One of the most common complaints that homeowners have about the roofing industry, is that they feel like roofers are shady, or trying to take advantage of them. Sometimes that could be that the homeowner felt that they were sold on a fix they didn’t need, or that the roofing company didn’t complete the work to satisfaction, and wasn’t willing to make things right, or just disappeared entirely.
Unfortunately, it happens all the time. Bad actors will move into an area, especially after a storm, and try to convince homeowners that they have roof damage. Then they’ll quickly do some shoddy work, collect payment, and get out of Dodge before a leak springs up the next rainy day.
However, just because those unsavory types exist, don’t let it ruin your view of the roofing industry as a whole. There are plenty of roofing companies who believe that the best way to conduct business is to lay roots in an area, and complete quality work, and keeping you informed through the whole process.
So what can you do to make sure you end up working with one of these more reputable, trustworthy companies, and not some storm chaser?
In this blog, we’ll be going over:
Let’s get started!
Asking people you trust should always be the first step in any project you take. Knowing that your friend had a good time with a company is a good sign that you might have a similar experience working with them.
So be sure to ask around for anyone in your neighborhood, or in your family that’s gotten work done on their roof recently. Another good place to look, if you know one, is to ask a real estate agent. Very often, real estate agents have connections with local companies that they enjoy working with. If you have a good relationship with someone who is in that line of work, they could be a good resource for you.
Once you’ve done some asking around, the next place you can look is to check these companies reviews against your contact’s experiences. The best place to read reviews is on Google’s page for the company, as this is the most common place for customers to leave reviews, and where most companies want their customers to leave them.
A good way to determine how a company will interact with its customers is to see how they respond to reviews, both positive and negative. If a company is responding in a prompt and meaningful way to former customers, that’s a good sign that they will be communicative and responsive for active clients.
You should always take online reviews with a grain of salt, though, as there’s no real verification that someone who left the review actually worked with the company, and, as with anything online, they can sometimes be over-exaggerated, or slightly untrue.
Confirming that a company has a local presence is a good box to check on every company that you look into, and that contacts you. It's smart to make sure that the company has a physical address that you can go check out, and that they have a local phone number. This will prove that they are actually in your area, and aren’t moving around from place to place.
You can also look into the companies social media presence. If they are showing lots of involvement in the community, and are very visible and accessible, they will likely be working hard to keep up the reputation that they have built in the area.
Most companies worth their salt will have lots of examples of their recent work in your area. Whoever you are working with should be able to provide addresses of homes close to you that they have completed, but they should also have a gallery of work on their websites, and social media pages.
The more work that you can see will help you learn more about what kinds of roofs the company works on, and the job that they did installing the roof, and cleaning up after themselves.
There are a few different ways that you can learn about a roofing companies credentials and experience. One such way is by checking to see their certifications and awards that they have received. Roofing material manufacturers give out titles and certificates to contractors that have undergone certain levels of training and testing. GAF and CertainTeed, two of the largest manufacturers in the country, give out their Master Elite , and SELECT ShingleMaster status respectively, to contractors who meet their qualifications.
Another good indicator of how well a roofing company will be able to serve your needs, is how many years they’ve been in operation. Many of the shadier roofing companies that we talked about earlier end up going out of business, or quitting the game before they’ve even been around a couple of years. If you’re dealing with a company that’s been around for a few decades, you can feel pretty confident that they have a good track record for customer service, and quality installations.
Now that you’ve gotten a little bit more information about how you should find a trustworthy roofer, hopefully you’re starting to see a clearer picture of how your roofing process will play out!
If after reading this blog you’re still left thinking: “Why should I hire a local roofing contractor? Certainly a large company can provide the same level of service?” Check out our blog on the 4 Reasons You Should Hire a Local Roofing Contractor!
On Tops Roofing has been providing roof repair and roof replacement services to homeowners in the Raleigh, NC area since 1991! Whatever your roofing project requires, we’ve got the experience to handle it!
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