You count on us to be there for you when you have an emergency.
The Home Roofing Replacement Experts
If you’re like I am, just the thought of inviting a stranger over to your home for a free estimate is overwhelming. Those horror stories on the evening news about fly-by-night contractors and rip-off artists happen all the time around here.
As a firefighter and paramedic, you learn to read people quickly and make snap decisions that can mean the difference between life and death.
Hiring Tips
Hopefully, the stakes won’t be as high when you’re hiring the right roofing contractor. But, there’s a few things you can look for that will help you hire the right roofing contractor:
- Raving reviews from past clients
- A solid BBB reputation
- Established local advertising
- Financially responsible and insured
- Preferred status with insurance carriers
3 Levels of Roofing Skill
For the sake of simplicity, we’ll divide home roofing contractors into (3) three skill levels. Level 1 will be our ground floor, the bottom skill level. Level 2 is better while Level 3 is where our best, highest rated roofing contractors reside…
Level 1: The Bottom
At the ground floor, you’ll discover a large pool of day laborers, apprentice roofers and rookie roofing companies. They work cheap and usually give you the lowest roofing bid.
It’s an honest living, but a hard life because the work isn’t always steady enough to pay the bills. They float in and out of business while struggling to cover their material bill, keep up with their liability insurance or pay their truck payment.
Cheap Roofers Are Everywhere
Level 1 roofers are easy to find. There’s several on Craigslist right now. You could also go to your local home improvement store and wait in the parking lot. Look for any old truck with a red handkerchief tied around the back of a long ladder. Finally, you could hire a crew of day laborers yourself. Get to the hot spot early before the small contractors hire the guys with a little experience first.
A Level 1 roofer should be able to tear off and replace a simple 3-tab or a more difficult Timberline roof on a single story home or duplex. With proper supervision, they should be able to replace basic pipe flashing and keep the skylight, chimney and valley from leaking water into your home.
Level 2: The Middle
Here in the middle is where you’ll find that relatively small collection of solid roofing contractors. They’ve paid their dues at the bottom and have risen through the ranks to build a reputable business.
A Level 2 roofing contractor has a growing collection of satisfied customers. You’ll find them accredited and in good standing with the BBB. They’re financial responsible. Their material bills get paid on time. They carry large liability insurance policies.
Good Roofers In The Phone Book
Open up the phone book and you’ll find a few good roofers. That doesn’t mean that everybody in the phone book is good… or even good enough, but you can also go online to YellowPages.com, SuperPages.com, Google, Yahoo! or Bing to find out more about the roofing company you want to hire.
A good home roofing contractor has been in business long enough to get repeat business from their old customers. They are on the preferred status contractor’s list for major insurance carriers as well as several independent insurance agents.
At this level, the roofing contractor should be able to easily handle 3-tab and Timberline shingle roofs on low-slope and steep-slope homes. The roofing crew will have years of experience working on 2nd story, 3rd story and even higher homes. They are experienced with difficult flashing situations including dead valleys, low-slope skylights and leak detection.
More Choices, More Experience
Level 2 roofing contractors have experience with re-decks, wood shakes & shingles, and some designer premium shingles.
Obviously, Level 2 home roofing estimates will be higher than the cheap bid you’ll get from Level 1 roofers. You should expect to pay the standard roofing rates as established by the major insurance carriers for a good, local roofing company.
Level 3: The Best
As with most things in life, the margin of difference between Level 2 and Level 3 is razor thin. Your investment may be marginal, but the benefits of working with the best roofing contractors are overwhelming.
Here’s a short list of the most obvious advantages:
Professional Insurance Claims
Any roofer can talk about working with your insurance. The best roofing contractors have millions of dollars in insurance claims experience. They skillfully negotiate complicated settlements through all levels of the claims process including initial inspection, re-inspection, engineer reporting, and final arbitration if necessary.
Premium Shingle Selections
Now you can also select from limited-production designer shingles, stone coated steel, aluminum, concrete tiles, real and simulated slate from specialty and major manufacturers including Decra Steel, Classic Aluminum, Mueller Steel, Monier, DaVinci, EcoStar and more.
Exclusive Preferred Status
Priority service levels include day or night appointment scheduling, free written estimates and inspections, and in-home demonstrations on all product choices. Exclusive preferred status features hassle-free, concierge claims service with guaranteed results — we walk away friends without a dime out of your own pocket if your claim is refused for any reason.
Call your insurance agent today and request exclusive preferred status from Fireman Roofing now. You may also request service by leaving a short message by phone. Leave your contact information and a brief description of your request when you call now…
Dallas: (214) 306-9604
Fort Worth: (817) 213-6332
Toll-Free Texas: (800) 417-7487
Online Request Form: Click Here