If you are looking to have your roof repaired or replaced, you are best off entrusting that to the pros. Never mind your skill and enthusiasm for DIY and home improvement, this is one chore that you do not want to muck up. so here are our best tips for selecting just the right people to get that job done!
1 Get referrals from someone local.
Your first step should be to ask around among neighbors if they can recommend some roofers in your area. These contractors would be better familiar with your local code regulations and will be better connected to locally based suppliers and other relevant collaborators. Also, more importantly, someone from your own community is less likely to be a scammer.
2 Keep an eye out for a manufacturer designation.
These are sort of a badge of honor or mark of quality for any professional contractor. The person or group that receives them must pass a set of requirements to do so and be recognized as factory-certified. That said, some manufacturers have way stricter regulations than others, so you will need to do a little digging.
3 Get a proper extensive warranty.
Sometimes, even if a contractor has a manufacturer warranty, it may not cover their workmanship properly. Sometimes, if the roof is set up right, no damage will show for months or even years (despite being there), at which point your insurance will not be paying for repairs. This especially becomes a pain in the neck if the contractor goes out of business in the meantime, so keep yourself safe.
4 Take a good look at the Better Business Bureau (BBB) ratings.
This is especially important if you live in an area that is prone to wild storms or other kinds of freak weather conditions. After these natural monsters have had their run of destruction through human settlements, lots of alleged contractors swoop in biting for work. Stay away from anyone who has a bad score on BBB or does not even exist in their database. If they are legit and trustworthy, they will be there. Just click this link and search for your new professional acquaintances.
5 Take safety measures seriously.
You have to be serious about this stuff yourself because not all contractors will be, believe it or not. So take a good look at their website and other publicly available information about their services and procedures. They have to have a transparent safety program, and may even offer some training in the area. If you see no trace of that, run like the plague, and consider reporting them to the relevant local authorities, as well.
6 Confirm that they have a proper license and insurance.
With a good, legitimate contractor, insurance should be readily available for all of their employees and all of their sub-contractors, and they should have no qualms about providing a copy of their insurance certificate to be validated. If an employee happens to get injured while working on your home, and the contractor does not have adequate insurance, you as the homeowner might be facing time in court.
Obviously, a license is required by law in any given state, but that does not prevent unlicensed vultures from trying to squeeze in and grab the work for themselves. So insist on your potential new contractor providing you with a copy of their license and then make a point of confirming their legal status online. One page where you might do that is this one: http://cib.ok.gov/are-they-licensed.
7 Never let them pressure you into a contract.
Never, ever, sign that paper before your insurance company has properly estimated the damage you are facing. The contractor themselves should also do a thorough examination of the roof (or home in general, in case of damage that spread to the walls, installation, etc. like with water damage), and make sure that their insurance adjustment did not miss any damages at all.
Some contractors will claim that “they can work with whatever” estimate your insurance company comes up with. The ones who relentlessly badger you into signing a legally binding document are, most likely, scammers scared to get caught.
