7 Key Questions to Ask Your Roofing Contractor

Anytime that you’re hiring a type of contractor to complete work on your home, including on your roof, it’s important to ask the right questions. If you’re preparing to make the transition to a metal roof, then you shouldn’t hire just any roofer to get the job done. After all, many homeowners across the country are making the switch to a metal roof, and not without good reason.

For instance—for quite a long time now, asphalt shingles have been the most popular roofing material on the market to homeowners. They’re both cost-effective, reliable, and relatively easy to maintain over time. However. as many homeowners are now discovering, metal roofing may actually be the preferable option. Metal roofs are exceptionally durable, as well as long-lasting. Plus, as a bonus, they’re available in a wide variety of different styles, colors, and more. This way, it’s easy for you to customize the aesthetic of your home, whenever you have metal roofing installed.

As an example, if your home doesn’t quite fit the more traditional “rustic” aesthetic, then metal roofing is likely the favorable option. Metal roofs are well-suited to a variety of more sleek, modern home aesthetics, and they are further customizable based on your unique finish and color choice. Additionally, metal roofing is available in styles that mimic slate, shingle, and shake. The possibilities are wide-ranging, making metal roofs especially appealing to homeowners, no matter the style, feel, or needs of their home.

No matter what mother nature opts to throw at your metal roofing system, it’s likely to hold up with minimal issue. More often than not, metal roofs are going to outlive traditional asphalt shingles by quite a few years. For perspective, most asphalt shingles come with just a fifteen to thirty-year warranty, due to their lower durability. Metal roofs, on the other hand, typically feature a lengthier thirty-to-fifty-year warranty—even then, it isn’t at all that uncommon for them to significantly outlive this estimate, with lifespans often falling into the forty-to-seventy-year bracket.

Once you’ve decided to go through with metal roof installation, it’s crucial that you ask your roofing contractor all the right questions, in order to ensure that your metal roof meets all the standards we’ve outlined above. If your contractor is subpar, then the lifespan of your metal roofing system is likely to be quite a bit lower than you’d expected, upon installation.

These are the top questions to ask your roofing contractor prior to having a new roof (metal roof or otherwise) installed on your home.

Why Should I Give Your Company My Business?

This is always a good place to start, when you’re trying to find the best roofing contractor to work on your home. Whenever you ask this question, you’re inviting the contractor to give you their best sales pitch—believe it or not, this can actually be quite useful, so long as you’re paying close attention. For instance, does the roofer have a clear and prompt response to the question, or are they caught off guard, forced to stutter through an awkward response? As a roofing business, it’s key to have this promise clearly defined, right from the get-go. It’s important that all of your clients know what to expect, before they choose to hire you. So, if the contractor is obviously unable to articulate why you should be hiring them, then this is a major red flag.

In addition, make sure that the roofing contractor genuinely seems to believe in the value of the service they’re providing. If your roofer isn’t confident that they’re ready to take on the job and provide you with the best possible service, then what reason do you, as a homeowner, have to trust them? Do they supply you with a story that succeeds at convincing you to give them your business, or do they leave you feeling even more skeptical, once they’ve laid the information out there?

Can You Offer Proof That You Are Licensed, Bonded, and Insured?

This is another very important question to ask a potential roofer, and is one that you should be asking early along in the process. Are you unsure what these terms mean, or how they really matter? Well, here’s a quick rundown:

Licensed: In order for a roofing contractor to be properly licensed, they’re required to register with your state’s licensing contractor board. Depending on the price of the job you’re expecting to hire the contractor for, you’ll be able to determine what license they’ll need to hold.

Bonded: If a roofing contractor is bonded, on another hand, a trustworthy bonding company has determined that they do business in a way that’s both ethical and correct. If a roofing company somehow goes out of business during your project, or if there’s a serious issue with their work that they won’t fix, a bond can ensure that the customer has someone to fall back on.

Insured: It’s important that all roofing contractors are fully insured; this includes being covered with workman’s comp, general liability, and a company vehicle insurance policy. Vehicle insurance should apply to all vehicles utilized by the roofing company, whether they’re owned or unowned.

What is the Quality of Your Workmanship?

Or, consider posing this question as, “If I end up having an issue with the roofing job, what and how much are you willing to fix?” By asking some variation of this question, you’ll be able to gauge the contractor’s overall confidence in the quality of their workmanship. Make sure that your roofer isn’t approaching the job from a short-sighted point of view, and that they’re genuinely intending for your roof to remain sturdy and intact, for many years to come.

Other questions to consider asking your roofing contractor include:

4. How Will You Protect My Property from Damage During Installation?
5. How Long Do You Anticipate the Project to Take?
6. How Long Can I Expect My Roof to Last?
7. What Happens if I Am Not Satisfied with the Results?

In conclusion, it’s always important to ask the right questions prior to hiring a contractor of any kind. If you’re in a rush or are impatient to have the job over and done with, it can be easy to overlook this step in the process. However, if you want to receive the best possible outcome with their installation, then it’s crucial for you to hire a roofing contractor you can trust.