Taking Control of Your Roofing Job
You may think you can repair your roof by yourself and save tons of money in the process. Think again. This may not be a wise decision. Instead you should hire a professional roofer to do the job. You must be careful when selecting a roofer as there are stories of contractors that scam people out of their money. They either never finish the job or take the money upfront and disappear. Or they finish the job, but had shoddy craftsmanship. Therefore, it is vital to find a roofer that is reputable and allows you to have control over the roofing job.
The first thing is to make sure the person you will hire is a certified professional. They will be taking a large chunk out of your bank account so you need to do a thorough background check. Ask for references and contact those references. A professional will easily give you a list of references and will most likely volunteer this information from the get go. If certification is a requirement in your area, make sure to see their credentials.
Try to find a roofing service or company that has a long history in your area. Look for their advertisement in the yellow pages. What is their tax ID number? Ask for a list of vendors and credit references. If they are unwillingly to supply any of this information then think twice before hiring them.
Take note of the equipment they use on roofing jobs. What is the status of equipment? Is it old? Do they have a great amount of equipment in their truck? Check to see if their truck has their company name or logo on it. If it does note the professional appearance of it. Do they employ the use of air nailers and other modern tools? If their equipment looks like it's deteriorating, beware. They may not necessarily be out to scam you, but the odds are leaning in that favor.
Another really important thing to consider when deciding upon the contractor is the skill level of their crew. Do they use true roof mechanics or are they employing temps or laborers? If a person cannot afford a real roofing crew staffed with people committed to the business, what does that say about their competence level? If you demand that the roofer use only qualified people on the crew and they refuse, move on to someone else.
Has the roofer told you what type of materials they are going to use when fixing your roof? Be sure that they don't stick you with cheap materials. This can happen easily because there are several different grades of shingles and plywood. If you end up with cheap materials you will no doubt have to make repairs in the next year or two. Therefore, you need to specificy the brands and types of materials you want them to use.
You may want to take the lowest bid, but the lowest bid most often does not equal the best deal. Roofers that do not have experience or people that are going to take your money and run give low bid estimates. You definitely can't get something for nothing. Look for competitive bids that are within 10% of each other.
Finally, get everything in writing and do not sign a thing until you understand every aspect of the contract. Reputable contractors will offer service after the sale in order to safeguard their reputation and maintain high customer satisfaction and loyalty. Whatever you do, never engage in a high dollar business transaction without a contract! By taking these and the other precautions mentioned above, you can take control of your roofing job and make sure that you are getting the best service for your money.
About the author: Alby Fernsworth is the chief writer at Ferns Roofing, the best place on the internet when you're after fresh up to date advice and comment to do with Roofing. For more articles on Roofing why not visit: http://www.fernsroofing.com/articles
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