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Looking for the Best Roofers in Denver?

When Evaluating Roofing Contractors, Ask Yourself:

Please click the “+” signs below for detailed explanations:

How many reviews do they have, and what do those reviews say?

Just about everyone has a handful of reviews. That’s OK if you’re buying light bulbs on Amazon. But if you’re about to spend a lot of money on your property, we think having just a handful of reviews should be a red flag. We have over 500 reviews.

How long have they been in this same business?

On the one hand, there’s no shame in being a relatively new company–we were in that position ourselves, almost 20 years ago! But where the problem comes in is when a company is relatively new for the wrong reasons: for example, because the owner shut down a previous company and now has opened up under a new name. It’s also possible that this “clean slate” approach is intended to hide problems with the previous company. Just be on your toes whenever you do not see a long, continuous history in a company.

Is their headquarters in Colorado?

This is maybe our bias, but we think it’s important to live where you conduct your business. It’s kind of like eating your own dog food: if you live and work locally, you have extra pressure to keep your reputation shiny. That’s not as much the case if a company does business in Colorado and, for example, has some expensive fancy headquarters in a Chicago high rise. Besides, guess who ends up paying for those fancy corporate offices?

Can you actually reach the owner if you need to?

It may never be necessary, but it’s nice to know that you are able to get a message directly to the company owner if you needed to. Most larger companies in any industry do not allow this type of contact. They have layers of customer support specialists, supervisors, and vice presidents to insulate the owner from actual customer contact. We think that’s no way to run a business, so we provide that direct contact if our customers ever judge it necessary to go that route (and THEY are the judge of that).

Do they advertise teaser prices?

Of course, keeping prices low is very important, and pricing power is a good reason to go with a company that can negotiate lower prices from suppliers. But we think it’s a red flag when companies lead with low-ball “introductory rates” or “Fourth of July Specials”, only to have customers find out the true, higher cost buried in some fine print.

Do they seem to promote one brand or solution much more than others, and talk up their “Platinum Retailer Award” status (or whatever it’s called)?

This is a balancing act. It’s good to work with a contractor who does lots of business with suppliers. For example, we do so much work that some of our suppliers will give us first dibs on supplies after a hailstorm or other disaster, when smaller contractors will receive no materials. So that’s the good side of tight relationships with suppliers.

The thing to watch out for is when the contractor seems more like a “one-trick pony” where it’s just the one supplier or one solution that’s showcased. You should feel within your rights to ask for multiple options. That way you can hear the pros and cons of each, and make up your own mind.

Do they push you for a quick decision?

Nobody should rush you. One of the companies people play in this industry is they’ll give you a “special discount” for deciding to go with their proposal during the same meeting when they first showed it to you. We think that’s pressuring customers. You should be able to think about the proposal, sleep on it, show it to people you trust, and maybe even get other proposals. Only then should you feel like it’s time to decide.

Do they ask that you go to City Hall and get the permits?

Big red flag! There are no good reasons for a contractor to ask you to do this–only bad reasons. For example, if the company is not licensed in your state, that would be discovered if it tried to get the permits. Another reason would be if the company had problems with licensing boards in the past. If a contractor ever asks you to do this, then quickly wrap up the conversation and back away.

Were they suggested to you by one of those “review sites”?

We love to come to work in the morning and see reviews from customers who are delighted with our craftsmanship. However, those are not the kind of reviews we’re talking about here. You know how a bunch of websites appear near the top of Google when you type in “vacuum cleaner reviews”, “term life insurance reviews”, or some other product? Tons of those sites are fake review sites where the owners get paid affiliate fees when you click on a link to a product or service. It’s not necessarily bad to be paid an affiliate fee, but what’s bad is to position yourself as an objective reviewer, when you’re not.

Therefore, do two things: First, look at the bottom of the site for a disclaimer that the Federal Trade Commission requires: if a site accepts affiliate fees, it’s required to tell you that. Second, look to see if all the reviews are positive, or if only one product or service seems to get all the stars and good comments. Those could be indications that you’re not really reading useful reviews.

Do they give you a firm price over the phone without looking at your property?

This should be a red flag, because your property and needs are not exactly the same as anyone else’s. It’s OK if someone gives you a ballpark sense that one type of siding generally costs 50% more than another type. But no professional will be able to tell you exact costs over the phone.

Do they have a system where you can log in and check anytime to see the current status of the work being done on your property?

Having your property renovated or restored is complicated enough. You should not have to chase people to find out the status of the work. You should be able to log onto a private website, where you can see, for example, that the replacement windows came in last Friday and the work is scheduled to be done on the following Tuesday, and it will take two days.

After all, these days when you order something from Amazon or wherever, you can find out exactly when the package will be delivered, and even where it is in transit at the moment. We have invested literally six figures over more than a decade to build and refine this type of system for our customers. They love it and we do, too, because it saves time and effort for them and us both.

Do they expect you to cobble together a bunch of contractors, or do they help you with that?

In talking with thousands of clients over the years, we find that one of the biggest pain points people have when thinking about renovating is: “How am I going to deal with all those contractors? I don’t know this business, or I’d do the work myself! What do I ask? When should I push back?”

You can take a lot of that burden off your shoulders by going with a company that will handle all the different contractors and trades involved. Of course, this won’t be an issue if you’re only having one type of work done, like siding only. But if it’s more complicated than that, it’s reasonable for you to expect someone to be that “point person” on your behalf.

Do they make you cobble together people within their own company to get your questions answered?

Don’t you hate it when you’re put on hold, only to have the recorded voice tell you “Your call is important to us”? If it’s so important, why aren’t you staffing up to take my call? We think a similar thing is true when working with an exterior contractor: if they in fact value your business, they should make it easy for you to work with them. That means having a single point of contact, and not being shuttled between Customer Service, Project Management, Sales, Service, and who knows who else.

Can they help you to visualize what your property will look like if you want to compare different trim or paint colors?

Those little paint chips or squares of paint color that you can get from the paint store are better than nothing. What’s much more helpful is to see a computer rendering of your property, so you can easily experiment with different colors and designs for the exterior. This type of system allows you to make decisions with a higher level of confidence.

Do they have experts to negotiate on your behalf with insurance companies?

We’ve saved one of the best points for last. Let’s say that your property was damaged in a hail storm and you were covered by insurance. The insurance “claims adjuster” comes to your property and assesses the damage. The adjuster then authorizes the insurance company to write you a check in order to cover the repairs. “Just sign here and we can get that check to you right away.” That’s cool that you’re getting a check pretty quickly, right?

NOT SO FAST. The job of the claims adjuster is to pay you as little as he or she can get away with. The less you get, the better it is for them.

But how can you argue with this person? He or she has all the facts, after all, and you’re not some insurance professional. Here’s the good bit: We have claims experts on our staff, and their job is to negotiate with the insurance person in order to get you the most money possible. In fact, the more money they negotiate for you, the more money they’re paid! Isn’t that the sort of person you want going to bat for you?

Get this: our claims expert does not cost you anything extra. Why? Because we value your business and figure that if we can get you more money from your insurance company, you might kinda like that. You might even tell your friends or neighbors about our service. We have a whole other page on our site where we go into more detail about this great service we offer.

If for example, you happen to be looking for the bestroofers in Denver, we hope you find this checklist useful as you do your review of remodeling contractors.

Please have a look around our site and let us know if you have any questions. We appreciate your reading this far, and hope that we might get the opportunity to discuss your needs and maybe even get to work with you.

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