Why would you want someone with experience working on your roof? Well, think of it a lot like how you’d pick a doctor carefully. You should pick your roofer in the same way that you would pick your doctor. The reason behind this is that your roof shields you from the harshest weather conditions. If the weather gets inside the home, it will cause water damage and potential mold damage. Not to mention, it will shorten the lifespan of your roof, which can cost you an average of $11,500.
Why Experience Matters for Roofers
How much experience a roofer has will tell you how prepared they will be to repair your roof. You can learn a great deal about a company based on how long they have been in business. The companies that rip people off will rarely last 20 years in roofing because they’ll either change their name or leave the industry.
A company that proudly displays having 10 years or 20 years of experience in the roofing industry didn’t get that experience only to provide subpar services. These are the companies that care about their work. You don’t need to worry as much that the company won’t deliver on its promises because they have done this work for years.
When you have that amount of experience, you will most likely run a legitimate operation. You will have all the necessary licensing and insurance to protect the homeowner in the event of an accident.
Your Roof Doesn’t Become a Stage for Practice
No homeowner who pays over 10 thousand dollars for a new roof wants to be the first roof that the roofer completes. You have so much that can go wrong with that arrangement, such as them making costly mistakes. No one wants to be the first homeowner, but it’s also necessary or no one would ever learn anything. However, with the right amount of research, you don’t have to be the first one that they practice on. Just look for a company with enough experience to avoid it.
Let’s say that your roof suffered damage because of a hailstorm. You hire a roofer to come out and fix the roof, but you, unfortunately, hired an amateur. Doing this may cause several complications with your roof later down the road. It’s bad enough that your roof suffered damage, but in the hands of an amateur, they can do things that will exacerbate the issue.
In contrast, an experienced roofer will understand where to work and how to do it. There’s nothing wrong if an amateur works alongside someone experienced to learn, but when they do it themselves, it can cause serious problems for homeowners who hired them.
Experienced Roofers Make It Their Duty to Keep Learning
Anyone who has worked in their field for over a decade will make it their duty to keep learning in the profession. They may continue to take classes for the latest roofing techniques, or they might seek ways that they can improve. Someone who has been in the industry for a while will know what they’re doing. At least, generally speaking, they won’t be as prone to making mistakes as a new roofer would make.
Having the Right Documents
An experienced roofer will carry all the right documentation that you need to work on roofs. This might sound silly up until the roofer has an accident. Roofing is one of the most dangerous professions in the United States with 5,333 fatal accidents on the job in 2019 alone. That should show you that you must exercise caution with roofing, but it also highlights the need for a roofer to carry insurance.
If they get into a roofing accident on your home and they weren’t carrying insurance, that will put you on the hook for workers’ compensation out of pocket. Most people can’t afford that, but you often get this type of worker with less experienced roofers.
However, experienced or not, you should always ask for the following documents from a roofer to protect yourself:
- Licensing
- Insurance
- Certifications
- Warranty (get it in writing)
When you have the right documents, it gives you more security. An experienced roofer won’t waste time trying to mislead you because they have a legitimate business to run. You should even ask experienced roofers for their insurance coverage and their business license. This protects you knowing that they have it, and any legitimate operation won’t balk at this request. It’s just part of doing business.
Understands the Dangers of Roofing Better
Even the best roofers can have an accident, and how much more the risk goes up for newer roofers. The danger rises quite a bit for those who are inexperienced. You don’t want a roofer injured on your property. In some cases, it will even be a fatal accident. Experienced roofers will also tend to understand the dangers better, and they will show more concern for your property and for themselves and their workers. This is in everyone’s best interests that the roofers are careful.
Will Have Multiple References
Experienced roofers can give you multiple references that you can call, and you can check out their previous work to see how they did it in the past. They can make you aware of any issues that they might have had with that roofer. You may want to ask the roofer for a recent reference, but you will want to ask them for a reference that they had from several years ago to see how the roof holds up today.
When you make an investment in a roofer, you should make sure that you do your research in advance. If something seems off about a roofing company, try another one. There are plenty of companies out there, so it makes little sense to go with one that gives you bad vibes. In many cases, you were seeing those warning signs for a reason.
Having an Established Reputation
Experienced roofing companies will either have a good reputation or a bad reputation, but many of the ones with a bad reputation won’t last long. You can ask around to see what kind of roofers an experienced roofing company is to learn if they would be worth hiring. An experienced company can’t be around for 20 years without leaving some trace of their work, whether good or bad.
Take the time to learn online about who you plan to hire. This extra effort on your part will go a long way toward ensuring your satisfaction.
True Understanding of How Your Roof Works
As the saying goes, you have people who know things, and you have people who understand them. You should always aim for the latter because it gives you a stronger roofing system when your roofer understands it. Now, the inexperienced roofer may know the basics, but they will be slower when it comes to finding leaks in your roof.
Someone with firsthand experience can resolve a roofing problem much sooner. Let’s be honest: No one wants roofers up on their roof for weeks on end because of the extra racket and disruption they cause. You want them to resolve your roofing problems as quickly as possible so that you can get back to your busy lifestyle.
Expertise
Let’s say that you hired an experienced roofer to remove your roof. Once you take the roof off the home, it’s not uncommon for roofers to encounter further problems than the original diagnosis. The reason for this is that you can’t see what’s happening with the roof until you take it off. Experienced roofers will have more knowledge and understanding of how to address those problems.
Their experience in the roofing industry becomes their biggest asset. You can trust that they will know what the source of the problem is as well because of their experience. Experienced roofers have encountered a variety of issues with roofs and seeing these issues will help them to resolve things sooner. They will know about the best materials to use, the best approaches to fix the roof, and they will know the best practices to fix the problem so that it stays fixed.
Can an Amateur Do Good Work?
Absolutely, you have plenty of amateurs out there who will understand how to fix a roof properly, but their lack of experience will stop them in some regards. For example, they won’t do as well with diagnosing an issue with a roof. It will take them more time, and in some cases, it will take them a lot more time. You can also hire an experienced roofer and find that it wasn’t worth the money.
However, you will find that more often than not, an experienced roofer runs a legitimate business. This is because when you put that much time into running a business, you’re not going to let it fall by the wayside. You will take action that will give the best roofing services possible.
Knowing Quality Materials
Now, this will help with the longevity of your roof as well. An experienced roofer will have worked with many types of roofing materials over the years, and they will know the good materials from the bad ones. This means that they can make you a decent recommendation that will produce a lasting roof.
Keep in mind that the materials chosen will directly impact how long the roof lasts. Lower-quality materials will lead to a decrease in performance because the roof can’t resist the damage from the elements as easily.
More Cost Effective
Most roofers, and especially experienced roofers, will maintain close relationships with suppliers to help them get materials for you at a lower cost. Now, inexperienced roofers will often bid lower on a job in hopes of snagging more work. That may look like savings upfront, but you will often find that an experienced roofer’s work will stand the test of time better than an inexperienced roofer’s. They will also experience fewer problems over the long term.
Experienced contractors will understand how to find the source of a roofing problem sooner. They can catch a problem before it spirals out of control to cost you thousands of dollars. At the same time, they can offer you a professional opinion about how to handle it.
Warranties
With inexperienced roofers, you may get a warranty and you may not. However, experienced roofers should always give a warranty because they can stand behind their work confidently. Their warranty should include the cost of the materials and the labor. Most workmanship warranties will last a year or longer, depending on the roofing company.
What matters most isn’t the length on the warranty but how willing a roofer is to back the warranty and their ability to do it.
Accidents Happen Even to the Best
You want someone experienced because it reduces the risk of an accident, but even then, it can’t completely remove the risk. There’s a story about a roofer who had 22 years of experience in the industry when he fell through a roof and dropped 30 feet to the concrete below. These are the types of accidents that can prove difficult to stop even for experienced roofers, which is what makes it so dangerous. A moment of inattention can cause a serious accident. However, experienced roofers are more equipped to handle situations like this, and they usually give you better quality than what a newer company can give.
Conclusion
Hopefully, this shows you the benefits of going with an established roofing company over someone who just opened their doors for business yesterday. At RGB Construction, our team has amassed over 25 years of experience working in the roofing industry. We’re also a veteran-owned and operated business that works in Delaware. If you’d like to learn more, you can give us a call at 856-264-9093.
