What To Look For In A Good Roofer

Wherever you around Australia, having a roof over your head is a basic need. Whenever your roof gets damaged, or it is too old, or you need a new installation, it becomes a cause of worry. There is nothing as disappointing as living under a leaking roof, or a roof that you feel does not meet the status of the 21st century.

Your roof acts as ‘the first impression’ of your home. It is the element in your outdoor space that attracts people to the house you call home. A roof can go a long way in displaying your personality. If it is well-taken care of, it will give an impression that you are a person who pays attention to detail and loves neatness in your home. If your roof is dirty and shows no signs of regular maintenance, people might feel that you are careless.

You can, therefore, not ignore the services of a competent roofer. Whereas some roofing solutions are an easy DIY project, there are some that will need a professional to work on.

Traits Of A Great Roofer

When looking for a contractor for any roofing services, whether simple or complicated, it is always essential to go for the best. This will ensure that you not only get quality workmanship and products but will also guarantee successful completion of your project.

In Australia, roofs are regularly damaged due to the harsh weathers especially during the cold months of winter. Roofing services are therefore in high demand and there are a lot of roofers about. It is therefore prudent to choose one who is not only qualified, skilled, and experienced, but also displays the following personality traits.

Trustworthiness

This is a critical virtue for any service provider and a roofing expert is no exception. Hiring one means that their employees will be working in your compound, hence you should develop a sense of comfort when they are around. A good roofer will keep a reference list and will be more than ready to show it to you before you sign a contract with them.

If you want to develop trust with the roofer of your choice, you can ask them to provide you with their code of conduct. Reviewing this code will enable you to determine whether they have ethical guidelines for their  employees’ actions and behaviour while working on your property.

You can also check customer reviews online, and consider the experiences of other homeowners with your roofer.

Good Communication Skills

In any industry, you must be able to communicate. A good roofer is one who has invested heavily in training their employees on excellent communication skills. They know that miscommunication can lead to costly errors. Hence they do all it takes to eliminate all the noise in the communication process.

A good roofer has excellent interpersonal skills. Once you call for service or queries, you do not get rude responses. All their employees are highly friendly and outgoing. When working in your compound, they do not show the ‘everyone for himself’ attitude. Besides concentrating on their work, they proved to be worthy companions and they can ask about your roofing, and suggest better ways you can improve  it in future. They can also talk with you about other issues affecting humanity whenever they take a break. Besides, life has never been that serious.

When you need an annoying roofing problem solved, you need a person who will lend you their ears. A good roofer is, therefore, a good listener. He will listen to all your issues keenly, understand them, and use their knowledge and skills to offer a ready solution.

Patience

We cannot run away from the fact that some roofing jobs are highly complicated, and require numerous assessments and decisions to be made. A good roofer is therefore patient and does not rush to give solutions. They take their time to look at the issue at hand, come up with an array of innovative ways to solve it and explain the whole process to you as the homeowner without getting tired.

Reliability

Most roofing problems are unexpected and can cause costly damages if they are not solved as soon as possible. Whenever you face an issue with your roofing, you need a roofer who you can always count on. You need one who you will call the service and will not tell you, “We can’t make it today.” You need someone who will respond fast and save you from the menace. Reliability is, therefore, key in the making of a good roofer.

A good roofer knows the intensity of the problem at hand. They know how long it will take for the project to complete, thus should offer you with a timetable from the onset. Since they are working on your premises, a top roofer understands the inconveniences that come in handy, hence will avoid all the unnecessary delays and you can rely on them to complete the project on time.

Respect

Great roofers realise that respect to the client  is what keeps them in business, and it is a contributing factor to gaining a tremendous reputation that builds their client-base for many years. They will, therefore, treat you with the respect you deserve from the first day you visit to enquire about the services you need, to the last day when they complete your project.

A good roofer will respect your home and your privacy and will keep your problem a secret unless they have your consent to use you as their reference in future. They will also show some respect to your property, and most importantly, your loved ones.

When a project is complete, a mess is left in the working area. A good roofer will not leave this mess unattended to. They will use their modern equipment to clean it, and you can be sure they will leave your home better than they found it.

Detail-oriented

A good roofer pays attention to every detail, for them to devise the best ways to deal with your problem. They will make sure all the following questions are answered correctly;

• How early will the project start?
• What materials will we need?
• What roof style are we going to construct?
• What skill do we need?
• How long do we need to stay on this project?
• How will this project affect the livelihood of our client?
• Do we need to work on weekends?
• How will we give our client value for money?

If you have any queries about the job, a good roofer will be able to give you all the details.

Economic Credibility

Yes, a good roofer is one who is economically credible. If one asks you to pay the full or partial amount before even the project commences, know that they are out in the market to make profits and not offer the services they are called to serve. This might also mean that the company is in bad economic shape, and might close down before a service is offered. A good roofer will always give you a free quote, and will never ask you for a down payment until the project is complete, and you are completely satisfied with it.

Flexibility

For a good roofer, flexibility is a virtue. They should be able to work on and off the working hours without complaints. If you call for a service during the weekends, a good roofer should be able to deliver. What if your roof starts leaking in the middle of the night, would the problem wait? Well, a good roofer offers emergency services 24 hours a day, and seven days a week.

The roofer should also offer flexibility in design. If you call them for a new roof installation, but you later realise that the initial design is not as good as the other one you saw in the neighbourhood, they should be able to change their plans and develop new ones that conform to your needs and preferences.

Well Presented

The appearance of a roofer for the first time displays their personality, which can affect the outcome of the whole project. A good roofer cares about the first impression that their clients will develop about them. How do they appear in your compound? Are they clean and neat? Is their fleet well maintained or do they come with noisy old machinery? Do they have badges on, and do they display their license number?

A good roofer doesn’t have to appear in a 3-piece suit and a tie, but being neat gives you an impression that you are not working with just any other roofer, but you are dealing with one who is highly professional, and one who pays attention to detail.

Skills Of A Good Roofer

Comfort And Balance With Heights

Roofers work in all types of roofs, and a problem comes when a problem occurs in the 40th floor of a skyscraper where your Australian business office is based. Not all roofers will be willing to take up the challenge; only good ones will. A good roofer is not height phobic. They can work at any height comfortably and have invested in all the equipment that will help them achieve this.

Basic Carpentry Skills

A good roofer goes an extra mile and trains all the technicians on necessary carpentry skills. If you have a problem with your roof, a good roofer will not ask you to hire a carpenter since some woodwork will be required. They know it all. They have the right hand and power tools to help them achieve their goals.

Sense Of Caution

In roofing, an array of accidents can happen, and most of them can be fatal. Can you imagine tripping and falling from the 20th floor of a building, would you survive? Well, good roofers have developed a sense of caution through years of experience and training. They have all the necessary equipment to help them achieve this.

Basic Maths Skills

Good roofers can do some mathematics. They can accurately calculate measurements, and determine the size and type of materials needed to complete the project.