10 Questions To Ask Your Roofer

PA requires roofers to be licensed; however, if you just moved here (or are unaware) all states are different. This means one code may be required in Boston while another may be required here in Philly. So what’s a homeowner to do? Research the code requirements in your area. If contractors, including roofers, are required to be licensed you only work with those who are so you have some recourse in case things go wrong. Be sure the license is up to date.

At one time employers with three or fewer employees didn’t have to offer workman’s compensation insurance; now they do by law. Still, some contractors and roofers will skimp out on this requirement. The reason? Insurance isn’t cheap, and some would rather take their chances. The problem, of course, is when the chance is taken on your property and an employee becomes injured. If you hire a company that doesn’t offer employees workman’s compensation and someone gets injured on your property, you might find yourself forking over thousands of dollars to pay for medical bills. This is a loss no homeowner wants to incur. To protect yourself, make sure the company you hire insures each worker that will be present on your property.

Workman’s compensation covers the employees on your property; general liability insurance covers your actual property. For example, if a contractor accidentally burns your house down in the process of welding something on your roof (it has happened!) and the company doesn’t carry liability insurance, you could be responsible for covering the debts incurred by this tragic accident. When it comes to insurance, though, don’t simply take the roofer’s word for it. Ask to see an insurance certificate. This certificate will list your name and address as an additional insured, so if something happens on the job, you are covered. If you still feel hesitant, call the insurance company and ask.

Some roofers will claim to save time and money by inspecting, with their eyes, the old roof, and then, if all looks well, shingling over it. However, unless the old shingles are pulled up you will never know if you have soft spots or rotten wood beneath the current shingles. If bad spots remain behind, you will have larger, costlier problems in the future. Don’t let a roofer place a new roof on your house until they have taken up the old roof.

You may not think about it as you contemplate your new roof, but the method the company uses to get onto the roof is almost as important as the type of roof you choose. Ladder stabilizers and/or standoffs should be used in every roofing job. Stabilizers are like big arms that rest on the roof or on the side of the roof. This keeps the weight of the extension ladder, which can weigh a few hundred pounds, off of your gutters. Without some type of standoff or stabilizer, you might end up with a great roof but a torn up, broken apart guttering system around your house at the end of the job. If the company you’re considering for the roofing job answers no to this question, you need to ask what they will do to ensure your gutter system will remain intact and unharmed during the project; if they can’t answer this question, don’t trust them to complete your roof.

Refuse from the old roof, such as shingles, will need to be placed somewhere as it comes down. The company you hire should bring a container to the job site to contain the refuse. You should not be required to supply this container, nor should you have to deal with the refuse once the job is completed.

Let’s face it: the weather guy is not always right. This isn’t too bad when you’re stuck in the office all day, but when someone is removing and replacing your roof it can be a major problem. If the prettiest of days turns into a rain storm, what will the roofing company do to protect the interior of your home? Make sure your roofer has a plan for this. Your roof should be covered in some type of plastic sheeting or tarpaulin to ensure it, and everything beneath it, remains dry. Also ask what the plan is if the rainy days extend for a while. Will the company come back to ensure the covering is keeping the home dry? If there is a storm with high winds, will someone be available to come out and secure the covering if it appears to not be holding?

Today’s dimensional style shingles cost the same price as the older style shingles and also last longer. Homeowners should get at least a 25 year warranty with both product types though.

Too often, homeowners think about what’s going on top of the roof and forget about what surrounds the house. This includes the gutters, which we talked about earlier, but also the landscaping. If you spend hundreds - or thousands - of dollars planting trees, shrubs and flowers, you don’t want to come home to a new roof but a torn up lawn. Before you hire a company, ask specifically what they will do to protect your landscaping. Where will the ladders go? Where will the old shingles and potentially rotten plywood be dropped or tossed so that it doesn’t affect the bushes and flowers that surround your house? If an accident does occur and an employee from the company tromps through your rose garden, what will the company do to fix the damage?

If you return home after a long day at work to find your roof is as open as a convertible and the company is ready to leave for the night, you want to know there is a project manager on site with whom you can communicate your concerns. While some companies will tell you during the sale that you’ll have someone on site managing the job, you might find when the crew shows up in the morning no one is sure who that project manager is. Find out before you leave for the day. If you still don’t know, call the company and ask. And if no one can answer, send the crew away until they can.  A reputable roofing company will have someone on site throughout the project to answer questions and address concerns.