Not all roofs are manufactured to equal levels of quality, and not all roofing contractors are equally skilled. But hiring a roof expert who is right for your particular needs can itself be
Be patient. A bit of careful evaluation ahead of time can save you potential hassle as the work progresses or, worse, after its completion.
These four ways to find the right roofing contractor are not given in order of precedence. Some may be more or less applicable, or they may all be enormously relevant to the situation at hand. Taken individually or as a whole, close adherence to these recommendations will ensure you make a good, suitable hire for your roofing contractor needs.
#1. Referrals
Would it at all surprise you that referred candidates are both the leading source of hires and also make for the swiftest hiring process across the American recruitment landscape? It might be mildly noteworthy as a revelation, but those statistics make very clear sense once they are momentarily considered. Imagine yourself as a business owner in virtually any industry. Now wouldn’t the hiring of applicants vouched for by your existing employees seem like a highly logical approach to filling your open positions? That is the power of the referral. Evaluating the quality of people with whom you already share some degree of trust and extending it outwards to those they themselves trust.
What is a contractor if not a temporary employee? The referral process is very much applicable here, as virtually every roofing contractor you end up vetting will have worked for others in your city, or perhaps even in your very community. Speak with your neighbors, friends, family, or colleagues and zero-in on those contractors whose work receives the most compelling praise.
#2. Arrange Interviews
As hands-off as the contractor/customer relationship can often seem for the customer, particularly in the case of extremely complex or labor intensive work, you will ultimately need to communicate with your roofing expert to one degree or another. Be sure to consider website reviews and spoken recommendations. Even more so, an interview with a prospective contractor will indicate very clearly how communication might take shape once work is underway.
Nothing more than five to ten minutes via telephone should be necessary, unless the conversation goes well and runs long, in which case you should go ahead and make that hire.
#3. Examine Samples of Previous Work
While some contractors feature previous work on their websites, others might keep a professional portfolio of sorts. Either way, requesting to view a roofing contractor’s project history is reasonable and will be honored by any professional in the space. For one, roofs vary widely in size, dimension, style, age, and material composition. Ensuring a potential roofing hire has produced results similar to those for which you are in need is a plainly sensible vetting measure.
The work history does not necessarily need to exactly match your home’s rooftop architecture. However, the presence of a project characterized by comparable dimensions and structure will surely provide a peace of mind. And if no such examples are readily available for your perusal, it might be worth inquiring as to why that is.
#4. Shop Quality First, Price Second
This is an age-old conundrum: quality vs. cost. With the hiring of contractors in particular, price is a very real and legitimate concern. Building materials can be expensive and project timelines are often unpredictable. This can leave homeowners feeling helpless to keep their needed repairs or home improvement undertaking within an established budget.
But there is a maxim about getting what one pays for that applies very directly to this topic. As mentioned above, not all roofing professionals have the same skill level. But good contractors must also be business savvy, and fair pricing is generally a cornerstone of any sustainable contracting business. Keep cost in mind and be cautious in overpaying upfront, but don’t shortchange your roof on the quality front either.
Need Roof Repairs?
Whether you’re looking for pointers on how to maintain your roof or need an emergency fix, let our roofing contractor professional team earn your trust. Contact us at Integ Roof and Gutter today. We look forward to hearing from you and to earning your business.