You want to buy a property with a roof that can protect you for decades. Before buying a home, ask your sellers the following questions to have insight about the roof's condition, possible issues it could have in the future, and finding leverages for negotiating their high asking price.
How Old is the Roof?
Older roofs sustain roof damage more frequently than younger roofs. New roof systems use modern designs suitable for the changing climate. Furthermore, they have fresh materials that can endure impacts and heavy rains than aged materials. That said, ask your roofer for any receipt and warranty documentation that establishes the roof's age. You can hire a roofing contractor to tell the remaining lifespan of your roof, too.
What Roof System Does It Have?
Contemporary roof systems use groundbreaking design suitable for the current climate cycle the world has. Most old roofs were made for climates in the last three or four decades. Your roofing inspector can determine the roof system you have and its features. For instance, they may discover you have an algae-resistant roof system with a 50-year guarantee.
Here are 44 more roofing questions you can ask the seller and your roofing contractor to learn more about your roof, according to Classic Metal Roofs.
Here are 13 general questions that need to be asked of a roofing contractor:
How long have you been in business?
How local is your business?
Who owns your business, and for how long have they owned it?
What jobs do you have that I can go see?
Who, exactly, will be installing my roof? Are they employees or sub-contractors? Can I visit a project they are working on right now and see them in action?
What training and experience does the crew have? Have they been trained by the manufacturer of my roofing?
What past customers can I talk to?
When would you be able to schedule my job?
How long will my project take?
Do you have proper licensing and certification? Insurance? Workers’ Comp? Please show me proof of these things.
Is a building permit required for my project, and if so, will you be pulling one?
What steps do you take for the safety of your workers?
What steps do you take to ensure the safety of my home and my family?
Here are 20 more questions to ask about your specific roofing project:
How will you access my roof?
How will you remove any materials that are torn off of my roof? Will you have a dumpster on the site? Will you have a porta-potty on the site?
How will you protect my home’s gutters?
How quickly can you react, and what will you do in the event of inclement weather?
Will you provide me written warranties both for your workmanship and the product you will be installing? When?
Will you be using fasteners approved by the manufacturer of my roofing material? Can you provide evidence of that? How do you ensure that the proper number of fasteners are used and that they are located correctly?
How will you protect my driveway and the rest of my property from damage?
What is the cost of plywood replacement if you find any that needs to be replaced?
Who will be my contact during the project, and how readily accessible will they be?
Please provide me with specifications and instructions for the proper installation of my roof.
Who, besides the installers, will be overseeing my roof installation for quality?
Will you install all-new flashings, or are there any old ones that you will re-use?
Are there any areas of the roof that you plan to just seal rather than flash?
Please explain how pipe penetrations will be handled.
How is payment handled?
What things might cause a deviation from the contracted price?
How will you be checking the condition of the decking on my roof? Will you perform fastener pull-out resistance tests?
Why do you think my old roof needs to be replaced? Is there evidence of things like inadequate ventilation which I should address?
Please inspect my attic and help me evaluate whether now is the time to increase the ventilation in my attic. Please also help me understand if there is any evidence of leaks in my attic or high moisture levels and how to address those.
Be sure to ask whether any tax credits or utility rebates will be available on your new roof.
Final Questions After Your Evaluation of the Roof
To put together your final set of questions, you need to spend some time understanding and evaluating your roof. Walk around your home a few times and use binoculars if necessary to get a good look at your roof. Use online satellite imagery to look for unusual areas on your roof. If you have any upper-story windows that look out over lower roof sections, use those to your advantage as well.
Keep a keen eye out for areas on your roof where debris collects, where extreme wear has occurred, and where a lot of mildew or other biological growth is present. Those things can indicate areas where perhaps something different should be done when your home is re-roofed.
Look for any “dead valley” areas where water will collect and not easily drain from your roof. Know whether your chimney has a cricket behind it, and if your home has skylights, know how old they are. (Continue reading here to learn more)
Count on Roper Roofing & Solar to provide top-notch roof installations and repairs for your property. We're a GAF Master Elite roofing company certified to install roofs with long-term warranties. We're certified to install GAF Timberline Solar Shingles, too. Call us today to get started.
