A Checklist Of Things To Do Before Hiring A Roofer: Make An Informed Decision For Your Roofing Project

Search for roofers in your area and start with the ones who have actually been here a while. A local company knows Houston building codes, knows what the heat does to a roof, and can be found again if something goes wrong two years later.

• Minimum five years in businessTen or more is better in this market
• A Better Business Bureau listingEven if not accredited — the listing itself matters
• A physical address you can drive toNot a PO box and not a phone number that forwards

Key insight: if a roofing company is not listed with the Better Business Bureau at all, it may not be properly registered with the Texas Secretary of State. That is worth knowing before you hand over a deposit.

Texas does not license roofing contractors. There is no state register, no license number, and no official body that has vetted anyone. Any contractor implying otherwise is either mistaken or hoping you are. What you can and should verify is insurance.

• Certificate of InsuranceMust show both workers’ compensation and general liability
• Call the insurance agentVerify the policy is active. A certificate is a piece of paper; a phone call is proof
• Write checks to the companyNever to an individual. This is how homeowners lose money to people impersonating contractors
• Request a notarized Unconditional Waiver of LienBefore final payment. It protects you if the contractor fails to pay their own suppliers

Why the workers’ comp matters: if an uninsured worker is injured on your roof, that can become your liability. Hiring a registered company rather than an individual is the protection. This is general information, not legal advice.

Volume of reviews matters less than what they say. Look for reviews that describe an actual job — the problem, what was done, how it went — rather than a sentence of praise that could apply to anyone.

• Look for specific project detail“They fixed our pipe boot leak” tells you more than “great service”
• Read the critical onesHow a company answers a one-star review says more than fifty five-star ones
• Check more than one platformGoogle, BBB and the manufacturer’s own directory

Spotting fabricated reviews: a burst of reviews in a short period, consistent and unnatural phrasing across several reviews, no specific project details, and reviewer profiles with no other activity. If a testimonial on a company’s own website names a person and a city you cannot verify anywhere else, treat it as marketing copy.

Two quotes with the same total can be very different roofs. The only way to compare is line by line, which is exactly why some contractors give you a single number.

• Shingle brand and product line by nameNot “architectural shingles”
• Underlayment and leak barrier specifiedAnd where each is being installed
• Labor and materials broken outLabor is typically 50 to 60 percent of the bill
• A stated decking allowancePer sheet or per area, so a surprise is not a blank check. What a replacement costs
• Compliance with manufacturer specificationWhich is what keeps the warranty valid

A warning worth taking seriously: be careful of any contractor offering “second-hand” or manufacturer-rejected materials at a discount. Verify materials are factory-new. Rejected stock voids the manufacturer warranty entirely.

There are two kinds of roofing warranty and they are not equivalent. A manufacturer-backed warranty is honored by the manufacturer whether or not your contractor still exists. A contractor warranty is only as good as the company behind it — and close to half of construction businesses are gone within five years.

• GAF CertifiedBasic requirements met
• GAF Master EliteRoughly the top 2% of US contractors — rigorous verification, and required to register the strongest warranties
• Owens Corning PreferredEntry-level certification
• Owens Corning PlatinumHighest level, extensive verification

Always get warranty documentation in writing. Verbal promises have no legal weight, and the warranty tier should be named on the estimate before you sign. How the tiers compare

A portfolio on a website proves nothing about who did the work. Ask for addresses. And know what you are looking at — we documented twenty-one failures on one six-year-old Houston roof that looked perfectly fine from the street.

• Request addresses of homes with your shingle colorThen drive past and look
• Assess the work from the streetStraight courses, clean valleys, tidy flashing
• Speak to previous customersAsk what went wrong, not what went right — every job has something
• Verify they actually did the jobPhotographs are easy to borrow

Practical tip: seeing your chosen shingle color on a real house in real Houston light is worth more than any sample board. Colors look completely different on a roof plane than in your hand.

Everything agreed verbally should appear in the contract. If it is not written down, it does not exist — and that cuts both ways.

• Full scope of workIncluding tear-off, how many layers, and disposal
• Materials by name and quantityNot category descriptions
• Start and completion datesAnd what happens if weather delays them
• Payment schedule in writingIncluding exactly what is due before work begins
• Warranty terms and tierManufacturer and workmanship, stated separately
• Cancellation rightsTexas gives you three business days to cancel a contract signed at your home

On payment: we ask for nothing upfront — 50% when the crew arrives and starts work, 50% on completion. Be cautious with anyone wanting a large deposit before materials are on site, and never pay in full in advance.