Southern Home Services

What to ask when you call

Every roofer in this directory is a real company with a working number. What separates a good call from a wasted one is the questions you bring. Ask for the state contractor license number and the Specialty Roofing, under the general contractor license classification. Ask whether the crew doing the work is on staff or subcontracted. Ask who pulls the permit and who handles the city inspection.

North Carolina has no standalone roofing license. A contractor needs a state general contractor license, which can carry a Specialty Roofing classification, once a project reaches 40,000 dollars in labor and materials. Below that the state does not require one, so a roofer doing smaller jobs can be working entirely within the law without a license number. Look up a license before you hire.

Then ask for the quote in writing with the roof area in squares, the material by product name, a price per sheet for any bad plywood, and the labor warranty in months. A company that gives you all of that on the first call has done this a lot.

Before you sign anything

Be careful with a large deposit up front. Money paid before any material reaches the property is the hardest to get back if the job stalls. If a bid comes in far under the others, find out what got left out of the scope rather than assuming you found a deal.

Our guide to reading a roofing estimate walks through the lines that belong on every quote.