How to choose roofing contractor ?
How do I pick a good roofer?
How to choose roofing contractor for
commercial or residential buildings
Importance of commercial roofing contractors:
With the
passage of time buildings age and problems tend to show up in various parts of
the building. Of these,the decidedly most important factor is maintaining the
roof. Roof maintenance is ignored by most people,but roofs can cause the most
damage to the commercial building owners. Roofs can begin to leak and can cause
major damage to any equipment,goods inventory kept inside the building.
Who are commercial roofing contractors?
A
professional commercial roofing
contractor is a roofing contractor
who usually provides a variety of roofing choices for commercial buildings but
specialised contractors in different areas of roofing are also available. They
are available for repairing roofs of commercial buildings.
Tips to choose commercial roofing contractors
● Make sure that the commercial roofing contractor has a valid licence and operates
legitimately. This can be done by requesting and then verifying their regional
and state licenses,the permanent address of the company and a valid and fair
warrant program. Any other claims may be illegitimate and fraudulent.
● Ask for a written proposal of their work and
plans for your contract. Any legitimate roofing contractor would gladly provide
a portfolio of his previous work.
● Most of the commercial roofing contractor have websites with customer reviews
that may give an insight to the quality of the work the contractor does. This
also tells you about the professionalism of the company the behaviour it does
with its clientele and the price estimates for their work.
Importance of residential roofing contractors:
Before
replacing a roof on your house,the most important thing to do is to choose the
best possible roofing contractor,who will give you quality products to prevent
future leaks and have a long lasting life.
Who are residential roofing contractors?
Residential
roofing contractors are roofing contractors who can be employed for roof repair
for residences and basically any type of roof.
Tips to choose residential roofing
contractors:
The most
important tips to follow while hiring a residential
roofing contractor are:
● Arrange a personal meeting with the residential roofing contractor and ask them whether they
give free estimates. Also inquire for referrals and their website details. All
these information is crucila because roofing is a serious investment and
involves spending a quite large amount of money, so you should be seeking a
professional roofing contractor.
● Inquire about the time period they have been
in the business and their market reputation. There can be an instance where you
hire a residential roofing contractor with less experience and no known
reputation,then that contactor may be out of business by the time your roof
begins to have problems. According to a recent survey, an average new starting
roofing contractor may go out of business within a time period of 3 to 4 years.
That is why in general, new entries to roofing contractors are not usually to
be trusted with your family's safety.
● Make sure that the contractor you hire has
valid documents for operational purposes. He must also be in possession of a
valid licence for working in that specific state or region. This information
can be easily verified from the State Licensing Board.
● If the contractor is valid and has a good
reputation and you decide to employ them,it is crucial to get the details of
their contract proposals and including the amount that will be required for you
to pay them for repairing your roof repair and document them in legal terms.
This will serve as a valid proof in later times,if the contractor decides to
make falsified claims about what he has done and what he is owed.
● Inquire into whether the contractor deals work
to other contactors. If this is so then you should look for other contactors.
This is because contactors who assign work to other contactors pay these
subcontractors very less money compared to the amount of work they do and this
leads to a poor quality of work by them as they wish to finish their work
faster and move on to newer projects to earn more projects and more revenue.
● The new products that will be installed by the
contractor should be certified by a certified installer and make sure that the
contractor provides emergency repair services, should you require it.
● Contact previous customers of the contractor
and contact them inquiring about the quality of services rendered by them and
conditions of the roof installed. A lot of information about the quality of
work done by the contractor and the amount charged for the work done and the
behaviour of the contractor if they raised any complaints against their work
quality or suitability. Also, information about their working methods and
workmen can be gathered.
● Verify whether the residential roofing contractor has a permanent address registered
for his firm and a valid email address and phone number. Also check whether
they are registered with workplace safety and insurance companies.
Differences between commercial and residential
roofing contractors:
● Even though commercial and residential
buildings can use the same roofing materials in theory,in practice some
materials are considered better for usage in commercial buildings when compared
to residential buildings. Largely,the type of material used for roofing of
buildings are largely dependent on the function of the building.
● Flat roofs are generally better for commercial
buildings while shingles are better for residential buildings. Flat roofings
include chimneys,pipes,HVAC systems and other systems that need outlets on the
roof. However, small businesses may not try and install flat roofs since they
cost a big amount of money.
● Commercial roofing companies more often than
not sign contracts with unions, for whom they are obligated to work. In such
cases,they are restricted from accepting any non union based roofing contracts.
Also,companies who are not union obligated,can be specialised only in
commercial roofing and not be suited for the smaller jobs of residential
roofing. Residential roofing contractors in general run smaller businesses and
in many cases,it is a one man job, wherein the contractor you speak to
regarding all matters is the one who does the roofing.
● The insurance liability of commercial roofing
companies are more expensive and are associated with larger amounts of money
who makes it not cost effective to hire commercial roofing contractors for
residential roofing jobs.
See also :
See also :
See also :