Guide
Choosing a roofing contractor
You are not really buying shingles. You are buying four days of somebody else's workmanship, and hoping the company still exists when you need the warranty.
Get it looked at
Three questions, and up to three Chino contractors. Free either way.
You are on the list.
No provider in Chino is taking requests through this service yet. We are lining them up, and yours is kept until one can.
- Nobody gets your details yet. Your request stays with us and is not passed to any company.
- One email when someone can help. When a provider covering your area can take it on, we email you once and ask whether you want that company, by name, to contact you.
- Deleted after 90 days. If nobody can take it on, or you do not say yes, your contact details are deleted 90 days after your request.
- You decide, or you do not. There is nothing to cancel and nothing to pay us.
Nobody will call you about this request unless you say yes to a company by name.
Check the licence yourself
A licence number on a business card is not a licence. Look it up, confirm the name on the licence matches the name on the contract, and check the status is active today.
Be careful with the deposit
Ten to thirty per cent is normal, often to order material. Full payment before work starts is not, and in several states it is not even legal. Hold the final payment until you have walked the job.
Prefer somebody you could drive to
A local address, a landline, and jobs in the area from more than three years ago are all worth more than a five-star rating. Warranties are only as good as the company still trading when you need them.
Compare scope, not totals
A cheaper number for less roof is not a better price. Ask the lowest bidder which items on the other quotes they have left out, and why they think you do not need them.
Ask for current certificates of insurance
Insurance certificates expire. A certificate dated eight months ago tells you what was true eight months ago. Ask for one issued this month.
Get everything in writing, including the unknowns
Anything agreed verbally will be remembered differently on day two. In particular, pin down the decking rate, the start date and the clean-up before you sign.
In short
Do the boring checks. They are the entire difference between a roof that is somebody else's problem for ten years and one that is yours.
Related questions
How quickly will someone call?
Most requests are picked up the same day, often within an hour. Emergencies are prioritised. If you have not heard anything by the next morning, check voicemail — contractors usually call from a mobile.
What if the decking is rotten underneath?
Some of it usually is. The important thing is that the price per sheet is agreed in writing before the tear-off, so the conversation on day two is about quantity rather than rate.
What should I do to prepare?
Move the cars out, take pictures off the top-floor walls, cover anything stored in the attic, and put pets somewhere else for the loud days. Expect nails in the driveway however careful the crew is — ask whether they run a magnet at the end.