Guide to Hiring a Tennessee Roofing Contractor

The average life of your roof, unless it's a very specialty material, is going to be about fifteen years. If you're approaching the age of fifteen for your roofing, it may be time to start considering a new roof and to begin looking for a Chattanooga roofing contractor to install it for you. It isn't likely that you're going to get much more than twenty years from your plain asphalt roofing no matter where you live. If your roofing is older than this, chances are good that you should simply plan to replace the roofing this year.

A Chattanooga roofing company will be best equipped to install your new roof and to make sure that you get a quality material and installation. Befor your select your roofing company, it's always best to check them out thoroughly. The first step will be to get recommendations on roofers from your family and friends. Getting a few ideas from them will save you time on the beginning portion of the search for a new roofing contractor. Most of your friends and family have had to replace a roof at one time or another. Find out who they used, how happy they were and if the price was reasonable. Even if you don't have a lot of friends who have used a given roofing company, get a quote from several. The quote should be very detailed, telling you precisely what they offer you, the work that will be done, exactly what the cost will be and the precise or at least a close approximation for the time frame. You need to know when the job is going to be completed.

Make sure that all of the job is included in the price that you are quoted. In most cases, roofers will clean up after themselves, but in some cases that won't be included in your pricing. If you don't want to be cleaning up the mess that is left behind by your Tennessee roofing company, check it out and add that to your overall price quote.

Next you need to make sure that you're getting all that you want in the roofing company themselves. The Tennessee roofing company that you hire needs to have a few things going for them before you even consider their services.

Things that you should look for include:

• Longevity in the business. You should be sure that they have a least a few years in the roofing business.

• Check out their license as a contractor. In many areas, you cannot hire a contractor who does not have a local business license. In fact, it's probably better if you don't because chances are good they aren't legal to work in this area.

•  Ask them if they have a physical address. If they don't at least have an office in a local home, they are probably not a company that you want to use because you have no real recourse if they don't do what they say that they will.

• Make sure that they have insurance as a contractor. If they don't, this is not a company that you can afford to use. If something is broken or someone is injured, they aren't going to be able to make that right.

• Check your local building codes to make sure that your company is adhering to all of them. You're liable if they don't.

• Get a permit to do what you want done. You can't always depend on the company to do so; keep track of the permits yourself.

NEVER allow yourself to be rushed into hiring a roofing contractor. Make sure that the local company that you hire is legal, is ethical and is well checked out before they start your roofing job.