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 Bellflower contractors. Free either way.
You are on the list.
No provider in Bellflower 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.
Get everything in writing, including the unknowns
The contract should say the material and the layers, who pulls the permit, the per-sheet price for replacing bad decking, what happens to the old material, the payment schedule, and the workmanship warranty. The decking clause is the one people forget and the one that moves the price.
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.
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.
Check the licence yourself
Every state that licenses roofing contractors publishes a free lookup. It takes two minutes and tells you whether the licence is current, who holds it, and whether there are complaints against it. Do it even when somebody has already vouched for them.
Be careful with the deposit
Never pay in full up front, and never in cash without a receipt that names the company. Progress payments tied to milestones protect both sides.
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.
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
I rent. Can I use this?
You can submit it, but the owner has to authorise any work, so the useful move is to get the landlord to make the request or to give you permission in writing first. Contractors will not start work for a tenant.
Are gutters included in a re-roof?
Usually not, unless the quote says so. If they are near the end of their life, replacing them during the re-roof is meaningfully cheaper than doing it later, because the crew and the staging are already there.
How quickly will someone call?
Usually within the hour during working hours. If you marked the job as an emergency it goes to the front of the queue and is normally picked up faster than that.
Find out what it costs
Free, no obligation, and your details go to no company until you say yes.