Most of us hope to never have to hire a roofing contractor, though if you’ve owned your home long enough, you will eventually need one to repair a damaged roof or replace your aging roof. It can be daunting to need to vet potential contractors based on the criteria that matter most for your roof repair or replacement. Given how important your roof is to protecting your home, your most expensive asset, choosing the wrong roofing contractor can be an expensive mistake. Here are the 5 questions you must ask roofing contractors before hiring them to work on your home.
What Is Your Legal Business Name?
This question is asking for their legal business name, not just the name of the project manager. If they have several answers to this, that’s a red flag. They may be operating under several names at once to minimize the number of bad reviews racking up under one name. Or they may be trying to hide the fact that they’re unlicensed or uninsured. If someone is hesitant when you ask this question, hang up or get rid of them. A roofing contractor may be doing business under their own name (and that’s not necessarily a problem) but ask what other names they may be using so you can do your homework on their business.
Are You Licensed and Bonded?
This is a critical piece of information that we too often forget to ask about. Are you licensed to work as a building contractor? If not, the odds are that they might be a fly by night operation passing through town. Are you bonded and insured? If they aren’t, this suggests they are not qualified to do roofing work. It could be because the “business” is a couple of general-knowledge handymen who want to earn a lot of money in the aftermath of a storm, or they may have done such a bad job previously that they’ve been sued so many times that they can’t get insurance or bonded. Either way, you don’t want to put your home at risk. Nailing down a few loose shingles and gluing down others without taking care to properly seal the membrane will leave little leaks that eventually damage the very structure of your home. You don’t want a general contractor for your home’s roof – you want a roofer.
This question should be followed up with questions about how much insurance coverage they have. The minimum level of coverage required to work in your state should be the minimum you accept. If they cite a lower value than this, that’s a red flag. On the flipside, a higher level of coverage is preferable. (After all these questions, you can ask for proof.)
Who Will Be Working on My Roof?
Why ask this question? It’s great that a company can hire a suave and charismatic guy to give you the quote and answer your questions – but is that the guy you’ll actually be working with? You don’t want to hire a reputable contractor who outsources the work to subcontractors who may not be experienced or qualified. This can lead to you finding out that the busy major local contractor is hiring work out to less reputable organizations that may not do as good of a job. Even if the prime contractor is hiring a good subcontractor, you could still be burned when they take your money and fail to pay the subcontractors. Understand the business arrangement before you hire anyone, and always choose local, qualified and verified contractors over the alternatives. This is why you want to ask about the training and experience of the crew if you’re not talking to the people who will be doing the work.
What’s the Timeframe?
There are several components to the project schedule. One is the start date. The other is how long the roofing repair job will take. Why do these two schedule dates matter? If they are vague on when they’ll be able to start work, quit the interview and start researching your next prospect. You can’t afford to put 10 or 50 percent down hiring someone who may leave town before they ever start work, or who will make empty promises and leave you hanging.
Why do we suggest asking about how long the project takes? First, the project itself will take a day or a week, depending on how much work your roof needs. If structural elements are damaged, they’ll need to rip off the roof and repair the underlying structure. How long do you want a hole in your roof? How long do you want the sounds of construction and repair crews going in and out? If you’re given a very long timeframe, this is a red flag. It may indicate that they’ll try to do your work in parallel with other projects, raising the risk of delays. It also leaves open the possibility they’ll quit before they’re done, leaving you literally exposed. A shorter timeframe is ideal, but you also need to compare the work to be done relative to the job they’re quoting. If it normally takes a full crew a week to remove and replace a roof, someone saying they’ll do it in a day or two may be planning on simply laying on another layer of shingles before charging you for the more expensive service.
Who Is in Charge, and Who Do I Talk to When Issues Arise?
You may be given a written warranty and estimates, but who do you talk to when you have questions about the workmanship as the work is going on? What do you do if the contractors are blocking your driveway or using the wrong color shingles? You need to know the process for addressing mistakes so they can be corrected before they literally add up.
Accountability won’t prevent the horror stories of someone dramatically overcharging on labor and materials because you signed a blank contract. However, it gives you a name and contact method so you can handle surprises like material substitutions or weather delays that aren’t being properly handled.
If you’re here in Cincinnati, you can skip the hassle and just call us here at Harper. We’ll answer all these questions, plus any others you’ve thought of, directly and thoroughly. We are a local, reputable company that has built our business by providing great service to your friends and neighbors. You can trust us to do a great job!