Snohomish County Roofing Contractor, Washington

$3.7M

Revenue

$1.4M

SDE

4.8x

Multiple

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Full Editorial Writeup

This is a roofing contractor based in Snohomish County, Washington, generating $3.71M in revenue and $1.38M in cash flow, for a headline margin of roughly 37 percent. That margin is the whole story here. Roofing is a fragmented, hands-on trade where most operators grind at 10 to 15 percent net, so a business throwing off 37 percent points of cash flow is either exceptionally well run, riding a favorable job mix (reroofs and insurance/storm work over thin new-construction bids), or carrying some owner add-backs worth scrutinizing.

Roofing is durable demand. Roofs fail on their own schedule regardless of the economy, and Washington's wet climate accelerates that timeline. Insurance-funded and emergency repair work does not wait for a strong economy, which is exactly why roofing sits near the top of the recession-resistant home services list. The end market is a mix of residential and likely some commercial, both anchored by non-discretionary replacement need rather than nice-to-have upgrades.

At $6.6M against $1.38M in cash flow, the deal is priced at 4.78x, which is at the high end for a trade contractor of this size. The premium is presumably justified by the margin profile and a growth-ready story. The buyer's job is to prove that margin is real and repeatable before paying a full-price multiple for it.

Why we like it

The cash flow margin is the headline: $1.38M on $3.71M in revenue is a 37 percent margin, roughly double what a typical roofing contractor produces. If that margin holds up under diligence, this is a genuinely high-quality earnings stream rather than a volume grind, and margin like that is what justifies the price.
Roofing demand is non-discretionary and weather-driven, which makes it recession-resistant. Roofs leak and fail on their own timeline, insurance and storm work funds a large share of replacements, and the Pacific Northwest climate keeps repair volume steady regardless of the broader economy.
Snohomish County sits in a growing, high-home-value corridor north of Seattle. Strong housing stock and rising replacement costs support pricing power, and an aging roof inventory across the region provides a long runway of recurring replacement work.
The business is described as growth-ready with strong cash flow, suggesting the platform can absorb more volume without proportional overhead. For an operator willing to add crews and sales capacity, incremental revenue should drop through at attractive margins given the existing cost structure.

How to improve it

Install a formal lead generation and sales engine within 90 days. Many roofers rely on referrals and repeat storm work; adding structured digital lead capture, financing offers at the point of sale, and a dedicated closer can lift booked jobs without touching the cost base.
Build a recurring maintenance and inspection program to smooth revenue between replacement cycles. Annual roof inspections and gutter/repair contracts create predictable cash flow and a warm pipeline of future full replacements, converting one-time jobs into a customer relationship.
Push aggressively into insurance-funded storm and repair work if not already dominant. Insurance jobs carry strong margins and are funded regardless of homeowner budget, and a trained team on claims handling can materially increase both volume and margin resilience.
Tighten crew productivity and job costing. Implement per-job gross margin tracking, material waste controls, and crew scheduling software so the 37 percent margin is protected and defensible as volume scales rather than eroding with growth.
Add a commercial and property-manager sales channel. Flat and low-slope commercial roofing carries larger tickets and recurring maintenance contracts, diversifying away from residential seasonality and creating repeat institutional relationships.
Formalize the management layer so the business is not owner-dependent. Documenting the sales process, building a general manager or operations lead, and creating an org chart both de-risks the acquisition and sets up a future roll-up or resale at a stronger multiple.

Diligence notes

Interrogate the 37 percent margin immediately. Roofing rarely produces this, so separate genuine operating margin from owner add-backs, unpaid family labor, or a one-off surge in high-margin storm/insurance work. If the margin is partly cyclical storm revenue, normalize it before underwriting the 4.78x price.
Understand revenue concentration and job mix. Break revenue into reroof, repair, new construction, residential vs commercial, and insurance vs cash-pay, and check how much depends on a few large customers, GCs, or referral sources that may not transfer with the sale.
Verify licensing, bonding, and warranty exposure. Confirm the Washington contractor license, workers comp posture, and outstanding warranty obligations, since roofing carries multi-year workmanship and material warranties that can become buyer liabilities.
Assess owner dependence and crew retention. Determine whether the owner is the primary salesperson or estimator, whether key foremen and crews will stay post-sale, and what labor availability looks like locally, since crews are the constraint on scaling this business.
Confirm the years in business and reputation. The listing shows years operating as unknown; pull the operating history, online reviews, and any litigation or licensing complaints to gauge brand strength and whether the customer pipeline is durable or thin.

Source

Originally listed on DealStream. View original listing →