Sunspace Installer — Career Path to Lead Installer

Most people who buy a sunroom or a porch enclosure have no idea how it gets built. You're about to be the person who builds it — and gets paid better than most people expect for knowing how.

Sunspace by Deck and Shade Solutions installs Sunspace enclosures, sunrooms, and screen systems across northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan. Not a general contractor. One product line, done well. When a competitor came in $7,000 under our price on a screen enclosure, the customer came to the showroom, saw the Sunspace system in person, and hired us anyway. That's what quality does over time.

Right now, we run one install crew. John has built the business to where we have more work than the current crew can handle — and the only thing stopping growth is having a single lead installer for everything. That's the hire. You come in as an Installer, learn the system, and if you perform, you become the second lead running your own crew.

THE PATH

Installer: $20–$22/hr. You work alongside the lead, learn the Sunspace system, and build to the point where you can run a job without being walked through it. Most people are there within 60 days.

Lead Installer: $24–$27/hr. You take the job address, the material list, and the start time. You come back with a finished installation and a signed-off customer. John doesn't need to be on-site. That's the whole standard.

Senior Lead / Field Supervisor: $28–$32/hr plus a performance bonus. At this level, you're managing multiple crews and contributing to how jobs get scheduled. No degree required. This is a skilled trade career, and it pays like one.

WHAT THE WORK ACTUALLY LOOKS LIKE

The crew works outdoors year-round in northwest Ohio. That means July heat with no shade and November cold on installs. The schedule doesn't stop because it's 35 degrees — Sunspace jobs run through winter. You'll carry aluminum framing and glass panels all day. You'll work off ladders. And precision matters on every cut — these are not rough-construction tolerances. A panel that's off by a quarter inch gets fixed before it goes in, or it comes back as a callback. Callbacks here are taken seriously.

The work happens in people's backyards, with the homeowner sometimes home. You're on their property for a full day, and you leave it cleaner than you found it. How you talk to them, whether you cleaned up — that's part of the job, not an afterthought. If that's a problem for you, the role isn't a fit. If that's already how you operate, keep reading.

WHO BELONGS HERE

We do what we say we're going to do. That means you show up when you said you would, you finish what you started, and if something goes wrong, you say something instead of hoping nobody notices. We've built our reputation on customers who say we were the best contractor they worked with — not the cheapest, not the fastest, but the one that actually followed through. That standard lives with whoever is on the job site.

We are conscientious about doing the job right the first time. This isn't a value statement — it's an operational requirement. Sunspace systems leak if they're not installed correctly. A small cut that's off, a flashing detail that's rushed, a seal that isn't seated — those come back as warranty calls and reputation damage. The people who do well here are the ones who notice things that aren't right and fix them before moving on.

We think ahead. On a real job site, the measurement doesn't always match the drawing, the part that arrived isn't what was ordered, and the shop is 45 minutes away. The people who do well here figure out a path and keep the job moving. They call before the problem gets worse, not after they've already lost an hour standing still.

We have fun working hard. The work is real, and the standards are real, but this is a small team that enjoys showing up. If you're the kind of person who brings negative energy onto a job site or counts down to the end of the day, that's going to stand out. The team is too small for that.

WHY SUNSPACE BY DECK AND SHADE SOLUTIONS

• Small crew, high standards — you'll know everyone you work with
• Pay above the regional average for comparable installation work
• Real career path from Installer to Lead Installer to Field Supervisor
• 60-day completion bonus and referral bonus program
• Company-provided materials, equipment, and safety gear on every job
• Work comes through referrals — you won't be scrambling for jobs or working for a company that is

THE HIRING PROCESS

• You apply (takes 5 minutes).
• If the screening looks right, we schedule a 15-minute phone call.
• We'll send you 7 written questions — reply by email, takes about 15 minutes.
• If we both want to keep going, you'll come in for a 45-minute face-to-face interview.
• Final step: a shadow shift with the crew so you can see the work before committing.
• If it's the right fit on both sides, you're on the team.

Salary : $20 - $22