buying materials, driving to and from job sites, and repairing roofs.

This way, you can easily spot ways to improve your team's efficiency and productivity.

Y can also configure the system to take into account incentives and performance pay such as bonuses, commissions, and overtime. This ensures everyone is paid correctly and  on time.

ServiceTitan's Payroll software also calculates the cost of each job in employee work hours and displays the information using an easy-to-understand dashboard.

This ensures you remain profitable while improving your team's productivity.

Check out more tips on how to streamline your payroll process

23. Field service app

ServiceTitan's Field Service App empowers roofers to close sales, spot upsells, and deliver top-tier customer service while in the field. It’s why roofing companies like Robert Maier’s Laing Roofing use it.

“That was the main thing for us; the way ServiceTitan has it set up to where there's a pricebook, and our techs can estimate and take care of stuff while out in the field,” he says.

With ServiceTitan's Field Service App, techs can access all the customer information the CSR collected during the intake call: the customer's name, location, previous job history, contact information, and even the call recording.

This ensures techs arrive at the customer’s location fully prepared to undertake the job at hand.

“Techs can access that customer history and see that we've tried to go out there two or three times, but the weather didn't cooperate,” says Maier.

“They know the backstory with the customer and what they've been going through. They're not going in blind.”

Further, techs can use the Field Service App to build tiered, fully designed estimates with clear photos, manufacturer videos, and product details.

After building the estimate, they can switch to the presentation mode resembling an online shopping platform interface.

Customers can swipe and buy a tier with a price point that matches their budget.

This puts customers in control and eliminates the boring sales pitches customers have come to dislike. Some other key features of the Field Service App include: 

• Mobile Payments: Empowers in-field techs to collect payments via checks, credit cards, or cash.

• Property Details: Showcases key details of the customer's property so techs can deliver quality service and spot upsell opportunities.

• Process Automation: Displays pre-uploaded forms, set to appear at different stages of the job cycle, from diagnosis to review request. This guides the tech on the next steps to take.

Now Over to You

Having the right tools is crucial to the success of your roofing company.

Beyond power and hand tools, invest in roofing software like ServiceTitan that automates vital business processes such as sales, marketing, dispatching, and scheduling. 

This frees time for you and your employees to focus on revenue-generating tasks.

ServiceTitan is a comprehensive tool built for home service businesses to streamline and automate business processes. Over 100,000 contractors across the country trust it.