Hiring a Roofer: 3 Factors That Matter

No one can deny that being a roofer is one of the most difficult, dangerous jobs there are. Because of that truth, they almost always have plenty of business. Few homeowners—even the ones that consider themselves well versed in the art of “do it yourself maintenance”—care to get up on the roof in the middle of a hot summer and start pitching tar. But just because it’s a job you don’t care to do doesn’t mean you need to settle when it comes to hiring someone who will. There are plenty of great contractors out there, and these are the three factors that matter when it comes to hiring one of them.

Experience
Every roofer has to start somewhere, but that somewhere doesn’t need to be your house. This is particularly true if you’re having something done that’s somewhat out of the ordinary. Many homeowners are looking at the green roof movement and they like what they see. An environmentally friendly roof can lower energy costs and raise the resale value. But you don’t want someone who has only been in business for a few months up there trying to come up with solutions to difficult challenges. You want someone who has been around the block a time or two, has seen it all, and won’t mess up the job in an effort to hide his inexperience.

Of course, simply being in business for a certain number of years is proof of a certain level of experience, but it isn’t quite enough. If possible, you’d like to see a good reputation to go along with that experience. After all, anyone who has been plying their trade for that long should have a list of references they can give you. Make sure this is the case and you’ll avoid hardships later on in the process.

Estimates
You shouldn’t even think of hiring a roofer that won’t give you an estimate, but simply giving you a price quote isn’t all there is to it. Make sure you have it in writing that you won’t be expected to pay if the final price exceeds the initial estimate by a certain percentage unless the contractors have come to you first with the new cost. Even then, you don’t want to see your current roof torn to shreds and then be dropped with a new bottom line. But this is where reputation comes back into it. Any company that does this kind of thing with any regularity isn’t going to have a reputation worth speaking of.

Knowledge
You want to hire a roofer who knows not only the ins and outs of the game, but is well versed on the latest materials and the best new ways to make your house look great. This doesn’t mean you want a salesman up on your roof, but simply someone who has stayed up on all of the changes in the industry and can make sound recommendations based on that knowledge.