Find a local roofing contractor

Choosing a qualified and reliable roofing contractor in Santa Rosa, CA is very important when it comes to general home maintenance. Your roof is what protects a home from the elements and you want to make sure it is stable, lasts a long time, leak proof, and you are not going to pay too much to get it working.

Let us summarize a few steps you can take to get the best local roofing contractor that Santa Rosa, CA and its surrounding areas like Sonoma, Nampa, and Petaluma have to offer.

1. Ask your friends, family, acquaintances and co-workers for referrals

This may come as a surprise, but you are probably not the only one with a home. Anyone who owns a home will need their roof repaired and patched every 20 years. Why not ask them who they went with and if they were satisfied? Did they feel like they completed the job in a timely manner or did it take forever? Was it enjoyable to work with the roofing contractor of your choice? How was your customer service department? Did they answer all questions and complaints in an acceptable manner? Although the job was done well, was the price fair?

These are questions to ask. If yes, why go to another local roofing contractor in Santa Rosa that you don’t know about?

2. Check your reputation

If a roofing company has been in business for at least five years, it has some kind of reputation. They have reputations with businesses, suppliers, creditors, past customers, and their local employees. You want to know what it is. Have your previous customers been satisfied? Do they owe it to everyone in town? How do your employees feel about them?

There are tons of local Santa Rosa forums, review sites, and blogs on the internet that you can check out. You just have to spend a little time doing it. People talk and you can find out a lot by typing the name of a roofing contractor with a few keywords in the search engines.

I also suggest you ask around the city. Talk to some of the managers at Home Depot, Lowes, or roofing suppliers. These guys will give you insider information. They will know all the roofing teams in town and can usually tell you all the details.

3. Do they have experience?

Be diligent to ensure that a potential roofing contractor has several years of experience. I know that every business has to start somewhere, but you don’t want your home to be a “guinea pig.” You want to go with a company that has seen and heard it all. Problems are likely to arise in any construction industry, and you want to know that your roofing contractor is prepared to deal with them. Five years is usually enough.

4. Licensed and insured

First, make sure they are licensed by the state of California. They should have a contractor number and should be able to present it upon request. The state ensures that all contractors comply with state laws and regulations, in addition to having employees perform background checks.

Second, and this is even more important, you need to make sure they have adequate insurance. If you get an extremely low offer, BE CAREFUL.

A roofing contractor in Santa Rosa, CA must have a general liability insurance policy of at least $ 1,000,000 in total and a workers’ compensation policy. Keep in mind that this industry has some of the highest rates in the country due to the nature of its work.

The general commercial liability policy will cover the labor of the roofing company. If they repair or install a roof and damage it, they are covered by this policy.

Let’s say a contractor repairs your roof. Next week it rains. Your roof was not repaired properly and it starts to leak. Water enters your home and causes extensive damage to appliances, furniture, and floors. You can make a claim on your general liability policy that will pay for all damages.

The workers’ compensation policy is for the workers of a roofing company. Let’s say an employee slips and falls off his roof while laying shingles. You may fall off a ladder. The workers’ compensation policy would initiate a payment for medical expenses, lost time, and rehabilitation costs. Make sure they have this because you don’t want an injured employee to sue your homeowners insurance that your company wasn’t covered.

5. Get three or four offers

This should be a no-brainer, but you might be surprised how many people get a single offer. You should get at least three estimates from three roofing contractors in Santa Rosa, maybe more.

When reviewing offers, consider more than costs. How long will the job take? What are they offering? What guarantees do you offer?

Also, don’t go with the cheapest kind. You can be stingy because you don’t have insurance! Keep in mind that insurance and administrative costs are high for roofing companies and at least 30% of the estimate is just to cover those costs. That’s not including material and labor costs. Although it is expensive to fix a roof, believe it or not, the profit margins for the actual owners of roofing companies are low. They make money by making volume and completing a job quickly and efficiently.