Things To Consider When Choosing a Roofing Company
There are many factors that should be considered when choosing a roofing company, including a company’s reviews, licenses and insurance, as well as warranties and guarantees offered.
“Start by doing your research, talking to experts, talking to manufacturers, and finding the best roofing product for you and your home,” said Todd Miller, president of Isaiah Industries, a metal roofing manufacturer. “The consumer needs to drive that choice, not the contractor.”
Reputation and Experience
The first step in finding a roofing company should be looking at client reviews. You can find these on Google, Yelp, or a company’s Facebook page, among other places. If a company doesn’t have any reviews – or all bad reviews – it’s most likely a company you should avoid.
“I can’t stress enough the importance of choosing a company with a proven track record,” said Rich Mullins, founder and owner of H2O Plumbing. “Look for roofing companies with a strong online presence and positive customer feedback.”
Also, you want to make sure you look at the most recent reviews. These give you an idea of how people feel about the company and its recent business practices. You can also check to see if the company is accredited with the BBB and/or has customer reviews on the BBB’s website. A company’s website may also display jobs it has completed in the past, along with customer testimonials.
Licensing and Insurance
Never assume that a roofing company you’re considering is licensed and insured. In fact, there are some states, like Texas or North Carolina, that don’t require all roofing companies to be licensed. But there are some states that do require this. Make sure you check your state laws to see if roofing companies are required to be licensed.
You should also make sure that the roofing company you’re considering has two types of insurance: workers’ compensation and general liability. If an employee from the roofing company is injured while fixing or replacing your home or business’s roof, workers’ compensation coverage ensures the injury is covered by the company. If an employee ends up damaging your home while completing the project, then general liability insurance should cover that.
Services Offered
When choosing a roofing company, make sure it offers the services you need. For example, do you need a residential roof repaired, or do you need the roof of your business replaced? Services that roofing companies may offer include:
- Roof repairs
- Roof inspections
- Roof restorations
- Roof replacements
- Roof installations
- Roof and gutter cleaning
- Roof maintenance
- Response to storm damage
Keep in mind that roofing companies may not offer all of these services, so it’s always good to check to make sure your project needs can be met by a specific company.
Quality of Materials
The roofing company you choose should offer quality materials that are the best, most durable options for your roof. “The best roofing companies should be well-versed in working with various materials like asphalt shingles, metal, slate, and more,” Mullins said. For example, if you live in a hurricane-prone area like Florida or the Carolinas, then you’ll want a roof made of a strong material, like metal.
Some materials also can help prevent a fire from spreading, so check the fire rating. These designations range from Class A, which offers the best fire protection, to Class C. Some materials are unrated and offer little to no fire protection, like untreated wood shakes. If your area is prone to wildfires, look for Class A roofing materials, such as metal, asphalt fiberglass composition shingles, concrete tiles, or clay tiles.
Also consider how heavy the roofing materials being used are. Weighty materials – like slate, for example – can damage the structure of your home if it wasn’t built to support them. The company you choose should be able to walk you through suitable materials for your home’s roof.
Warranties and Guarantees
Roofing companies offer many different warranties, and it’s important to know the differences between them. For example, if a company offers a contractor warranty, that means the labor is covered but materials aren’t. If you see a manufacturer’s warranty, it covers the materials, but sometimes it covers everything.
Some other warranties include:
- Material-only warranty: This warranty is low in cost but only protects against defects in the materials used. The defects would have to cause the materials to stop working before they should for the warranty to kick in. This warranty doesn’t cover any accessories or errors with installation.
- System warranty: This covers the whole roofing system, including the material, flashing (approved by the manufacturer), and accessories. This covers the full cost of any leak repairs, including labor, but be sure to check for any exclusions.
- Labor warranty: This warranty only covers labor needed to fix a defect. It doesn’t cover any materials or repairs needed for errors with the installation.
- Roof workmanship warranty: This covers all costs related to errors with the installation. Roofing companies that stand behind the quality of their work typically offer this type of warranty.
- No Dollar Limit (NDL) warranty: If your roof leaks and has to be repaired, this ensures the roof material manufacturer covers the costs.
- Prorated warranty: This is a warranty that depreciates as your roof ages, meaning it covers less of the cost of a replacement or repair as time goes on, up until the end of the term. If the roof is new and something goes wrong, you might be able to get most if not all of the repairs paid for. For older roofs, you would need to pay part of the cost, and your responsibility would increase the older it is.
Some potential roofing issues aren’t covered by any warranties, including damage from storms, interior damage due to a leak, or a roof that isn’t repaired correctly. For some of these problems, you may need to turn to homeowners insurance or a home warranty.
Price
Price is an important factor when considering purchasing any services, but especially with roofing services since the costs can be very high. But just because a company is the cheapest option for you, that doesn’t mean it’s the best option. Consider the quality of work as well.
When it comes to pricing, you should also look for hidden fees. It’s important to get an estimate from many different companies and ask yourself:
- Does the estimate show upfront pricing, or are there any hidden fees or other important details hidden in the fine print?
- Does the estimate show project details – like the materials that will be used along with an explanation of what will be done – or does it only show the price?
- Does the estimate mention any warranty or guarantee information?
If an estimate from a company is lacking any of these, or if the company hides details in the fine print, it might be one you want to avoid.
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