How to Choose a Roofing Contractor

North Carolina Does Not License Roofing at This Scope

This surprises most homeowners, so it is worth saying plainly: North Carolina does not require a state contractor license for residential roofing at this scope. There is no license number to look up that separates a real roofing company from a truck and a ladder. That is not a loophole anybody is exploiting; it is simply how the rule is written, and every honest contractor in Onslow County works under the same one.

What it means for you is that the checks people assume the state is doing are checks you have to do yourself. The good news is that they are not hard, and a company that resents being asked has told you something useful.

Ask for the Insurance Certificate and Read It

Ask for a current certificate of insurance, issued to the company you are hiring, and look at the dates. General liability covers damage to your property. Workers compensation covers the crew on your roof. If someone is hurt up there and the company carrying them has no coverage, that can become your problem and your homeowners policy's problem. We are fully insured and will hand over a current certificate when you ask, before anyone climbs anything.

Manufacturer Standing Is Not a Marketing Badge

Shingle manufacturers recognize contractors who install to their specification, and that recognition is what keeps the material warranty intact on your roof. We are a GAF Certified contractor. That is the credential we actually hold, and we name that one rather than a higher tier we do not hold. If a company claims a manufacturer program, ask which one, and ask what the warranty on your roof would be as a result.

The Written Estimate Is the Whole Comparison

Three bids are only useful if they describe the same job. A written estimate you can actually compare should name:

• The square count, and how the roof was measured
• The exact shingle or panel product going on, by name
• Tear-off scope: how many layers are priced to come off
• The nailing pattern, and whether it is the high-wind pattern for this county
• Underlayment, drip edge, and starter course
• Flashing: chimneys, walls, valleys, and pipe boots
• Ventilation, meaning intake and exhaust together, not just a ridge vent on the invoice
• The decking policy, including the per sheet price if soft decking turns up
• Cleanup, including a magnet sweep of the yard and drive
• Warranty terms, both the manufacturer's and the contractor's own workmanship warranty

Two bids that do not list those things are not comparable, and the cheaper one is usually cheaper because something on that list is missing. Ask the low bidder which line they left out. The answer is more informative than the price.

Will They Still Answer the Phone in February

A workmanship warranty is worth exactly as much as the company standing behind it. After a named storm, crews arrive in Eastern North Carolina from several states away, work the season, and leave. If a flashing detail starts weeping eighteen months later, a local crew is a phone call and an out of state one is a dead number. Ask where the company is based, how long it has worked this county, and who answers when the storm season crowd has moved on.

Red Flags Worth Walking Away From

• A door knock the week after landfall from a company with out of state plates and no local office
• A promise that insurance will pay for your whole roof. Your carrier decides what is covered and what you owe; a contractor does not get a vote.
• Any offer to waive, absorb, cover, or discount your deductible. In North Carolina that is fraud, and it puts the homeowner on the hook alongside the contractor.
• A verbal number with no written scope behind it
• A large deposit demanded before any material has been ordered
• Pressure to sign today for a price that supposedly disappears tomorrow

What Reviews Are Actually Good For

Read the current Google reviews rather than a star rating printed in somebody's article, including ours. The useful ones are rarely the five star raves; they are the middling reviews, because they show you how a company behaved when something went wrong. A contractor who answered a complaint with specifics and a fix is telling you more than a wall of perfect scores.

What to Ask on the First Call

• Are you insured, and can I see a current certificate?
• What manufacturer program are you in, and what warranty does that put on my roof?
• Will the estimate list squares, product, nailing pattern, flashing, ventilation, and the decking price?
• Are you based here, and who do I call a year from now?
• Do you get on the roof for the inspection, or judge it from the ground?

We answer all five the same way every time, and the inspection that follows is free and does not obligate you to hire us. If the roof has life left, that is what the report will say.