For many homeowners their worst experience with a roofer will be the roofer that does the most damage to their home. Sarah Martinez found this to be the case with her home following a severe storm in the spring. The roof of her home was repaired three weeks after the big storm by a crew from a local roofing contractor. The worst part was that the repair was done with inferior materials. Six months went by and Sarah received a call from her insurance company. They advised her of water damage to her home. The worst part was the cost to repair the damage was two times the cost of the original repair.
The roofing industry is comprised of many good quality roofers. Conversely, the worst roofers are typically individuals who have low overhead, and thus are low invested into the industry. Many of these roofers obtain their license at the end of the season, (ie winter) when there is very little work around. They proceed to contact all of the prior season’s clients, to attempt to gather as many new contacts as possible. These roofers could have a fantastic looking website and a few good references. Don’t let this fool you. The roof industry is not a great place for the uninformed homeowner. Many homeowners have been “ripped off” by home improvement contractors by going with the lowest price.
Credentials that matter
First is the contractors business license and registration with the state and local city or town in which they are doing business. The second item that is important to look up are the contractors insurance policies. There are two main types of insurance that most contractors will carry. First is the general liability insurance. This type of insurance will protect customers from damages to their property and from injuries to employees of the contractor and to guests of the customers. The second type of insurance that contractors carry is the workers compensation insurance. This type of insurance will protect employees of the contractor from injuries on the job and also provide death benefits to the family of employees that die on the job. Call the insurance company to verify that the contractors insurance is current. There are many cases where a contractor will appear to have insurance, but in reality the insurance has lapsed. Even more serious is when the insurance policy has exclusions. For example, the policy may not cover roof work.
Verify that a roofer has the necessary certificates of insurance for general liability and for his workers. Call the insurance company to verify that the certificates have not expired. Also, be sure that the policy covers the type of work that the contractor does (i.e. commercial work vs. residential work). Many contractors have one policy that covers them for work in different areas.
Roofing contractors can obtain certifications from a number of different manufacturers. These certifications allow contractors to be able to complete quality roof work using that manufacturer’s products. They also allow customers to know that a contractor is a reputable business that is well within a respectable set of standards. Some of the more common certifications that contractors can obtain include GAF, Owens Corning, and CertainTeed. In order to maintain most of these certifications, the contractor will have to go through annual education in order to be able to remain certified. If you are looking into hiring a contractor, it is a good idea to see if they have any of these certifications and then find out the status of the certifications that they hold.
If there is a roofer that you’re considering hiring, always check their Better Business Bureau (BBB) rating. Even the best roofer will receive an occasional complaint. The type of complaint however is very important. For example, the roofer mentioned above received an “F” rating with the BBB due to 12 complaints all stating that the roofer was never on time. Although this roofer received a very bad rating, it’s obvious that this roofer is not reliable when it comes to scheduling. It’s always a good idea to read all complaints in order to better understand the roofer that you’re considering hiring for your home’s roof.
The estimation process reveals priorities
Looking into how a contractor or company handles the initial estimate for work can give you great insight into how they will complete the work for your repair. A legitimate roofing contractor will physically inspect your roof in order to give you an adequate quote for repairs to your home. When inspecting your roof for damages, a good contractor will also inspect your homes ventilation system, the decking for signs of damage or wear, and check the flashing around items such as your homes chimneys and vents for signs of damage.
A detailed estimate will outline all of the costs involved for a complete roofing job. These would include the cost of the materials, as well as the labor required to complete the job. The tasks that will be performed as part of the roofing job should be listed out in detail. There should be specific numbers for each task that is to be completed as part of the repairs. The contractor may include pictures of the materials that will be used for the job in order to provide the homeowner with a better idea of what to expect. The homeowner should expect to pay a bit more for a detailed estimate for a roofing job, but the end result will be a well-planned job that will be completed in a satisfactory manner. It is normal for a contractor to ask for a deposit to purchase the materials for a job, but the remainder of the payment should not be due until the job has been completed in its entirety.
Another thing to consider is how the roofer takes payment for services. If a roofer asks for the full amount of your account upfront then they are most likely running a scam. Legitimate roofers will ask for a deposit to purchase the materials and then the rest of the payment will be due upon completion of the work.
Don’t Hire Roofing Contractors Who Come To Your Door Following A Storm. While some roofers are fine to hire following a storm and travel to areas where homes were damaged by the storm, many Roofing Contractors called Storm Chasers travel to a location following a storm with the intention of taking your money for a roofing repair. Roofing Contractors can advertise in local neighborhoods and travel to your location following a storm to provide a quote for repairs. When hiring Roofing Contractors following a storm it is best to wait a few days to allow other debris to be removed from your yard and allow time for other reputable roofing contractors to contact you for a quote for any repairs needed to your home. Homeowners are sometimes told that the homeowner’s insurance company will cover the cost of repairs in full. Even when the insurance company does cover the repairs in full, the homeowner is still responsible for paying the roofing contractors for their work. Homeowners should make sure that they hire only the best Roofing Contractors for the job to ensure that the repairs are done correctly and that the work is covered by a warranty. By doing a little research and getting quotes from several different Roofing Contractors, homeowners can make an informed decision and find the best Roofing Contractors for the job.
References and portfolio review
Even more importantly, check the roofing contractor’s recent work in your neighborhood. The roofer can give you photos of past jobs. However, it is always best to see for yourself the quality of the recent roofing work. Even a poor roofer can make a roof look good in photos. Check for consistent quality in the roofing materials. Check to see if the roofing was installed in straight, clean lines. Check the flashing around chimneys and vent penetrations to make sure it was installed correctly.
In asking for references, you will get a list of people to contact. But you have to ask more than just yes or no questions of the people on the list. You have to ask them about the work that was done and how long it took to complete. You find out if the contractor cleaned up after themselves after the job was done. And you ask them about any problems that they encountered with the contractor and how the contractor solved them.
Understanding warranty structures
There are also typically two types of warranties provided by a roofing company. The first are the manufacturer warranties provided for the materials that were put on your home. These types of warranties can last anywhere from 20 to 50 years. Many roofing companies, such as roofing company Jersey City NJ, will also provide a workmanship warranty for their installed roofs. This type of warranty can last anywhere from 2 to 10 years. It is very important to read over the fine print of a workmanship warranty in order to make sure that the roofer is going to be able to fulfill the terms of the warranty for the length of time that it is good for.
Red flags that require immediate attention
Unfortunately there are many scammers in the roofing trade who travel from home to home in storm damaged areas of the country. Even honest contractors are drawn to these areas because of the high amount of money that can be made fixing damaged roofs. That being said, there are many roof contractors in the roofing trade who actually travel from door to door soliciting work in storm damaged areas of the country. These roof contractors will travel to areas of the country that have recently experienced severe weather in order to offer their services to home owners who have experienced roof damage as a result of the storm.
Walk away.
There are likely to be some unscrupulous operators in any industry. By educating yourself as to what to look for and paying attention to a few key details the average homeowner should be able to avoid most of the problems and end up with a quality roof on their home.
Ava Mitchell turns celebrity facts into smart, scroll-worthy stories at Star Ledger Pro, backed by 3 years of experience.
