When it comes to roofing, homeowners must make every effort to care for the exterior of their home to the maximum. That’s because the roof is actually the only thing separating your home from the fierce blows that mother nature brings. A good roof will keep your house from leaking and will help keep the temperature just right. Neglecting the quality of the roof can wreck your home by bringing on mold, mildew and many other types of structural damage. So when it comes to hiring a roofer and doing roofing work, what’s important to know? Below are 3 critical macro level roofing insights and explanations that will help keep your home safe.
Using anything but the best of the best materials will ensure the exterior of your home will eventually be damaged. The best roof supply manufacturers are GAF & TAMKO. They also provide lifetime warranties on some of their product. Note that many of these warranties require you to use specially licensed roofers. For example, GAF’s best warranties only come with products that are installed by GAF Master Elite Roofers. Some contractors will even offer lifetime parts & labor warranties if you are installing high end roofing. There is no wiggle room in the quality of your shingled sloped roof or your flat roof. I mention these because in New York and most of the US most of our exteriors are either paved and flat or sloped and shingled.
When hiring a contractors there is nothing like good old word of mouth, however, if that does not work there are indeed other ways of finding professional help. The main way today is finding a roofer near you online. Don’t be naive, most online reviews are fake. This is why I recommend looking at review sources that are confirmed and authorized by 3rd party organizations. These include websites like Home Advisor & Houzz. After a lot of practice you can kind of get good at spotting fake reviews. You can also look at the users profile to check for shady review signals. For example, if most of their reviews are left for a specific area and are diversified, that is definitely a good sign. On the other hand, if they are leaving reviews for contractors in NYC, LA & Boston you can deduce that they are leaving fake reviews. It goes without saying that you should check their license and bonding. Just look them up on the local government website and ensure that they are active licenses. With that said, you should be on your way to hiring a quality professional online.
After spending money on good roofing materials and hiring a good contractor don’t forget to upkeep your investment. Although you probably have a good warranty on your roof, you still have to partake in minor maintenance. You never want to rely on your warranty unless you have to. Upkeep involved calling down a contractor for seasonal checkups, cleaning and maintenance. It’s as simple as that- just pick up the phone a few times a year and spend a few hundred dollars which could ultimately save you a massive headache down the line. With maintenance you can potentially go the “do it yourself” route if you do a lot of research and watch a bunch of YouTube videos. With anything, it’s always better to hire the seasoned veteran.
