Darrell Gregg
Artist, Father, and Mother in New York
When it is time to install a new roof on your home or need repairs to your roof, you need to make sure you are hiring a reliable and skilled roofing service. Finding a good roofing service will help keep your home safe and dry for years to come. There are a few things that you can look into before you hiring a local roofing service. First, you want to find a roofer or roofing service that specializes in roofs rather than just a general contractor that does some roofing jobs. A actual roofing company will have the expertise to help you design and select the materials for your roof in order to have the most energy efficient and long lasting roof possible. A general contractor would not have that expertise. In addition a true roofing service will also be able to do certified inspections of your roof in the instance where you might be interested in selling or buying a home. Second, check to make sure that the service company has insurance and is bonded. You want to make sure that the work you pay for gets done to your satisfaction and in accordance with the contract that was signed by both parties and that is why a bond is needed. Liability and worker's compensation insurance are also necessary to protect the rest of your assets from possible damages and also to make sure that you cannot be personally held liable if someone were to get injured in the process of doing your roofing job. Of course your homeowners insurance will cover any damages, but you want to roofing company to have insurance as well so that your insurance company can reclaim any costs from them. Next, it is important to get good references. Many roofing companies can come up with a good estimate, but you want to make sure that their estimates are accurate and that they get the work done in the amount of time they indicate in their proposal. Also, you want to make sure that there were no problems with how the guys who work for the roofing service interact with the family members in the home. You can find out all this information by contacting people who have used their services in the past. Make sure to ask open ended questions and questions that give the opportunity for praise as well as critique. You want to hear the best of what they have to say about the company and the worst. Knowing how a contractor handles adversity and possible setbacks is just as important as the quality of their work.