Do Not Hire the Wrong Contractor – Hire a Certified Contractor
We all have heard the stories, from family members, from the neighbors, from your brother-in-law how so and so hired the wrong contractor and their roofing project went sideways. Sure they thought they were getting a great deal, but then the problems started. The contractor would show up late to the job, there was damage to the flowers, they found nails in their driveway and then the contractor added a $2000 change order at the end of the job! Their great deal turned into a nightmare.
Let’s face it, replacing the roof on your home is not something that most people want to do, but like a lot of homeowners, if you own your home long enough you’ll need to get your roof replaced. Though hiring a professional roofing contractor at his price is not something that any homeowner relishes doing, it makes no sense in hiring the wrong contractor who may have the lowest price, but also the lowest quality of work.
Homeowners should never choose a roofing contractor solely on the basis of his quote – as cheap as it may be. One little slip in choosing a properly certified roofing contractor can do a lot of damage to your home and what may have seemed like a real bargain can turn out to be a very costly mistake in the end.
Hire a Professionally Trained Contractor
To avoid the risk of your home improvement project turning into a nightmare, you need to select your roofing contractor very carefully. Studies have shown that if you do your due diligence before you hire a roofing contractor your chances of having a successful roofing project are extremely high.
However, if you don’t thoroughly check out the contractor you hire, studies also have shown that you have about a 50-50 chance of something going wrong with your project. If that happens, not only do you still have to deal with a bad roof, there’s a good chance you will need to pay another roofing contractor to fix the bad contractor’s errors.
How to Have a Successful Roofing Project
To have a successful replacement roofing project and to make sure you are hiring a certified contractor there are action steps and questions you must ask each contractor that will bid on your project. Here are a few tips to ensure that you will get the right job at the right price.
- Allow yourself at least 1 hour to meet with and qualify a certified contractor before you award the project.
- Make sure the contractor is operating out of a permanent place of business.
- Make sure the contractor has current liability insurance and current workers’ compensation policy paperwork. Then call the insurance agent to make sure the policies are still current.
- Make sure the contractor can provide you with references for recent projects they have completed.
- Do not hire a certified contractor if they are not members of their industry trade organization or certified by the product manufacturer.
Hire a Certified Contractor
No homeowner should have to pay for damage to the inside of their home because of a poorly installed roof, that will allow water to penetrate to the interior and lead to damaged drywall, wet carpet, and possible mold issues.
When it is time to hire a certified contractor for your next roof replacement project, take some time to qualify them, by asking the right questions, checking on their insurance policies, and industry credentials, and asking for references. Make sure they provide you with a clearly understandable proposal that details what they will do to complete the project.
If you do these things then you have a much high chance of having a successful project. If you don’t do these things…. you just might be the homeowner who will tell other people about your… nightmare roofing project.
