Trust is a huge element of the working relationship between contractors and clients. That applies even more to home renovation contractors like Pacific Exteriors, who specialize in siding and roofing renovations.

We understand that your home is your biggest financial asset. The projects we do—siding and roofing renovation—serve to protect your home.

Today, I’ve invited Ron, a seasoned project manager at the Seattle branch of Pacific Exteriors, to share more about what he does as a PM.

Project managers like Ron serve to bridge the communication gap between contractors and customers. Think of them as a translator: they translate industry knowledge and terms to a timeline that homeowners understand easily.

In this article, he’ll share 3 tips that are critical for you, as an interested homeowner, to understand their role in your project.

What Does a Project Manager Do When They’re Not on Your Site?

Wondering what a project manager does when they’re not on your job site is a common question we get from homeowners.

PMs Communicate Between Contractors and Clients

It’s not a surprise that the job of a project manager entails a lot of communication and liaising between homeowners and contractors—after all, its literally the title of their role. But in terms of hours, many PMs spend a minimum of an hour per day just sorting through calls and texts.

This is where the necessary skills for project managers come in. We expect each of our PMs to communicate clearly with the suppliers, crew, and homeowner—and usually, juggling 4 to 5 clients at a time.

Ron’s schedule starts with assessing the texts, emails, and voicemails he’s received since last being tapped into his phone. During our busiest season, Ron woke up to over 70 text messages and nearly 40 missed calls—just from one night of sleep. 

All this to say: trust that you’re in good hands and never second-guess asking your project manager a question. All we ask for is that you understand if there’s a bit of a delay in getting back to you. We want all our clients to feel cared for and attended to in an equitable way.

But let’s say something crazy happens at your home, and your project manager is out in another county, unable to return in time. What happens then?

Here at Pacific Exteriors, we have two incredible lead project managers: Jason and Steve. If anything happens on your job site and your assigned PM can’t get back to your site, Jason or Steve will cover and assess the problem. Otherwise, the project manager assigned to you can usually get their schedule sorted out.

Video calling is also a quick option. It also means that they can respond instantly if anything worrisome—such as rot or toxic substances being found on site—crops up.

PMs Spend A Lot of Time Driving

What does surprise homeowners is how many hours a project manager spends on the road shuttling from one site to the next.

The exact amount varies far too much to have an accurate estimate, but the percentage of how much time PMs spend on the road can go anywhere from 20% of their time to 50% of their time during the busy seasons.

Assuming a PM works 8 hours a day (which goes up during our busy season, sometimes to 10 or 12 hours a day), that’s a lot of time on the road.

It’s why Ron, and a lot of other PMs, love the introduction of video calls into their workflow with contractors. If a worksite they just left suddenly discovered rot, a quick video call will help them diagnose the problem immediately—reducing the slowdown to your siding or roofing project.

Here’s What Project Managers Want You to Know

Now that you, as a customer, understand what project managers get up to when they’re not at your home directly supervising projects, let us tell you what project managers want you to understand. Not only will it help the process go smoothly, it will also reduce your confusion and anxiety when time comes to renovate your home.

#1 Our Project Managers Want Your Project to Go Well

We get it. It’s hard to sort through the suspicious contractors from the good ones, and there’s so much industry lingo that it can be frustrating to parse.

Let us reassure you: at Pacific Exteriors, our PMs want your project to go as smoothly as possible. We want your home to look great, and we understand the fear—many of us are homeowners as well.

It’s why we provide many touchpoints during your renovation process with our team. When customers sign with us, we send them an email with lots of information on timelines, frequently asked questions, answering their concerns—that kind of stuff.

We also schedule a pre-construction meeting that gives us another chance to run through the timeline and answer any questions the homeowners may have. Reading through this will often answer a lot of your questions.

Also, the best advice to take to heart: trust us. It is intimidating to start an expensive project on your biggest asset, but we also want to get it right. Not only for you and your satisfaction, but because we don’t want to reschedule people back on the site to fix a problem.

We do our part to set realistic expectations from the get-go, but as our clients, reassuring yourselves and communicating clearly and frequently when you’re feeling anxious or nervous will equip us to answer your questions as best we can.

#2 Rot is a Common Problem, and Not a Cause for Concern

In Ron’s case, he has 4 active jobs: and 3 of them have some form of rot.

But this is unusual; usually it’s every 10 projects PMs have, 1 of them has rot.

While it’s not common, we reassure homeowners in the event of rot with our free sheathing replacements. If we find rot under your old siding, we’ll replace all the sheathing you have on your home for no cost.

But most of the time, homes only have 2 to 3 small rot areas, which isn’t as large of a concern. It also minimizes delays in the overall project.

#3 Strong Communication Goes Both Ways

Reaching out proactively with any questions or concerns can help mitigate a lot of confusion down the line. And while our project managers are busy and we wish there were more hours in a day, we’ll always make time for customer concerns. Let us know how we can help!

Let Us Walk You Through Home Renovation

With great project managers that prioritize setting realistic expectations and communicating effectively, trust that your siding or roofing renovation is in good hands.

If you’re interested in learning more about what we can do for your home’s exterior, fill out our form to get your free consultation or reach out to us anytime. Look forward to hearing from you!