Roofing Scams To Watch Out For

When choosing a roofing company, home improvement and construction experts recommend that you cover all your bases and consider your roofing requirements.

You need to know if your contractor is licensed, whether they have insurance, subcontract their work, how much experience they have, and what previous customers think of their work.

Picking any roofing contractor that comes along can only lead to bad things. Homeowners have been aggressively scammed and ripped off by roofers that they’ve blindly trusted.

If you think your roofing contractor is ripping you off, carry on reading as we detail the common signs of a roofing scam.

Bait And Switch

Bait and switch is a commonly used tactic that scamming roofing contractors utilize to trick homeowners into paying more for their roofing project than what they originally quoted. These roofers bait homeowners with lower than usual roofing rates. As the project gets underway, these roofers steadily increase the project’s cost, with homeowners paying above and beyond normal roofing rates.

It’s easy to spot these types of scams because their costs are usually significantly lower than every other roofing company. With enough research, you’d be able to determine the standard asking price for specific roofing work and thus not get caught in a bait and switch situation.

Storm Chasing

Storm chasers are fly-by-night roofers who conveniently land on your doorstep as soon as a storm has passed. They go door to door, pointing out roofing damages around the neighborhood, probably the biggest red flag of any scamming roofer.

Because they’re usually from out of town, it may be hard to find references for previous work they’ve done, and they most likely won’t have the necessary paperwork to complete a roofing job in your area.

They perform low-quality roofing work, and once they’ve completed the project, they disappear just as quickly as they arrived, so if there are any issues with your roof, chances are you won’t be able to find them again.

Large, Upfront Payments

If a contractor wants you to make large upfront payments on the first day of the roofing project, the chances are high that they will run off with your money. Unfortunately, many homeowners have suffered the fate of fraudulent roofing contractors running off with their money.

Professional roofing companies will never ask you for large payments upfront. For projects of this scale, the periodic payment method is usually followed. This ensures that the roofer continues to work according to the budget set out for the project and that both the homeowner and roofer are happy with the project’s progress.

For more information on the correct process of a roofing project, give Helsley Roofing Company a call today!