10 Important Questions to Ask Your Roofer.

Selecting the right roofing contractor for your home or business will be an important and costly decision. Not only is the amount spent vital, so is the fact that it protects one of your largest assets. Choosing the best roofing system for your home or business can be time consuming and may require some research on your part. But don’t stop there, with an abundance of different roofing techniques and materials comes hundreds of potential roofing contractors to install those products. Therefore you are confronted with a two part decision when it comes to roofing your home or business: What type of roof system is best suited to your house or building and which company is best trained to install that new roof system?

Remember, even if you choose the longest lasting roofing materials, you may have less than half of the equation solved. The longevity of your new roof system will surely depend on the quality of the roofing material chosen, but it may depend more on the expertise of your installation team. When you are ready to start exploring your reroofing project, use the questions below as a guide to obtaining a quality roof that will last for years.

A. Was the roofing company easy to contact and were they responsive when setting an appointment? If they are difficult to work with at this stage, don’t wait until you have a roof problem to discover their service reputation.

B. Did the estimator spend time investigating your roofing situation and needs? Did he clearly explain what is being proposed? Did he seem knowledgeable about the roofing materials being presented and will all the information be written down and presented in a formal proposal?

C. Did you receive your formal proposal within a few days? The start of a business relationship can be a real tell-tale to how it’s going to go later.

If any of your answers to the questions above were “No”, then select another roofing contractor and start the process over. When you feel that you have found a competent and service oriented roofing contractor, you are ready to move forward and start getting answers to the following questions.

We present to you 10 important questions that will help you in evaluating a roofing contractor.

Now the List.

1) How many years have they been doing business in the Tigard Area and is the roofing contractor’s office located close by?

CASCADE ROOFING Tigard has been in business since 1959. We are located just a few minutes from the city center of Tigard.

2) If someone is injured during my roof installation, how is my propoerty and myself protected during a lawsuit? Remember, most homeowners insurance excludes such accidents so you must verify that the roofing contractor has documented coverage for all their employees and any subcontractors they may hire.

CASCADE ROOFING Tigard maintains a Workers Compensation Policy with Oregon SAIF Corporation for all our employees. Roofing subcontractors are not used.

3) Don’t forget to verify these three insurances?

Liability Insurance  / Auto Insurance / Performance Bond

Insurances are expensive and the inability to afford or qualify for them may make your contractor’s bid cheaper, putting you and your property at risk. You need to see the written policy for each of the above insurances.

CASCADE ROOFING Tigard provides each of our customers with a copy of our Liability Insurance, Auto and Truck Insurance,  and our Performance Bond.

4) Does the roofing contractor use their own employees for the roof installation?

If a roofing contractor does use roof subs, you must confirm that all four insurances listed above in questions two and three are carried by each subcontractor involved in your roof installation. Ask yourself, are you hiring the actual employees who will install your roof or just the middle-man?

CASCADE ROOFING Tigard has experienced roofers who are our employees. They have completed years of training by our skilled and professional staff. Most of our employees have been with us 15 plus years.

5) How will the roofing contractor protect you from a Construction Lien being placed against your property?

The easiest way to do this is by getting a written wavier of lien from each supplier, installer or subcontractor being used on your project. Remember, the less subcontractors involved the better.

CASCADE ROOFING Tigard protects you and your property from Construction Liens by providing a written  “Lien Wavier” directly from our supplier. We use our own company trucks for tear-off and hauling. In addition, we supply our own porta potties, along with carpenters and many other services that come directly from us.

6) Are they licensed with the State of Oregon?

Oregon assigns a Construction Contractors Number that can be checked with the State of Oregon as to whether it is current and in compliance with state regulatory requirements. You can also check for complaints or state actions filed against the contractor or any of their subs.

At CASCADE ROOFING Tigard, we have the license # 104430.

7) Are they a Better Business Bureau (BBB) member and listed on any of the following review sites:

A) Call or check online with the Better Business Bureau.

B) Get online and start researching the company on Google, Bing, and Yahoo.

C) Join AngiesList.com and get unedited reviews.

Unedited reviews found on Angie’s List can be very telling. Make sure they have a fair amount of review activity because it lets you know that the company is active in the roofing community and future reviews are important to their business success.

CASCADE ROOFING Tigard has been a member of the BBB for decades and has an A+ rating with them. We also have hundreds of positive reviews on Google, Yahoo, Bing, and Angie’s List. By the way, we are the only Oregon Roofing Company to be awarded the Super Service Award consecutively for the past six years presented by Angie’s List.

And one more place to check is our supplier. Ask them about on-time payments, quality of work,  etc…: Woodfeathers Roofing Supply:  503-641-7663.

8) Does the roofing contractor provide you with a detailed and easy to understand written roofing proposal?

Check to make sure your written roofing proposal has many of the following line items listed and clearly defined.

A. The product manufacture, style, and name of the material being proposed.

B. The warranty coverage offered by the Contractor and the warranty offered by the Material Manufacture. Be careful, most materials today are sold with Lifetime Warranties, which may have been warrantied for only 20 years just a few months earlier. Ask about the true life expectancy of the roofing materials you are looking at.

C. Get a manufacture’s brochure and make sure to touch and feel an actual sample of the roofing materials being proposed.

D. What is the number of roof layers currently on the home and how many are being removed? (It should be all of them.)

E. Hauling and Dumping details: Will they make use of trucks, trailers or dumpsters for hauling away the debris? Does the contract price include all the hauling and dumping fees? What about the availability of recycling the old roofing debris?

F. Protecting the gutters, landscaping, and house. How will they make sure that the landscaping / siding / decks / HVAC units / pools / ponds are safe from any kind of damage? Are the gutters cleaned after the job is completed?

G. Replacement or additional roof flashings such as:  vents / drip and rake metal / pipe flashings / chimney flashings / valley flashings / skylight flashings?  Which flashings are being installed and will existing flashings be replaced or reused?

H. If dry rot is found on your roof and needs to be repaired or replaced, how are these additional costs figured and who will repair them?

I. What is the number and type of fasteners to be used along with the wind rating and warranty of the material being selected?

J. What weight and type of underlayment is being proposed? Are they proposing to use Ice and Water Shield and where exactly will it be applied?

K. How will the roof be vented – using ridge vents / soffit vents / power vents / solar vents / gable vents / turbine vents / bath vents / kitchen vents? What are the manufacture’s venting requirements that must be followed to receive a valid warranty?

L. How long will the roofing installation take and how are they protecting my house and its contents against rain?

Because many of the roofing details are job specific in nature, some of them have not been covered here. However, a comprehensive roofing bid should be accompanied with a detailed specification sheet. Make sure that you and your roofing representative cover each item listed. And remember, don’t forget to ask lots of questions and expect good answers.

CASCADE ROOFING Tigard provides a detailed proposal which includes a roofing specification sheet. All our roof estimators will take as much time as needed to review the job specifications with you and are happy to answer all of your roofing questions.

9) Choose A Pro:

If you opt for good roofing materials, you have about a one in four chance of getting a factory warrantied roof. Most new roofs do not meet the manufactures roof installation specifications. Remember, a quality roof depends on who installs your new roof.  If they are employees who have been extensively trained (Pros), then you are on the right track to having a quality roof installed. However, if they are subs who cannot and do not receive training from the roofing contractor, then you might want to rethink your choice of roofing company.

CASCADE ROOING Tigard only installs roofing material using our very own experienced installers who are guaranteed to be professional, well-trained and supervised employees.

10) Are there supervisors at each Job?  How often are they actually at my roof installation or are they assigned to my specific roofing job for the entire process?

CASCADE ROOFING Tigard supervisors are assigned to each roof installation for the entire roofing project. If you have a question, just ask your very own foreman. Remember, our least experienced supervisor has been with us for over 18 years. With proper treatment and training, you can be assured to have a supervisor looking out for you and your roofing installation.