How a DIY Attitude Turned this Novice Into a Metal Roofing Pro

By Adam Cabrera. 

Nicole Pinto took the lockdown as an opportunity to get into metal roofing all while restoring her farmhouse. 

In a recent episode of MetalCast, host Heidi J. Ellsworth meets Nicole Pinto, a novice in the construction space who recently had the opportunity to train with John Sheridan, an MCS influencer and owner of Sheridan Metal Resources. Together the three talk about the demand for metal roofing training and the need to bring more people into the trades.  

Nicole Pinto, a novice in the industry, started her journey into the world of metal roofing by restoring her farmhouse. “My husband and I bought a really old farmhouse, and I started restoring it because of the lockdown,” Nicole says. "I wanted to do metal from the beginning. It's true to the history of the house, so that was important."  

While most people might hire out help for such an ambitious project, Nicole wanted to learn how to do it herself. "It's such an interesting material. You really have to be creative," she says.  

But before climbing her roof Nicole knew she needed to learn the trade so she reached out to some people in her area asking for advice, but she couldn’t find anyone willing to train her. “I had a couple of bad experiences. I tried to get advice from someone... about zinc roofing, and they were not very kind or didn't think I could do it,” she says. 

That’s what led her to John's training program. John, who has been training people in the metal roofing industry for about 20 years, explains how opening up opportunities for beginners to train is essential to expanding the industry's workforce. "The more people you can bring into the business, a percentage of those people are going to want to take the next step and get better," he says.  

After doing a three-day training with John, Nicole was provided all the knowledge she needed to get started on her roof. “I was definitely a little nervous, but it ended up being great. John's great, super supportive of women in construction and women in roofing, so it totally defied my expectations,” Nicole says. 

Recognizing the industry's need to be more inclusive, John makes his training classes available in Spanish. Now John sees Nicole as a potential trainer, hoping to inspire more women to join the field. Nicole wisely notes, "If you're interested in it, then you shouldn't really let anyone else's idea of what you can and can't do determine your course." 

Now that Nicoles roof is finished she plans to stay engaged in the industry and has started her own small business “Six Protons.” 

Watch the MetalCast episode if you want to hear the full story of how Nicole got into metal roofing and why anybody can.