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7 Questions to Ask When Hiring Roofing Services

VWB Blog 1 year ago 28

Your roof is one of the most essential parts of your home.

It’s your first line of defense against wind, rain, snow, and fallen trees, among other things. If there’s a breach in your roof, it can lead to costly roof repairs, or worse, total roof replacement.

Regular preventative roofing maintenance and prompt action are vital to boosting the longevity of your roof. Professional roofing services are essential to this process, but there are over 80,000 roofing companies in the country. How do you ensure you’re getting the best roofing contractor around?

In this post, we’re going to tell you 7 questions to ask when hiring roofing services. Proper roof care will ensure your roof lasts the full 25 years that it’s supposed to, so keep reading and get the best roofing services on call.

1. Are You Licensed?

You never want an unlicensed company working on your roof. Depending on what state you’re in, there may be specific requirements for roofers. Most places allow you to operate a roofing business with a contractor’s license.

That being said, you’ll want to look out for any extra credentials that prove their credibility. In Virginia, for instance, it’s based upon how much experience you have. Class C licenses are issued with two years of experience, Class B with three years, and a special exam must be passed to get a Class A roofing license.

If they don’t have the proper state licensing, they’re not legally allowed to work on your roof. When you search “roofing companies near me” in Google, make sure this is the first thing you look at.

2. Are You Insured?

The next thing you’ll want to ask about is the type of insurance that the company has. Anyone doing work on your home should possess a general liability insurance policy, which ensures the roofer is liable for any damage to your property or injuries that occur during the roofing work.

Roof repair, replacement, and even maintenance can be extremely dangerous work. If your roofer doesn’t have the right insurance policy, then if someone gets hurt or damages your home in some way, you’ll potentially be on the hook for the money.

Something else to ask about is whether or not they’ve got a surety bond. This is an agreement between you, your roofer, and their insurance company ensuring that you’ll be reimbursed if the work you paid the roofer to do isn’t completed for some reason (lack of materials, staff, delays, etc.).

3. How Many Years of Experience Do You Have?

Every homeowner should feel comfortable knowing that the person doing their roof inspection or repairs is experienced. Ask your roofer how many years the company has been in business and how much experience each worker has.

All great roofing companies have to start somewhere, but you don’t want your roof to be the guinea pig for an inexperienced worker. The more experience they have, the more efficient and effective the work will be. Try to find a roofer that has at least 5 years of experience, but shoot for more if you can.

4. Can You Show Me Reviews?

Customer reviews are an excellent indicator of how well or poorly a business is run. You can do your own research on sites like Google or Yelp to look at unbiased customer ratings and reviews. The companies that have high average ratings and hundreds of positive reviews are the ones to contact first.

You can also look at the company website to see if they’ve got a testimonial section. Most good contractors will proudly display happy customer testimonials on their website, but if they don’t, you can always ask to see some.

Don’t exclusively look at positive reviews. Look at the negative ones too – if there are any – and ask the roofing company about them. How they respond might give you some insight into how they work or their customer service methods.

5. What Are Your Rates?

Different roofing projects come in at different price points. It’s always a good idea to talk to multiple roofing companies about the same job to get a sense of how much you’ll have to spend. This can also help give you an idea of which companies are fairly priced and which aren’t.

Also, all roofing companies should be able to provide you with a free estimate. If they try to ask you for some sort of commitment in order to get a price estimate, turn the other way.

6. Do You Offer Service Warranties?

Your roof isn’t something that gets fixed once and it’ll be rock solid forever. By nature, your roof is exposed to the elements, so you’ll need to perform regular maintenance and inspections to ensure it’s in good shape.

That said, when your roofer is hired to do some repairs, you want to be sure that you’re not going to have to have the same repairs done in a few months. A good roofing company will provide a service warranty for everything they do.

Service warranties essentially guarantee that the roofing company will come back and fix an issue if their repairs were defective. Offering warranties shows a degree of confidence on the part of the roofer that they provide high-quality service.

7. Do You Offer Emergency Services?

Not all roofing situations occur on weekdays between the hours of 9 am and 5 pm. If you’ve got a roofing emergency, you want to know that your roofing company is going to respond.

Ask each roofing company if they offer emergency services. If you can trust them to respond when you’re in a dire circumstance, you can probably trust them to take care of most roofing issues.

Get the Best Roofing Services

Use these questions to find the best roofing services in your area. Getting high-quality roof care will extend the lifespan of your roof, making your life easier and saving you money.

Remember, it’s important to build a relationship with your roofer. You need to inspect and maintain your roof on a regular basis, so you have to find a roofing company you can trust.

If you found this helpful, visit us again for more home repair tips.

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