Taking Control of Your Roofing Job
By: Alby Fernsworth

Think you have the ability to repair your roof by yourself and save a lot of money in the process? Don't do it. This may not be a wise decision. Instead you should hire a professional roofer to do the job. You must be watchful when choosing a roofer as there are stories of contractors that scam people out of their cash. They either never complete the job or take the money upfront and disappear. Or they do complete the job, but had poor craftsmanship. Therefore, it is vital to find a roofer that is reputable and allows you to have control over the roofing job.

The first thing is to verify that the person you will hire is a certified professional. They will be taking a large chunk out of your bank account so you need to do a thorough background check. Ask for references and contact those references. A professional will easily give you a list of references and will most likely volunteer this information upfront. If certification is a requirement in your state then ask to see their certification card.

Strive to track down a roofing service that has a good history in your area. Look for their advertisement in the yellow pages. What is their tax ID number? Ask for a list of vendors and credit references. If they are unwillingly to supply any of this information then think twice before hiring them.

A subtle but telling signal that someone may not be a true roofing professional can be had simply by looking at the equipment they use. Is their truck filled with ladders and all the tools of the trade? Is the name of their company on the side of their vehicle? Is it stenciled on or just a magnet with their logo? Do they have air nailers and other modern equipment? These are not necessarily indicators of potential fraud, but if things don't look right, they probably aren't.

A major factor to consider when hiring a roofing contractor is to determine the level of skill their crew demonstrates. Does the contract employ full time skilled roof mechanics or are they using temporary employees and day laborers? The competence level of the crew is much lower if it consists of day laborers. You want a roofing company that has qualified roofing mechanics. Demand that the team consists of only qualified roofers. If they give you any hassle about this do not hire them.

Has the roofer told you what type of materials they are going to use when working on your roof? Be sure that they don't dump cheap materials on you. This can happen easily because there are several different grades of shingles and plywood. If you end up with cheap materials you will no doubt have to make repairs in the next year or two. Therefore, you need to specificy the brands and types of materials you want them to use.

I cannot stress this point enough: the lowest bid is rarely the best deal. Inexperienced roofers or people seeking to con you out of money often employ low-balling in their bidding to entice people to go for a deal that they really should already know is too good to be true. Competing bids should really be within 10% of one another so if someone comes up offering a really great deal, use extreme caution!

Finally, get everything in writing and do not sign a thing until you understand every aspect of the contract. Reputable contractors will offer service after the sale in order to safeguard their reputation and maintain high customer satisfaction and loyalty. Whatever you do, never engage in a high dollar business transaction without a contract! By taking these and the other precautions mentioned above, you can take control of your roofing job and make sure that you are getting the best service for your money.

Article Source: http://www.ArticleJoe.com

About the author: Alby Fernsworth is the chief writer at Ferns Roofing, the best place on the internet when you're after fresh up to date advice and comment to do with Roofing. For more articles on Roofing visit: www.fernsroofing.com/articles Why not sign up for our free Roofing newsletter at: www.fernsroofing.com/newsletters
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