Choosing a roofing contractor can be one of the most critical decisions a homeowner can make. Water is your homes biggest enemy and your roofs primary job is to keep water out. Built and maintained correctly, your roof will protect your home and family from the elements for decades. Skimp on it and your risk damage not only to the roof and attic but everything down to the very foundation can be damaged from improperly installed or maintained roofs, costing you thousands of dollars in damage and potentially destroying your investment.
This is why it is important to choose the right roofing contractor. In this series, “Choosing a Roofing Contractor” we will present the information you need to make the right choice. Today we discuss size, small versus large roofing companies, pros and cons.
Small Roofing Companies
Pros:
Without overhead, smaller companies or “one-man band” type operations will generally be at the lower end of the cost scale
Able to handle variations to the project themselves where larger companies have a more systematic approach which makes all jobs as close to the same as possible.
Cons:
With smaller or one man operations, once they move on to another job, they have their hands full. When you do it all yourself, or with a very small crew it’s tough to be in 3 or 4 places at once. A lot of the time, if you are lucky to find the person or company, confrontations are necessary to get them to honor their agreement causing a dispute because the roofer is taking it personally.
A big portion of smaller roofers also sub-contract for larger companies. When their work slows down, many abandon their “companies” to work for these larger companies, if you need them back you may find it difficult as they have responsibilities to the other companies and that their “company” has shut down.
No one is checking their work. Even the best roofers can slack off or make mistakes. These can go unnoticed with some kind of quality control in place. The worst cases are when the homeowner see the mistakes and has to confront the roofer, which most people don’t want to do.
Large Roofing Contractors
Pros:
Most large roofers have quality control processes in place to ensure quality. Dedicated supervisors will inspect every aspect of the job and rectifies any problems before the job is completed. Having a process like this in place avoids the uncomfortable confrontations between clients and the company.
If you’ve ever used a single roofer or small operation you know how hard it can be to get hold of them! With an office staff, larger companies can handle after-sales services and any other request much better than the one-man operation with a cell phone.
These days customers will review their contractor on many of the various reviews sites on the internet. A larger company with a lot of customers tend to have a lot of reviews posted so that potential clients can see firsthand the experience their customers had. This motivates the larger roofing contractor to provide the best service to each and every customer to avoid very public disputes.
Cons:
With staff, physical location, and other overhead costs, larger operations are often more expensive than smaller roofers. Although the long terms costs arguably will be less in terms of service and aggravation.
Larger companies who do many jobs a week need to do these jobs with as little management as possible. Projects with a lot of customization and little extras and variations from the norm are often difficult for larger companies.
So, where is Atlanta Roofing Specialists in all this? We are the best of both worlds!
While we are a larger company and have the benefits, we are also family owned and operated and run like a small company. Our owners, Mark and Kevin work directly with many of our clients and are accessible to all.
Like the smaller companies, we have one crew assigned to any one project from start to finish and can handle most custom requests and variations to normal requests. Unlike smaller companies we also include a supervisor who inspects everything the crew does to assure the best possible job.
At Atlanta Roofing Specialists we give that small company attention with large company service and stability. Call us today to see why we win so many awards and so many customers recommend us to their friends and family.
Coming up: Choosing a Roofing Contractor: What do Roofing Awards really mean?