1.  Consider looking for a roofing company that specializes in repairs, even for your full roof replacement project. Those who can fix it can get it done right the first time.

2.  Never hire a roofing company to do a full replacement that does not do repairs. What if your roof leaks after they do it? Are they going to fix it? 

3.  Bigger is certainly not always better, and this is certainly true in roofing. Note that we were one of the two finalists in the Best of Frederick 2019 and we are one of the smaller roofing companies in Frederick. 

4. Try and find a company that does not “Disconnect” from their customer right from the outset. Can you even speak to the owner? Top down leadership and involvement is essential.

5.  Don’t go cheap on your roof, but you shouldn’t have to break the bank either. Middle bids show the company understands their own trade. Cheap is selling cheap, not craftsmanship. Over pricing jobs is counting on the homeowner to be uninformed.

6.  Make sure your roof warranty will automatically transfer should you sell your home. Your roof is not going to start leaking because you sold the house. Roofing companies that make it hard to transfer warranties are trying to get out of their responsibility to you. This is certainly not starting out on the right foot.

7.  Make sure there are not loopholes in the “fine print” that result in your losing your roof warranty. Rules like no one is ever allowed to get on your roof or you forfeit your warranty are ridiculous. What if you need your gutters cleaned?

8.  Make sure you read the fine print, if there is any. Roofing companies that make use of fine print are hiding something. 

9.  Be careful of overly complex estimates, or estimates with lots of legal jargon. Not understanding everything on your contract is a sure way to get short changed either during the work or later should you need the contractor to take responsibility.

10.  Make sure that someone will always be present during the work that you can communicate with. Some questions need to be answered when the work is in progress, not hours later or after the work has been completed. 

11.  Never hire any roofer asking for more than 1/3 of the total contract price up front. It is illegal for the contractor to do so and either proves ignorance of the law or a willingness to break it.

12.  Make sure your roofer is licensed with the Maryland Home Improvement Commission. Hiring a company without a license makes you liable for accidents, both to your property and to roofers who may get hurt on the job.

13.  Consider working only with roofers who have been in the business for more than five years. Many businesses fail within the first five years. You don’t want your roofer going out of business right after they do your roof.

14.  Never hire storm chasers, or local companies that hire storm chasing crews from out of state. Buying local is essential for warrantied services. Local companies that hire storm chasers are likely growing faster than they can acquire good help. But know this, if you need them to come back, they need specialists available to you to make things right. The crews are not chasing leaks, they are installing roofs. A company that is spread too thin at the top may not be able to address issues in a timely fashion.

15.  Find out who owns the roofing company you are looking into, and read their Google reviews. Do the reviews mention the owner by name? Can you tell if the owner is a roofer or just the owner of a roofing company? The two are not the same.

16.  Consider typing your contractors name along with the area name into the internet and peruse the top 10-20 hits. You might avoid hiring an outright known felon. The Maryland Home Improvement Commission has a “wall of shame” for a reason.

17.  Advocate for yourself if need be, and don’t be too hard on a contractor because it appears a detail was overlooked in the estimating. Hire the contractor you felt best about, and ask them to clarify, adjust, add in, etc. No one is perfect, and contracts can get quite detailed, even without fine print or legal jargon. Perhaps you have a particular though not common detail that should be added to your contract. Let them know.

18.  Take the necessary time to meet with your contractor, even if it means going in late to work. You might be getting ready to spend a sizable amount of money. Not meeting with your contractor disables your ability to use your own best judgment as to whether you should hire them or not. Hiring on price alone makes you a victim to those who sell cheap because they have no real skills to offer. 

19.  Don’t fall for the Good, Better, Best method of selling a roofing home improvement. When it comes to 90% of the homes in Frederick, MD, there are not three viable options, but at best two. Contractors often employ a three estimate sales pitch to satisfy the consumers need to get multiple bids. This works on 10% of the people 100% of the time.

20.  Be wary of roofing companies that don’t use their actual business name as their website address. While this practice is not illegal, it causes confusion in the community, and often results in consumers calling the wrong company. Always expect that the website address will be displayed as the Business name once you get into the website. If they differ considerably, make sure the actual company is someone you want to do business with.

21.  Lastly, consider making things easy on yourself and just fill out our form. I was able to provide the above information because I have been personally involved in roofing and in the Frederick roofing community for decades. The amount of nonsense that gets passed around as good and faithful business practice in my trade is staggering. There are some good roofers in Frederick, and then there are the notable exceptions. Give yourself at least one shot at hiring someone who cares about doing a great job, each and every time.