Your roof is one of your home’s most important structures. When you hire a roofer, you need to know that you’re hiring a qualified individual that delivers great work.
How do you tell if a roofer is any good? Use our checklist of questions below and interview at least three roofers to determine which is the best fit for you.
What is your legal business name?
Knowing a company’s legal name allows you to look them up with the Better Business Bureau and/or other online listings. Along with their name, ask for their physical address too. If they don’t have one and provide a P.O. Box, be wary – this is often a sign of a scam.
What type of insurance do you have?
Before you ask this, know your state’s requirements. Each state requires slightly different insurance policies and/or amounts. Know whether roofers need just liability insurance or if other policies are required too.
Once you know your state’s requirements, compare it to what the roofer carries. Don’t just accept a simple ‘yes we have insurance.’ Ask for proof of the policy so you can see the type and amounts yourself.
Do you have proper licensing?
Like insurance, licensing requirements vary by state. Google your state’s requirements and see how they compare to what a roofer does or doesn’t have. You can also cross-check the licensing with your local licensing agency. You can find out if they are licensed and if any complaints have been brought against them lately.
Who will do the work?
Just because you hire a roofing company to install your roof doesn’t mean their employees do the work. Some companies hire subcontractors to install roofs. Even if the roofing company uses their employees, they may farm out certain tasks to subcontractors.
This isn’t necessarily a red flag, but it means you have to go through the same vetting of the subcontractors as you did the roofers. Ask the same questions and look for the answers that prove you’re getting decent work.
Can I contact your references?
A reputable roofing company will have references and happily offer them to you. If you ask and they hesitate or worse yet, say they don’t have any, look the other way. If a company has happy customers, they should have plenty of people that will happily talk to future customers or at least share videos or pictures of the work you did on their home.
Will you do a roof layover?
Listen carefully to this answer. A reputable roofer should advise you not to do a roof layover or at least inform you of the dangers of doing so, especially if your existing roof has issues.
If you lay shingles over a roof with leaks, holes, or other issues, are you correcting the problem? A reputable roofer will go over your options and inspect the roof to tell you if a layover is a good option for your home.
Do you guarantee your work?
Most roofing manufacturers include a guarantee on the materials, but what about the work? Roofing companies should guarantee their work and come back out if there’s an issue with the workmanship. Make sure you ask about both warranty types and how they work.
Investing in a new roof is an important decision. Choosing the type of roof and color is a big decision, but choosing the roofing company should play an important role too. Your roof is only as good as the installation, so do your due diligence and find a roofing company that delivers top quality work.