Roof Replacement Tips Every Homeowner Should Know

Your roof is a critical part of your home, keeping you safe from storms and protecting the entire building. Eventually, you’ll be faced with needing either a roof repair or roof replacement. Here are the best tips for every homeowner in Grand Rapids facing a roof replacement.

Do Your Research to Find a Good Roof Replacement Contractor

Before you select a company to provide your roof replacement, do your research on available options. Check for the certifications that indicate they know what they’re doing, including Corning, GAF, NRCA, or something similar.

Go beyond the certifications alone, but also look at online reviews. This will give you a great indication of other people’s experience, including promptness, attention to detail, and communication.

Check with your family, friends, and neighbors to see who they might recommend in the area. Many great contractors thrive on referrals from former clients rather than expensive marketing campaigns.

When you do look for reviews online, be sure to check several sources. Home Advisor and Angie’s List are a great starting point, but then also check Yelp, Facebook, and Google Reviews.

As you explore the reviews, don’t get caught looking at the ratings alone. Rather, look at the reviews and how the company responds. How a company responds when something doesn’t go according to plan is as important as how often that happens.

Understand What You’re Paying For

There are many options when it comes to the material you’ll use for your next roof. Traditional shingle roofs are susceptible to damage from storms, requiring sometimes expensive roof repair.

When consider your options, look at the durability of different shingle options, and choose one that has proven its quality. Not only do you want to look at how long the roof will last, but the difficulty and expense of repairs when needed.

Furthermore, pay particular attention to the details of your contract. What seems like a lower-cost price is because of hidden fees. For instance, does the quoted price include clean-up, refuse removal, and insurance fees? Sometimes contractors hide these fees in the fine print of their agreements, leaving you with substantially higher expenses than originally estimated.

Be Cautious of Expense Shortcuts

Be cautious of extremely low-cost options, as these commonly come through questionable shortcuts. Unfortunately, many of these lead to subpar workmanship, supplies, or both.

It may also come at the expense of a dependable warranty for your roof. This warranty is the bedrock to ensuring you get a quality product when it’s all said and done.

You also want to make sure you’re not covering up a problem by saving money from tearing everything off. You really don’t know what you’re getting into until you can uncover the roofing material. The roof boards or rafters may be bad if they have sustained water damage. Just covering that over only continues to open your home to additional problems.

Likewise, you should replace the ice and water shield to ensure your new roof is properly sealed. There’s nothing worse than ending up with a worse problem than you began with because of shortcuts.

Try to Remain Flexible

Once you have your contract signed and in place, be sure to remain flexible to some degree. Given a roofing job happens outside, you know there has to be some give and take for things outside your contractor’s control. It is not uncommon for storms to suddenly pop up around the Grand Rapids area, making it unsafe for work to continue.

While remaining flexible, be sure you understand how and when the team will plan to get the work done. Will you be at the top of the list, or will they push you to the bottom so that they can stay on schedule with their other clients? These are important details to understand so that you have clear expectations and aren’t left wondering.

Understand Responsibilities

It’s also important to understand the responsibilities of your project to be sure it’s completed easily. With a full-service contractor, you have no responsibilities besides paying for the work.

However, lower cost contractors may require you to purchase all the supplies, reserve the dumpster or more. The best way to ensure you have a good experience is to verify these details are in the written agreement, not just verbally discussed.

Check the Job Site at the End

Finally, check the job site before the crew leaves. Some contractors leave quite a mess on the site, which poses hazards to your home. The last thing you want is to damage your tires or more because nails or other debris was left behind. Be sure they use a magnet to effectively collect metallic debris.