How To Avoid Hiring A Lousy Roofer

Here are the things you need to do in order to choose the right roofing professional.

Do A Background Check

Unfortunately, there are some disreputable folks out there calling themselves roofers, and it's their shoddy work that's responsible for any number of roofs falling in on unsuspecting families. The first thing that you should do before you even get a quote from them is a full-scale background check. This is much easier than it sounds; there are just a few places you need to check.

First of all, call the Better Business Bureau (BBB). This is the organization that keeps records of all the complaints made against the shysters and conmen out there ripping us all off. If anyone has filed a complaint against this particular company, they'll tell you all about it for absolutely free. Then, you've got all the information you need, and you're ready to move on to the next one.

Another great place to look is on the web. There are websites that have ratings and reviews for various professional services. If you look on one of these sites and enter the name of the company, it will show you reviews from past customers. If they did a great job, you'll find out here. If they did a crummy job, you'll also find it here.

Finally, you can enter the name of the roofer into any search engine and sometimes turn up information. Put some negative terms in your search field too like "suck," "stinks," "scam," and you just might find somebody on a forum giving you the key information you were looking for.

Check Out Their Work

Now that you've successfully filtered out the garbage, it's time to select a few good roofers and check them out. First, find out how long they've been doing roofs. It's generally a good idea to pick someone with at least a couple of years of experience. This will make sure that they know their way around up there on top of your house.

Check to make sure that they are fully licensed to do roofing work. They should be able to provide you with all the certifications and proof that you need. Each state has its own requirements as to what is acceptable, so do a little bit of research. Some companies have worthless certificates that don't really mean anything, but it's enough to convince their next prospect that they're licensed.

You should also ask for references. They should be happy to give you the names of some people who they've done work for before. Call them up and ask them about this particular roofer and the level of quality their service offers. Of course they're only going to give you the names of people who will give good references, but it's still nice to talk to them. If a roofer refuses to give any references, move on to somebody else.

Once you find the right roofer, you're all set. Be sure to tell friends and family about the wonderful work they did for you. It's important to spread the word when you actually manage to find good help!