A customer once asked me if I could lower the price on my bid because he assumed I was just using day laborers and paying them $10 per hour. I kindly explained that we do not use day laborers for our roof installations, and he hung up. Quality is not always in the cards. I have driven by and inspected many faulty installations and some really poor workmanship through the years, and can only assume that someone on that project did not know what he was doing.
Since there are no licensing requirements in the state of Texas, anybody can be a roofer. So what are the legitimate companies doing to compete? Most legitimate roofing contractors obtain formal training for their project managers, sales managers, and crew members. Roofing is by no means rocket science, but there is a science to installing a roof properly.
All too often we see day laborers who think it is just a matter of taking off shingles and installing new ones. Instead of removing the old shingles, they overlay. Or they remove the shingles but leave the old felt on, which eliminates the opportunity to properly inspect the roof deck. They avoid hand nailing, and use pneumatic guns without thoroughly inspecting the calibration, shooting the nails into the wrong spot on the shingle.
A few weeks or months later, the shingles begin sliding off the roof. When you try to call your cheap roofer back to fix the problem, his phone no longer works or he is back in his home state. You get what you pay for. Everyone knows that bit of advice, but for some reason some fail to follow it.
Always research your roofer. If you cannot find any information about them on the North Texas Roofing Contractors Association website, they may either be a new business or not legitimate. Check whether they have an actual brick and mortar address rather than operating from their home. Check their address on Google Maps, or stop by for a visit.
Using certified crews, paying rent for a brick and mortar address, and belonging to invaluable organizations does cost money. Legitimate roofing contractors do it because it is the right way to operate a business and to be available for our clients. It is about making the customer’s life as stress-free as possible.
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