When it comes time to repair or replace your roof—and if you own a home or building long enough, that time will eventually come—there are key questions you’ll want to ask your roofing experts before you sign on the dotted line.
You can already imagine that the top question anyone would have about this service is, “How much will it cost?” It’s a great question and one you should definitely discuss. Comparing quotes is an important part of the hiring process. Hire a company with a low-ball offer and you’re going to get what you pay for. Hire at the top range and you’ll feel like you’re getting ripped off.
But since you already know to ask about cost, let’s skip this and provide you with four other must-ask questions we know our customers don’t always remember.
1.Will You Need to Remove My Roof & What is the Cost?
Any reputable company will likely not be able to answer if your roof needs to be replaced or if it can just be repaired from a phone call alone. If you are having an issue, you should want your roofing expert to request a home visit to assess the problem before answering this question. This assessment should be free of charge and take place before you agree to any work or pay any funds.
Once your roof has been properly inspected, a keen roofing expert should be able to tell you whether or not your roof needs to be removed and replaced with a completely new roof. If this is the case, make sure this is a service the company provides and ask if it’s an added charge.
If you’ve selected one of the best roofing companies in town, the price should already be included in the cost of the new roof, and the workers should be able to take on the project from start to finish.
2. Do You Perform the Work or Hire Subcontractors?
When you select a company to perform a service, you expect that company to complete every aspect of the agreed-to project. However, when it comes to home improvement and maintenance projects, that’s not always how companies operate.
On occasion, companies will complete a sale and then pass along the project to someone else to do the actual work, each taking a cut of the profits. Sometimes it’s a legitimate and
In order to protect yourself and ensure you’re receiving the customer service you deserve and the quality of work you think you’re agreeing to, ask the roofing experts you’re about to hire if they work with subcontractors.
If the answer is yes, ask for more details. This should be a red flag but not necessarily a deal breaker.
3. Do You Work with Specific Manufacturers? Who?
In all home improvement projects—and many other industries—there is a manufacturer (the actual creator of the product) and a distributor (retail store, roofing company, etc.). This partnership often benefits everyone.
On the business end, the creator can do what it does best, while the distributor can focus on what it does best. And, as the consumer, you can get the projects and services you want, and when and where you want them.
In the roofing industry, it’s very similar. A manufacturer, CertainTeed for example, allows specific, trained, certified contractors to sell its products. Now, CertainTeed prides itself on being one of the top shingle roofing manufacturers in the country, so they aren’t going to let just anyone sell their offerings. Instead, they handpick companies across the states that they know value quality and customer service as much as they do. In the Portland area, Interstate Roofing is one of its distributors and a top contractor in that region.
It’s actually a great thing if the roofing experts you’re speaking with work with high-quality manufacturers. The products they offer can show a lot about the quality of work you should expect.
4. Are You Licensed, Bonded, & Insured?
Certainly, you’ve heard to ask this question before, but when it comes down to it, do you actually ask all home maintenance workers if their company is licensed, bonded, and insured? If so, that’s awesome! Keep up the great work.
But, for many of us, if everything else seems to align, we often just assume that since the company seems reputable, it must have everything in order. While that’s likely the case, this assumption could be a costly mistake.
If anything should go wrong and you did not specifically confirm that the company you hired had the right paperwork needed to perform the work, you could be on the hook. Since roofing work is inherently dangerous given the heights of the projects, this isn’t unforeseeable. That means if a worker is injured on your property, you could be responsible for the medical bills.
Roofing projects are commonly expensive undertakings. The work is arduous and requires the right skills, the product needs to be high quality, and the project is time-consuming. It’s expensive for a reason. But don’t make it even more costly by forgetting to ask if a company is licensed, bonded, and insured. All three should be required by you before you agree to anything, and definitely before you sign anything.
Don’t fret that a company will be annoyed by this question. The best ones welcome it, as they are glad to show they are the right ones to choose for your quality roofing project.
Hiring a roofing expert can take some time, but the finished product and quality customer service you receive will be well worth the wait.