Tips for Choosing Affordable Roofing Contractors for Roof Replacement
All Weather Roofing
Last summer Jillian was pretty sure she would have to replace her roof, but she forgot about it because, well, life gets busy. Everything was going along fine until it rained. Then Jillian had leaks—lots of them! She got tired of dodging the buckets she used to catch the drips.
Maybe you can relate to Jillian’s situation. You know you need to hire qualified and affordable roofing contractors to replace your roof. But the problem is that you don’t know any roofing contractors in your local area. You don’t know much about roof replacements or roofing materials either. You need help.
What should you do? You don’t want to make a wrong decision that will be more expensive, stressful, or time-consuming.
How to weed out scammers and undesirable contractors so you can identify a reliable roofing contractor.
It’s usually not hard to spot scam artists. Scammers are typically impostors, people claiming to be contractors. Sadly, some scammers are also identity thieves who fraudulently claim to have a roofing contractor license or claim that they represent an established roofing company.
Here are some red flags that will help you identify and avoid scammers and undesirable contractors:
• He comes to your door to solicit business, sometimes claiming that he stopped by because he has extra materials from a previous job so it will save you money.
• He’s a good actor, posing as a sympathetic, nice guy who will give you a special price—a price “just for you.”
• He pretends to be a licensed roofing contractor in California but either won’t show his roofing contractor ID or won’t let you carefully examine his ID. Or, he claims to be a salesperson for a licensed roofing company but will not produce his California HIS (Home Improvement Salesperson) registration card.
• He uses high-pressure sales tactics.
• He wants to be paid in cash only (no checks or credit cards).
• He wants all of the money upfront “so he can buy materials,” or he wants a large payment before doing any work.
• If he creates a contract, he pressures you to sign it right away without carefully reading it, even promising a discount if you sign it quickly. He often makes promises for extra work and upgrades but does not include these promised items in the contract.
• He wants you to sign a contract that has blank spaces for key items like “total contract price,” and he says he’ll fill it in later when he finalizes the price for materials, etc.
• He says that permits are not required for your roof replacement or tells you that you are responsible for getting the permits and arranging for the inspections.
• He doesn’t have a physical office. If he has a website, it will not specify a valid business location or address.
• He offers to arrange financing through a lender he knows (be especially cautious with loans—some homeowners have signed loan agreements that turned out to have extremely high-interest rates, that were reverse mortgages, or that used their home as collateral).
If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is…
If someone offers you a “screaming low price deal” to replace your roof, chances are you are dealing with an unscrupulous person. If you hire him, you will likely experience one or more of the following issues:
• The person takes your money, and you never see him again.
• The person takes your money and starts the job, but never comes back to complete the work.
• The person does shoddy work or uses inferior materials that do not meet current California building codes.
• The person deliberately damages your roof or claims to find additional problems as the job progresses so he can charge you for work that is unnecessary.
• The person took your money and did the job, but didn’t pay the materials suppliers, so you have to pay the suppliers yourself to keep from having a lien placed on your property.
How to identify professional, dependable and affordable roofing contractors
Now that you know how to protect yourself from scammers and undesirable contractors, it will be much easier to identify a good roofing contractor who you will be happy with.
You will need to do some research, but it will be time well spent. You’ll need to know:
• How to verify the roofing contractor’s license status.
• The legal requirements for roofing contractors in California.
• What a roof replacement contract should include.
The California State Contractors License Board has easy-to-read brochures and links for consumers on their Hire a Licensed Contractor page.
A professional roofing contractor will be proud to show you proof that he is a licensed roofing contractor in good standing. He has likely been in business locally for years and has a reputation for doing excellent work at a fair price. He will be happy to provide references that you can check.
A good roofing contractor will always create a contract for your roof replacement that describes the project, scope of work, materials, and the price you will pay. He is careful to follow all state legal requirements for roofing contracts, as well as local requirements for building permits.
See our blog article Roofing Contracts 101: What Every California Homeowner Should Know About Roof Replacement & Repair Contracts.
Your checklist for choosing affordable roofing contractors
• Contact the roofing company to schedule an estimate (bid or quote) for your roof replacement.
• When the estimator arrives, ask to see his roofing contractor's pocket license and ID, or the salesperson’s HIS registration card and ID.
• The roofing contractor or estimator will examine the condition of the roof and measure the roof area. He will discuss the roofing materials and type of roof replacement that you want. Then he will create a written estimate. (Note: For comparison, you may wish to get written estimates from one or two other roofing contractors in your area.)
• Check the roofing company’s Better Business Bureau rating (BBB.org) and other online reviews.
• After you decide on a roofing contractor, call to let them know you want to go ahead with your roof replacement. They will prepare a contract for you both to sign that documents the details of your roof replacement project.
• The roofing contractor will not ask you to make a payment until you both sign a contract that is complete and that you are happy with.
• The roofing contractor or salesperson will give you time to read the entire contract to make sure that you understand the details. He will be happy to explain anything you would like clarified.
• Once you sign the contract, the roofing company will require a down payment to get started. The down payment requested is within California legal guidelines. (See our contracts article.)
• The contract will specify the progressive payment schedule for your project. The roofing contractor will not ask you to make a payment until the item in your payment schedule has been delivered or completed.
You’re on your way to a beautiful new roof.
Choosing the right and affordable roofing contractors for your home or commercial property takes effort, but the effort will pay off in the end when you get a new roof with quality materials and good workmanship.
When choosing a roofing company to replace your roof, do not let your desire to save money keep you from spotting—and running from—the red flags listed above.
Remember to ALWAYS check the roofing contractor’s license status, ALWAYS get a written contract, and NEVER pay for work that hasn’t been completed yet to your satisfaction.
You’re now a pro at choosing the best and affordable roofing contractors to install your new roof. Soon you will have the new roof that you want—a roof that you can be proud of!
All Weather Roofing.
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