10 Contractor-Specific Questions You Should Ask First
Before you ask questions about your roofing project, first you need to get the measure of your roofing contractor. Don’t hesitate to ask too many questions – any contractor worth their salt will happily oblige and welcome the inquiries. If a contractor seems reluctant to answer your questions, that can be a potential red flag.
Here are the important questions you should ask:
- What areas does your business operate in?
- How long have you been operating?
- Who owns your business, and for how long??
- Who, exactly, will be installing my roof?
- Are they employees or subcontractors?
- Can I visit a project they are working on right now, and see them in action?
- What training and experience does the crew have?
- What jobs do you have that I can go see?
- When would you be able to schedule my job?
- What past customers can I talk to?
- How long will my project take?
- Do you have proper licensing and certification?
- How about Insurance?
- Do you have Workers’ Comp?
- Please show proof of your licensing and certifications.
20 Questions to Ask Regarding Your Home’s Roof Replacement
If the answers to the first set of ten questions were to your satisfaction, it’s now time to move onto the important questions regarding the nitty-gritty of your roof replacement.
- How do you plan to access my roof?
- How will you remove any materials that are torn off of my roof?
- Will you have a dumpster on the site?
- Will you have or need a porta-potty on the site?
- How quickly can you react, and what’s your plan, in the event of inclement weather conditions?
- Will you provide me with written warranties both for your workmanship and the product you will be installing? When?
- How will you protect my home’s gutters?
- Will you be using fasteners that are approved by the manufacturer of my roofing material?
- Can you provide evidence of that?
- How do you ensure that the proper number of fasteners are used and that they are located correctly?
- How will you protect my driveway and property from potential damage?
- Who will be my contact during the roof replacement and how readily accessible are they?
- What is the cost of plywood replacement if need be?
- Can you please provide me with specifications and instructions for the proper installation of my roof?
- Who, besides the installers, will be overseeing my roof installation for quality from a top-line level?
- Will you be installing all new flashings or are there any old flashings which you will re-use?
- Are there any areas of the roof which you plan to just seal rather than flash?
- Please explain how pipe penetrations will be handled.
- How is payment handled?
- What factors might cause a deviation from the contracted price?
- How likely are these issues to occur or to be discovered?
- What is the associated incremental cost?
- How will you be checking the condition of the decking on my roof?
- Will you perform fastener pull-out resistance tests?
- Why do you think my old roof needs to be replaced?
- Is there evidence of issues like inadequate ventilation which I should address?
- Is it time to increase the ventilation in my attic?
- Please address any evidence of leaks in my attic or high moisture levels
- Will there be any tax credits or utility rebates available for the new roof?
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Final Questions
In order to form a set of final questions, you need to familiarize yourself with your roof. Take a walk-around of your home, use a camera drone if you have access to one, or even consult satellite imagery. You’re looking for areas on your roof where extreme wear and tear is present, where debris collects and where mold or mildew have proliferated. Count the skylights and gables if present, and take stock of “dead valley” areas – places where water has settled and isn’t draining. Your questions will be dependent on your findings in regards to your roof evaluation.
Here are some sample questions:
- Discuss the age of any skylights you have. It is recommended to replace any skylights that are ten years of age or older.
- In the case of chimneys, be sure to ask if your chimney has a cricket and, if it doesn’t, whether they recommend one. We generally suggest crickets on chimneys that are 18” or wider.
- Discuss any unusual findings you have seen in regards to your roof design. Make sure that they can explain how they will handle those areas. This would include dead valleys.
About Rapid Restore
Our mission at Rapid Restore is to provide a stress-free, refreshingly simple, world-class roof installation experience for our customers in Long Island, NY. We look forward to protecting you. With over 110+ 5 star reviews on Google, you can trust the expert roofing contractors at Rapid Restore to replace your roof on-time and within budget.
For a quick, no-obligation estimate on your next roofing project, fill out our estimate form!
