Getting a Comprehensive Roof Bid

Choosing the right roofing contractor for your home is similar to choosing the right investment for your retirement account. Both the roof on your home and the retirement account are protecting one of your largest assets. Due to the abundance of different roofing techniques and materials, along with often hundreds of roofing contractors to install them, choosing the best material for your home installed by a roof specialist can be a daunting task. Even if you opt for the very longest lasting roofing materials, that is only half of the equation. The longevity of your roof will not only depend on the quality of the roofing material, but more often on the expertise of your roofing contractor. Before making any decision, ask yourself the following questions:

1. Was the roofing contractor easy to contact and were they easy to schedule an appointment with? If he or she is hard to work with now, just wait until you have a problem, or worse, an emergency leak repair.

2. Was the estimator able to clearly explain the proposal? In other words, does he seem knowledgeable about the various roofing materials available and the correct methods of installing them?

3. Does the estimator hold a LBPR License, which permits him to provide you with a proposal for roofing or renovation?

If you answered No to any of these three questions, then select another roofing contractor and start the interview process over. Once you feel comfortable that you have a responsive and educated roofing estimator, the selected contractor should be able to provide you with a comprehensive roof proposal.

We present to you 11 Critical Questions that will assist you in evaluating the professionalism and performance of a roofing contractor and their installation techniques.

Now on to the list.

1) How many years have they been in business?

Most roof problems don’t appear until years after the roofing job is finished. Choose a company that is well established and financially stable (Big down-payment needed?).

CASCADE ROOFING West Linn has been in business since the 1950’s. Our standard residential down-payment is $200.

2) If a worker is injured on the job site, how will the company protect my home and property from being held liable? Most homeowners insurance exclude such accidents. The best way to know for sure that your property is covered in case of an accident is to verify that the contractor has documented coverage for their employees and subcontractors.

CASCADE ROOFING West Linn carries Workers Compensation Insurance through SAIF Corporation on all our employees. Roofing subcontractors are never used.

3) Ask to see a current copy of these three insurances?

Liability Insurance
Auto Insurance
Bond Insurance

There are often a variety of reasons why the insurances listed above may not be current. The inability to qualify for the policy or the very high costs associated with roofing insurance – these are the most common.

CASCADE ROOFING West Linn will provide you with a copy of our $2,000,000 Liability Insurance, Auto Insurance,  and our $15,000 Performance Bond.

4) Ask the contractor if they use their own employees for the roofing installation work?

If a roofing installer uses subs, you must confirm that all four insurances listed above are carried by each and every subcontractor involved in your roofing installation. Remember, are you hiring the actual company who will perform the roof installation or just a middle-man?

CASCADE ROOFING West Linn roof installations are completed by our very own trained, skilled and professional employees. Most of our employees have been with us for 10, 15, 20 plus years.

5) How will the roofing contractor protect your property from a Lien being placed against it?

The best way to do this is to get a written wavier of lien from each supplier, installer or company being used. Also, the less subcontractors involved the better.

CASCADE ROOFING West Linn protects your property from Liens by providing in writing a “Lien Wavier” directly from our supplier. We also use our very own hauling, porta potty, carpenters and many other services.

6) Are they licensed with the State of Oregon?

Oregon assigns a CCB# that can be verified with the state as to being current and in compliance with state regulatory requirements. Check for any complaints filed against the contractor or any of their subs.

CASCADE ROOFING West Linn license is:               Number – 104430

7) Are they professionally listed with any of the following…?

A) Call or check online with the BBB.
B) Read online reviews on Google, Bing, or Yahoo.
C) Join Angie’sList.com

Unedited reviews found at places like Google or Angie’s List can be very telling, and the more reviews the better. It lets you know that the company is a going concern and any future reviews are vital to their business success.

CASCADE ROOFING West Linn is a member of the BBB and has an A+ rating.  We have numerous positive reviews on Google, Yahoo, Bing, and Judy’s Book. We are the only roofing company in the area to be awarded the Super Service Award on Angie’s List for the last six years straight. And don’t forget to call our supplier: Woodfeathers Roofing Supply:  503-641-7663 to check on our record with them.

8) Does the contractor provide a comprehensive written bid?

Comprehensive Nature of a Bid – For a written proposal to be termed comprehensive, it should provide you with the following information:

A. The product, brand and style of the material proposed.

B. The duration of warranty. (Most materials now a days are sold with Lifetime Warranties. Make sure you know the realistic life span of the materials your looking at.)

C. Brochures and actual samples of the roofing materials being proposed.

The nuts and bolts of the roofing proposal are in the details. This section of the proposal should be quite specific and will include many, if not all of the following details:

As most of the details are job specific in nature, many of them have not been covered here, but a good roofing proposal should be accompanied with a comprehensive specification sheet. You must make sure that you and your contractor go through each and every item mentioned in the specification sheet. Don’t hesitate to ask lots of questions.

Remember, if it’s not written down, then it’s not part of the roofing contract.

CASCADE ROOFING West Linn will provide a 6 page bid along with a complete proposal and packet that details all of the above roofing specifications. Our estimators are happy to spend as much time as necessary to answer all of your roofing questions.

9) Choosing A Pro:

If you select the best roofing materials, you have about a one in four chance of getting a factory qualified warrantied roof. The real question is, why do less than 25 percent of new roof installations meet the manufactures specifications when the same material is used? Its all about the men on your roof.  Are they employees who have be extensively trained (Pros) or are they subs who cannot and do not receive training from the roofing contractor?

CASCADE ROOING West Linn only installs roofs using our very own Pros – well trained and supervised employees.

10) Do you have supervisors on each Job? How many months or years have they been with your company? Are they assigned to my specific roofing job for the entire process, or do they just drop by occasionally?

CASCADE ROOFING West Linn supervisors must have a minimum of 15 years roofing experience. However, our least experienced supervisor has been with us for over 18 years. Treated right and committed means you get a supervisor over seeing your roofing project at all times.

11) How are the rest of the crew members trained?

CASCADE ROOFING West Linn encourages our roofers to train and pass an extensive roofing course located at a roof mock-up right in our own backyard. When an our installers have passed a series of roofing detail exams they can than take the Master Shingler test. After they pass this monumental task, they can continue on to advanced training in Single Ply materials. However, safety training never ends.