Planning to hire a roofing contractor? Note that the roofing is not a fun job, a homeowner needs to be very careful in this matter. A roofing job is one of the most expensive home remodeling projects. Therefore he/she should double-check and inquire about everything properly.
Nowadays, every roofing company lists its businesses on the business directories for their particular niche. If you search for roofing contractors near me, you’ll come across a number of listings of contractors.
For a homeowner, it will not be easy to find the best due to a great amount of info. It will not be easy for them to ask every single company for the estimate and then make the decision.
We are going to look at the two steps that will help you do things in the right way.
Step 1: How to determine the credibility of the roofer?
Step 2: How to find an ethical and experienced roofer?
The steps will be having the important questions that a homeowner should ask over the phone before hiring a roofing contractor.
Step1: Checking the Roofer’s Credibility
Before you ask for the estimate, it is important to know about the roofer’s credibility which can be achieved after reviewing their website. It is essential to protect yourself from hiring the wrong contractors with fake reviews. To avoid this and make hiring easy, we are going to share 7 important questions that can be asked over the phone call.
Question 1: Tell the Legal Name of your Business?
Nowadays, it’s easy to be tricked because there can be many false identities online. It is significant to get the roofers’ legal names and after that do some more research that will be helpful in the long run when hiring the right contractor.
Question 2: Inquire About the Roofing Insurance Company Possess?
Roofing insurance can be tricky as different states have different levels of insurance depending on the type of contractors. To find out the level of insurance that is required in your state, you need to search the roofing insurance requirement of your state on Google and pick the results from the state’s official website.
Question 3: Who will be Present at the Job Site during the Roofing Installation?
When you are planning to hire a reputable roofing contractor, there is a good chance of they are working on more than 1 roofing projects in one day.
In some cases, during installation, the company owner may not be present at your property. You might be wondering, who will be looking after the process? There is no need to panic! The majority of the large roofing companies have their own project managers who ensure that the roof is installed according to manufacturer guidelines and local laws.
Therefore, inquire about the job site presence of any company manager or owner during the roof installation.
Step 2: Pre-Screening for Ethical Roofers
Ethics are very important and everyone views them differently. If one thing is right in the eye of one homeowner it may not be good in the eye of the second homeowner. To check the ethics of roofing contractors, a homeowner should ask the following four questions from them:
Question 4: Can a Free Estimate be Provided in the Mailbox?
If a roofing contractor is willing to leave an estimate in the mailbox- it’s a good thing. The majority of the roofers provide the estimate to let homeowners easily contact and indirectly help them in collecting different estimates and compare it with others to make the best final decision.
Question 5: Tell the Price of the Roofing Price Per Square Foot?
This question will help you to identify the unethical, inexperienced, and lazy roofers who try to get the business irrespective of the cost. By asking this question over the phone, your time will be saved by protecting yourself from contractors who are only focusing on the price. Some roofing contractors may get the job in the short run but ultimately this will lead to failure.
Furthermore, it is important to note that roof pricing is very complex. There are a lot of factors that you need to consider regarding the cost of the roof:
1-Current marketing price of the roofing materials
2-Number of layers present on the existing roof
3-Visible problems regarding the roof
4-Condition of the wood decking
5-Condition of the shingles
6-Pitch of the roof
7-Age of the roof
Question 6: Can you Provide a Layover Instead of a Complete Roof Replacement?
The next question to check that either you are dealing with ethical roofing service or not? Ask about the layover. Though a very tricky question, it should be asked just the way it is written above.
What is Roofing Layover?
A roofing layover is a practice when roofer’s nails new shingles over the existing shingles instead of just taking them off. In simple words, it is laying one layer directly on the other layer.
Why roofing layover is bad?
Firstly think, why you are planning to replace your roof? By covering up your existing problems with a roof layover will not protect you for the long term. Note that if the roof is having signs of water damage like lichen or moss, then avoiding layover is the right thing to do. Adding a layer of shingles on top of the roof that is previously damaged by moss or lichen will spread faster and will break down both the old and new layers of shingles.
Question 7: Should the roof estimator inspect your house from inside?
A roofer should come inside your house for an estimate to check the attic space if there are signs of water damage. If you are ignoring this, then it will lead to a waste of thousands of dollars when going for installation.
What if there is no attic space?
If there is no attic space, then calling a qualified roofer is very important. A trained person will be identifying the small cracks and stains on the interior walls or ceiling. These are signs of a leak that should be taken seriously.
Now you are having all the important details and questions that you can ask over the phone when hiring a roofing contractor.
