Most individuals who label themselves as residential roofing specialists are extremely professional contractors, who are experts in the field and will do a great job repairing or replacing your roof. But, unfortunately, like most industries, the roofing industry has a few bad apples that give the rest of us a bad name.
When interviewing residential roofing specialists to complete work on your home, it is important that you know the red flags to watch out for so you don’t end up signing a contract with one of the bad apples above. To protect your home and any future roofing investments you may make, the Farha Roofing team is here for you. Today we are sharing a list of the 9 major red flags to look for when interviewing residential roofing specialists to help ensure you end up with one of the good guys.
Check out the full list of red flags below!
Red Flags to Look for When Interviewing Roofers
- No established community history
This is one of the biggest red flags to look for. Of course, everyone has to get their start somewhere and some roofers with no community history may be legitimate, but far too often they are not. After storms, many people claiming to be residential roofing specialists will set up temporary shop in the affected community and try to get as many “clients” as possible. These people are normally not licensed or insured and have no professional experience as roofers.
They prey on unsuspecting homeowners who are shaken after storms and hook them in with low prices and emotional appeals. Be wary of anyone without community history, especially someone asking for any form of payment upfront.
- Intense sales pressure to sign today
Residential roofing specialists who are good may try to close you on the day of your inspection, but they will also respect when you say no and will even encourage you to get quotes from other roofers. If a roofer you are interviewing pressures you to the point of discomfort or rudeness, this is a huge red flag and a sign you should look elsewhere.
- Lack of customer references or testimony
Previous clients are a legitimate residential roofing specialist’s best form of advertising and a lack of references speaks volumes of a roofer’s previous work experience. If you ask to speak with a reference (which you always should) and are told no, we highly encourage you to run in the opposite direction.
- No digital footprint
We like to call this a red flag, not a deal breaker. Not all residential roofing specialists are tech-savvy and you may come across professional roofers with outdated websites or no website at all. However, the vast majority of roofers have some sort of digital footprint these days and if you aren’t able to find ANYTHING about them online, this could be a sign that they are a fly-by-night roofer as described in our first red flag above.
- Suspicious certifications, licenses, and insurance documents
If someone claiming to be a residential roofing specialist doesn’t have the documents to support their industry certifications, local licenses, and insurance coverage – or if the documents look at all forged – this is a huge red flag. Not only does working with this person put you at risk for defective work, it will also likely void your insurance and warranty coverages if an unlicensed/uninsured party performs work on your home.
- Shows up just after a hailstorm
Door-knocking after hail or any other storms isn’t necessarily a hard and fast red flag, but again it could be. Many of the “roofers” described in the first red flag are storm chasers and will appear right after significant damage has occurred in an area. Protect yourself by researching anyone who comes knocking before signing on the dotted line.
- Estimate is coming in significantly below others
If an estimate comes in significantly lower than the others you receive, this is a huge red flag. Most estimates from legitimate residential roofing specialists will be around the same ballpark for cost of labor, materials, etc. Any time it comes in lower, you need to ask why it is so much lower. This also applies to payment or financial terms that are drastically different from competing estimates.
- Cash Only Roofers
If a contractor claims that they only work in cash and they are not willing to work with your insurance or provide financing options, run! This person is likely not running a legitimate operation and they want to protect themselves by working in cash only, avoiding any sort of paper trail.
- Damage Not Reported in Other Estimates
If someone provides you with an estimate that includes significant damage not found by other residential roofing specialists, this is a red flag. It could be that the other three people you interviewed missed the damage, or the more likely case, that this person is overstating the damage to charge you more. This is why it is always crucial to meet with multiple roofers and get multiple estimates.
We know these red flags might seem a little scary, but it wasn’t our intention to scare you! At Farha Roofing, our goal is to empower as many people as possible with the knowledge they need to make the most informed decisions possible about their roofs and their homes.
If you are in the Denver, Kansas City, or Wichita Metro Areas and looking for a roofer you can trust to work on your roof, our team is here for you. Give us a call today to speak with one of our residential roofing specialists and schedule your free home inspection!