When you are looking for roofers in Jacksonville there are standards that should be met. You need to check the length of time the company has been in the roofing business, check that the company is licensed and fully insured, contact the local Better Business Bureau to see if there are any outstanding issues and check references. These are basic entry level standards but remember the answers that you get from asking these questions do not necessarily mean you are going to get a quality company.
It’s not as if they hold no importance, everything does. Years in business in particular are important. With the average new business lasting four years, when you hear of a business with many years in the business you know they are mature and carry little risk.
On average, a homeowner may be faced with having a new roof installed once in his lifetime. It certainly is not something where you get wise by experience, so it may be appreciated if you can get a great tip to make it easier to find the best roofers in Jacksonville.
It’s the price:
A time honored homeowner’s maxim is “the low-ball bid usually ends up being the highest cost”. Rarely does the best roofing company have the lowest bid unless there has been an estimating error or something similar.
There are reasons why there are cheap proposals. Perhaps the company is the new kid on the block and they are getting experience from making mistakes on your roof; maybe they are using inferior materials, perhaps they neglect to repair things that you can’t see. Many small start-up companies cannot afford to pay for skilled labor, they hire day laborers who say they can roof; tomorrow the same guys say they are plumbers. A trick many use is to get half way through the job only to say they need more money or they can’t finish. All of these things allow the novice to quote low, but you can rest assured the quality will not be there.
The general way to assess bids is discount both the highest and the lowest, there is invariably something wrong with both of them. The rest of the bids will be rather close. Qualified roofers in Jacksonville know they must be competitive to remain in business; but, they will not tolerate doing inferior work as it is their hard fought for reputation in the community that is at stake. Training, business permits, insurance premiums, safety equipment, bonding all take money and it is difficult if not impossible to put a price on the head of valued employees with years of roofing experience.
In most things, and roofing is one of them, you get what you pay for. Just bear this in mind, “the best roof is one you do not know is there.”
