Questions worth asking before you hire a roofing company

A roof is one of the largest single purchases a homeowner makes, and most people only make it once or twice in their lives. That is an uncomfortable combination. You are spending a lot of money on something you cannot see, cannot easily inspect afterwards, and have no practice buying.

So the useful thing is not a list of red flags. It is a list of questions, asked out loud, before anybody climbs a ladder. Here are the ones that actually tell you something.

1. Who is going to be on my roof?

There is a real difference between a company whose own crew does the work and a company that sells the job and hands it to whoever is available that week. Neither is automatically wrong. But you should know which one you are hiring, because it determines who you call when something needs looking at again in two years.

Ask for the name of the person who will actually be running your job, and then ask whether you can reach that person directly.

2. What happens if you find something underneath?

Nobody knows exactly what is under a roof until the old one comes off. Rotted decking, a previous repair done badly, a vent that was never properly flashed. It is normal to find something.

What is not normal is finding out about it as a surprise line on the final invoice. Ask how additional work is priced, whether you get told before it happens, and whether you get photographs. A roofer who has a clear answer has been asked this before, which is itself reassuring.

3. Which manufacturer's system are you installing, and are you certified to install it?

Shingles are not a commodity. Manufacturers publish installation specifications, and the warranty on the materials generally depends on the roof being installed to those specifications. A contractor certified by the manufacturer has been through that process.

We install GAF and Owens Corning systems, and we are a GAF certified installer. That is worth asking any roofer, not because a badge guarantees good work, but because it tells you the manufacturer has some visibility into how they install.

4. What exactly does the warranty cover?

There are usually two warranties in play: the manufacturer's warranty on the materials, and the contractor's warranty on the workmanship. They cover different failures. A shingle that fails prematurely is a materials question. A leak at a valley that was cut wrong is a workmanship question.

Ask for both, in writing, and ask what would void them. We offer a limited lifetime warranty, and we would rather walk you through what it does and does not cover before you sign than argue about it afterwards.

5. How do you handle my insurance company?

If your roof is going through a claim, this matters more than almost anything else on the list. Adjusters ask for documentation, then sometimes ask again for something slightly different, and the process can drag.

One of our customers spent over thirty days going back and forth with his insurer. Christian went back out to the property more than once to take the additional photographs the insurance company kept requesting, until the claim went through. Then the crew did the roof in a day. Ask a prospective roofer whether they will do that, because the alternative is that you do it.

6. What does cleanup look like?

A roof replacement generates an astonishing amount of debris, and a great deal of it is nails. If you have children, pets, or tires, this is not a small detail.

Ask specifically how the yard gets cleared and whether they run a magnet over it. When Anthony Verfaillie reviewed his replacement, the detail he singled out was that there were no stray nails or debris left behind. That is the standard.

7. Can I call you at night?

Roofs do not fail at a convenient hour. They fail during the storm. If a company only answers between eight and five, then whatever happens on a Saturday night is your problem until Monday.

Our phone is answered twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, and that is not a formality. If water is coming into your house, calling at two in the morning is the correct thing to do.

The short version

You are not trying to catch anyone out. You are trying to find out whether the person in front of you has thought about the parts of the job that happen after the money changes hands.

• Who runs my job, and can I reach them?
• How is unexpected work priced and communicated?
• Which manufacturer system, and are you certified for it?
• What do the materials and workmanship warranties each cover?
• Will you document the damage for my insurer?
• How does the yard get cleaned up?
• What happens if I call you at night?

Ask us any of these. Call (210) 650-2090 and we will answer them on the phone before anyone comes out.