About Timothy Parks

Who is actually going to be standing on your roof?

It is a fair question, and it is one a lot of homeowners never get to ask until the truck is already in the driveway. This page answers it. I am Timothy Parks, and when you call about a roof, a bathroom, a barn or a lot full of briars in Dresden or anywhere in Weakley County, the person who answers is the person who comes to look.

I would rather you know where I come from before you let me near your house. So this is the plain version: how I got into this work, what it taught me, how I handle a job from the first call to the last day, and what I will and will not promise. If something here makes you want to ask a question, my phone line, (407) 383-9118 is the quickest way to reach me.

Where did I start?

I grew up in Davenport, Iowa. I followed a nontraditional education path: I earned my GED and later spent two and a half years at Scott Community College. Mostly I learned by doing, and I have never stopped thinking of that as the real education.

At seventeen I started my first business. By twenty I had bought my first duplex, which taught me early what it means to own a building and to be responsible for everything that goes wrong with it. A landlord cannot say a leak is somebody else's problem. That lesson has stayed with me on every job since, because I look at a building the way an owner has to look at it: what is going to cost somebody trouble next year if nobody deals with it today.

That early stretch also taught me something about money and honesty. When your own name is on the lease and the repair, there is no one to blame and no one to hide behind. I do not do work I would not be willing to answer for, and I do not describe a problem as bigger or smaller than it is.

What did a fall off a roof teach me?

Early in my working life I fell from a roof and broke both wrists. It was the kind of accident that ends a day, a month and, for some people, a career. For me it did something different. It made me serious about the parts of roofing most people never see: footing, edges, weather, how a surface behaves when it is wet or covered in granules, and how fast a confident move can become a bad one.

I came back to the work with more respect for it, not less. I still go up on roofs myself, because there is no honest way to describe the condition of a roof you have not stood on. But I go up carefully, and I do not rush anyone into a job that depends on rushing. If conditions are not right for a safe inspection, I say so and come back.

I also learned that persistence is a practical skill, not a slogan. Recovering from that injury took patience and a willingness to do the unglamorous work of getting stronger. Building a business takes the same. So does finishing a difficult repair on a day when the weather argues against it.

What did I build outside of construction?

Not everything I have done involved a tool belt. In 1994, when I was twenty-seven, I secured a city permit to design, organize and run Sparky's D.I.R.T. Dash, the first mountain-bike race inside the city limits of Rock Island, Illinois. I also built the city's first mountain-bike trail on the grounds of the historic Villa de Chantal, where I cleared the land and shaped the trails myself.

I mention it because it reveals how I work. Clearing that ground meant brush, saplings, drainage and respect for what was already there. Getting the permit meant dealing with the city in writing and in person, answering questions and following the rules. Holding the race meant thinking about safety, the course, the people who would show up and the neighbors who would watch. Those are the same skills I use today on brush clearing, site work and any project that touches a public office or a neighbor's fence.

It also gave me a habit I rely on: walk the ground before you plan anything on it. Whether the ground is a trail through old grounds or a back lot in Weakley County, the plan only works if it starts from what is actually there.

Why did I move on to roofing and inspection work?

In my thirties I moved to Florida. There I trained in real estate, construction, roofing and home inspection, and eventually built residential and commercial construction and roofing companies. Florida is a hard teacher for anyone who works on buildings. The sun, the humidity, the storms and the paperwork that follows them leave very little room for guesses.

Inspection training changed how I approach every job. An inspector's discipline is simple and demanding: look at everything, write down what you see, separate what you know from what you suspect, and never describe a condition you did not examine. I use that discipline on every roof and structure. It is why I photograph the findings, date them and put the condition in writing before I talk about the price.

Real estate training taught me what a building looks like from the other side of a transaction: what a buyer worries about, what a seller overlooks, and what a clear, honest report can prevent. A report that tells the truth protects everyone who relies on it, including the homeowner who commissioned it.

Why Tennessee, and why Dresden?

This business is my way of working in West Tennessee, in Dresden and across Weakley County. The area has a different feel from Florida. The pace is slower, the lots are bigger, many properties have barns, shops or outbuildings along with the house, and neighbors talk to each other. A contractor's reputation here travels by word of mouth, and I think that is healthy.

The weather is different too. Instead of salt air and hurricane season, West Tennessee deals with straight-line winds, hail, spring and fall tornado watches, hard freezes and clay soil that swells when wet. A roof that is sound for one climate is not necessarily ready for another. I treat each region on its own terms and I do not carry assumptions across state lines.

I serve Dresden, Martin, Greenfield, Gleason, Sharon and the roads between. If you are not sure whether you fall inside that area, ask. I would rather tell you the truth about distance than promise something I cannot deliver.

How do I handle a job from start to finish?

Here is the sequence, stripped of sales language. The same steps apply whether the work is a small repair or a larger project.

1. You contact me. A short description and a phone number is all I need to begin.
2. I call you back. I ask what you are seeing, how long it has been going on and what outcome you are after.
3. I look at the building. I examine the roof, structure or ground in person and photograph what I find, including the parts you cannot see from the ground.
4. I write it down. You receive the condition as it is, with photographs attached, plus a written price for the work.
5. You decide. There is no obligation attached to an inspection, and I do not ask for money before you have a contract you have read.
6. I do the work I said I would do. If something unexpected turns up, you hear about it from me before it changes anything.
7. I check back. A repair that holds up is the only kind that counts.

You can see how this plays out on specific services by reading the pages for roof inspection, roof repair and construction.

What will I not promise?

Plenty of websites are full of promises that nobody can keep. I would rather tell you what I leave out. I do not promise an exact schedule, because weather, materials and what is behind a wall decide that. I do not promise what an insurance company will decide, because that decision is between you and the company you pay. I do not promise that a roof will never leak again, because no honest person can say that about anything exposed to the sky.

I do not post prices on this site, because a number without a look at the building is a guess dressed as a fact. I do not make claims about credentials, awards or reviews that I have not verified for publication. When there is something specific you need to know, such as what kind of paperwork a job requires, ask me and I will tell you what I know and what I would check with the local office.

What I do promise is simple. I will tell you what I find. I will answer when you call. I will tell you when I think a repair can wait. And I will put what I find in writing so that you are not relying on my memory or yours.

What does it mean to leave a building better than I found it?

My personal measure of a finished job is not how it looks on the last afternoon. It is what happens a year later, after the first hard rain of spring, the first freeze of winter and a dozen ordinary days in between. A good repair does not call attention to itself. It just keeps the weather where the weather belongs.

That is also why I like writing things down. A dated photograph of the roof deck before shingles go on tells you something no sales pitch can. A short note about what I used and where I used it gives the next person who touches your roof a head start. Records are a form of respect for the next owner of the building, even if the next owner is you ten years from now.

If you want to talk about a specific project, the quickest route is my phone line, (407) 383-9118. Tell me what you are looking at. I will call you back, and we will start with looking before we decide anything else.

What kinds of buildings do I get asked about most?

Roofs bring most people to me first, but the calls spread out quickly once someone knows who to ask. In a rural county the line between house and property is thin. A homeowner with a leak over the kitchen often also has a shop that needs a new roof panel, a barn with a sagging door header, or a back lot that has not been cut in three years.

• Houses, from older farmhouses to newer builds, with roof, bath, kitchen and addition questions.
• Detached garages and shops, which I cover on the garages page.
• Post-frame and steel buildings, covered under pole barn and metal buildings.
• Storm-struck properties, where the first question is how to stop more water getting in. See storm mitigation.
• Land that needs clearing before anything can be built on it.

I do not pretend that every one of these is the same job. A kitchen remodel and a barn roof call on different skills and different habits of mind. What they share is the order of work: look carefully, record honestly, price in writing, then do the work I said I would do.

How do I treat your property while I am on it?

A job site is somebody's home or somebody's livelihood. I try to behave like a guest who happens to be carrying tools. That means being clear about where I will park and where materials will sit, keeping the work area as tidy as the work allows, and protecting plants, siding, vehicles and walkways that are not part of the job.

It also means being honest about disruption. Tear-off is loud. Demolition makes dust. Heavy equipment leaves marks on soft ground after a rain. Nobody enjoys being told these things, but nobody enjoys finding out later either. When you know what to expect, you can move the car, put the pets inside and plan around it.

At the end of a job I walk it with you if you would like, show you what was done, and point out anything you should keep an eye on. If a detail looks wrong to you, say so while I am still there. Fixing a small thing the same afternoon is much easier than coming back for it.

Why do I write things down so much?

Because memory is a poor witness. Three weeks after a visit, nobody, including me, remembers precisely which nail line was lifting, how wet the decking felt or how far the stain had spread on the ceiling. A dated photograph does. A written note does. Together they let you compare what the roof looked like on the day I looked with what it looks like today, and they let the next person who works on it start from facts rather than guesses.

Writing things down also keeps me honest. It is hard to inflate a problem when the photograph is attached, and just as hard to wave away a real one. If the report says the flashing at the chimney has lifted, you can see the flashing at the chimney. If it says the deck is sound, you can see that too.

Would you rather rely on a contractor's memory or on a record you can keep in a folder? I know which I would choose, and it is why every inspection I do ends with something in your hands.

Which credentials do I hold?

These are the credentials I hold, listed as issued. They are Florida credentials, listed as facts about me and not as a statement about any other state.

• Florida Building Contractor, CBC059592
• Florida Roofing Contractor, CCC1327217
• Florida Home Inspector, HI4878

Ask me what any of them covers and I will tell you plainly.

Common questions