6 Ways to Know If a Roof Repair Company Is Trustworthy and Reliable

Repairing your home’s roof can be a challenging job and often requires a trustworthy, reliable company to do the work. Most average homeowners aren’t skilled enough to identify and repair roof problems—you run the risk of paying more in the future if you don’t make the fix correctly. But choosing the wrong contractor can cost you more money than it should for the repair, all while getting shoddy workmanship and materials that, you guessed it, cost you even more in the future.

Roof repairs are generally not inexpensive and can even run into four digits depending on the severity of the problem. Even preventative maintenance—such as replacing as few shingles or reattaching missing gutter brackets—represents a minor investment that shouldn’t be taken lightly. Therefore, finding a roof repair company that you can trust is essential, not just for the fix at hand, but also for future jobs.

Here are six ways to determine if a roof repair company is trustworthy and reliable:

1. Local and recommended

National roofing companies may employ people locally, but their focus isn’t local—if there was a problem with your repair, you might be going through extra hoops just to get the “local” contractor to come back out. Same deal with going through a home improvement store: You are paying the big box to hire a roof repair company, thus creating a middleman you simply don’t need. Look for a contractor that is truly local and that you deal with directly. Seek recommendations not only from friends and neighbors, but also online review sites.

2. Detailed estimates … and detailed details

A trustworthy roof repair company will not be vague on the work that must be done, the timeline involved, and how much it will cost. Any contractor that says a job will be “about $500” as it starts doing the work could be setting you up (even unintentionally) for something that costs $750. Another quality of a good roof repair company is that it shows you exactly what it’s doing and the purpose of the repair. You want complete transparency so that you can be confident the job is being done right.=

3. Options are discussed

Not every repair is so clear-cut; homeowners may have various options available depending on what the contractor sees on top of your house and the materials potentially used in the repair. A reliable roof repair company, as part of its thoroughness and transparency, will describe the problem and discuss what options you might take. Sometimes the repair is obvious and just one course of action exists, but if that isn’t the case, you need to know that before making a decision. Always ask and see how the contractor replies.

4. No hard sells or upsells

There’s a reason people sometimes don’t like to call specialists for a home repair: the sales process. You just need a fix to your house, but the contractor wants to fix four other things or install an entire new roof. Recommendations for the future are OK, but a roof repair company’s first priority is the problem at hand. When you say “I just need this fixed,” that should be the end of the discussion. A contractor that continues the hard sell is thinking about profits more than your home.

5. Guaranteed workmanship

The best roof repair companies clearly spell out what’s guaranteed in their work as well the warranty attached to the materials they use. That way, if something does fall short of expectations, the contractor has already dictated for you how it will remedy the situation.

6. The contractor is on time

This may seem basic but is a good tip to end this post: If a contractor is late for your appointment and hasn’t called to at least tell you why, proceed with caution. There may be a good reason for the delay, but that’s not an excuse for leaving you hanging. And sometimes, a leaky roof can’t wait. A roofing repair company should be a partner—not an adversary—in keeping your home in working order.

What attribute in a roofing repair company do you think is most important?