How to Find the Right Roofer for You

If you own your own home, you have a roof. That roof needs care and feeding to stay in the shape it needs to be in to keep your home safe. Most roofs needs to be inspected once every six to 12 months. In terms of maintenance costs, the typical American homeowner will spend anywhere between 1 and 4% of the home’s value every year. That means they will end up spending at least $2,000 for a home with a value of $200,000. If you do not have a roofer, you sure need one. But how do you find a good roofing company?

1. Ask the people you know. Ask your family and friends. Ask your neighbors. If you know home owners, you know people who have used roofers. The best way to find great quality products or services is to get a personal recommendation from someone you know and trust. Ask them who they used, how they found them and what the experience of working with them like?
2. Only hire local roofing contractors. You will be in better shape if you need more work done and you will be less likely to be the victim of scams. Another benefit to going with a local residential roofing company is that there often local rules and regulations that local companies will know about but companies that fly in to do the work on your home may not. They will not be liable for any fees or fines and they can be hefty. That company that offers you some special to come in and do your work may end up costing you a lot more in the long run.
3. Check out the company with the Better Business Bureau (BBB). You want to hire roofers with a good BBB rating. All you have to do is go to the web site and check. If the roofer has a low score, or has no score at all, you should go to someone else. If a company does not have a good (satisfactory) rating, it also means they do not have the certification they need to do the work on your house. Stay away.
4. Go with a roofing company that offers a good warranty. While it may be hard to believe, not every roofer offers a warranty for their work. That is because not every roofer has the option to offer manufacturer’s warrantees that will cover the roofer’s work as well as the manufacturer’s product. You want to go with someone who can get you a warranty that will cover both because your homeowners insurance will not cover any problems from the work that was done by the roofer. This means you could end up paying a lot for repairs or renovations. Many times, problems with the installation of a roof do not make themselves apparent for a long time. By then, you may not be able to even find the roofer to redo their work.
5. Make sure they have the right insurance and licenses. You do not want to be liable for injuries that take place during your roofing project. Ask the roofing company about what insurance they have and what it covers. This is a “trust but verify” kind of situation. It can be very easy to fake. Check with your state to see what kind of license is needed for roofers. Again, as with the insurance coverage, you need to check and make sure that they have exactly what they say they have. Some roofers try to do the work without having it so make sure they have what they are required to have.
6. Get the materials and colors you want. You may want to do some research into your material options for the job you are having done. If the roofing contractor balks at giving you what you want or if they cannot get it, unless you want something like Egyptian linen, you should go to someone else. This is your home and you need to like the look of it. There are a lot of options for colors and materials so you should get what you want.

Finding the right roofer can make a big difference. You should have no problem finding them with these tips.