When it comes to choosing the best roofing contractor to repair or replace your roof, cost should not be the first consideration. While everyone wants to save money, when it comes to working on your roof there are a number of considerations to take into consideration besides price.
Is your roof a lawsuit waiting to happen?
Any time you send someone up a ladder to work on your roof there is a certain amount of liability involved. If a member of a roofing crew falls off the roof or off a ladder while working on your home, you want to be sure that the contractor and not you is going to be liable. This means you have to be sure that you ask for and see a contractor’s business license, contractor’s credentials and proof of insurance before they are hired. (Any legitimate roofing company should be able to provide you with proof of workman’s compensation and liability insurance.) The last thing you want to find out after one of the crew has been injured is that you are on the hook for any damages. Also find out who is responsible should the contractor damage your home.
Feel free to ask the contractor, whether their crew uses safety harnesses, not to mention how they deal with discarded shingles and roofing nails. The last thing you want to happen is to wind up being injured by walking out your front door only to step on a nail. Conscientious roofers not only have a protocol for dealing with the jetsam produced as part of the roof removal and replacement, they also should cover your bushes so that they aren’t damaged by any discarded material. You can learn a lot about a contractor by assessing their attitude concerning the details of the proposed project. A trip to the garage to cover a punctured tire or to the ER to get a tetanus shot is not the way to learn that your roofer leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to attention to details.
What’s in a name?
Another thing you want to find out before the fact is the roofer’s reputation. In today’s wired world you don’t have to take a contractor’s word for it that they are courteous, prompt and reliable. You can ascertain this for yourself by searching the Internet for reviews on such sites as Google, LinkedIn, merchant Circle, HomeAdvisor and Angie’s List, to name a few. Also, be sure to check the contractor’s website for testimonials, particularly video testimonials. The best way to learn about a contractor is to hear from several customers. By perusing online reviews, you can learn a great deal about how the company and their crew tackle a roofing project. If you find either a number of negative reviews, or no reviews at all, this tells you that you should look elsewhere. After all, it’s all too easy to fold up shop under one name, only to launch a new business under a different name.
Read entire Through the Roof – How to Choose the Right Roofer where it was originally published.
