Let me look into it. If I have enough people needing help, then I would drive out and take a look at bunch in a day or two all at once. I live in Hempstead. I have a good friend in Bryan, so I'll be doing his anyway. We serve the state. For us, we carry a couple million dollars in liability insurance, worker's compensation, membership with national roofing contractors association, BBB Accredited with great ratings, and the top certifications for all three major shingle manufacturers, I expect most of this from any reputable company.
TLDR; CLICK LINK, GO TO PAGE 4.What to look for in a roofing company:NRCA membership
BBB Accreditation
Liability insurance and worker's compensation
At LEAST one top certification for some major brand of manufacturer (if you want to know why this matters, I will explain in a later post):
GAF=MasterElite
Owens Corning=Platinum Preferred
Certainteed=Select Shinglemaster
REVIEWS - You may not find a small company with THOUSANDS of reviews, but there should be more than a few.
REFERENCES - Ask for previous jobs. They should be able to provide a list of addresses if asked. I provide a list upon request (minus names of course). If someone wants to talk to a homeowner, then I obviously have to get their permission, but I have done it before.
YEARS IN BUSINESS - This is your call. We've been in business for 17 years, so I would say if you can find a company that has been doing this for 10 years, then the odds are they will be in business 5 years from now.
REMEMBER: Roofing company warranties are only as good as the company and only valid while they have a phone and business you can call. That's why the certifications above matter...
Why the certifications matter:
For instance, GAF MasterElite installers can offer what I consider the 'best value' warranty, Silver Pledge. Other manufacturers have comparable versions. So, I, and other MasterElite installers can provide a 10 year labor warranty because of MasterElite status. That is a manufacturer based warranty. If I die tomorrow and the company owners die and everything folds up, the warranty is still backed by the manufacturer because we were Master Elite when we installed it. I've had people tell me their roofer gave them a free 10 year warranty already so they don't need the GAF warranty....but the company they selected had only been in business 3 years. No track record. Might be fine. Might not be fine.
So, use a company that has one of the top certifications for whatever brand you have selected to install.
Also, all of this is not to say a small young company is not great. They all have to start somewhere, but even a small company should have most of the above, and maybe one top certification for whatever brand they have opted to carry. Just make sure they have an address that is at least in this state and that documentation numbers and addresses match the business card the rep is handing out.
HAIL 2.0 LITE - ROUND TWO OF HAIL COMING THROUGH