After a big hailstorm, crews arrive from out of state, knock every door on the street, sell as many roofs as they can, and leave. One of our own customers wrote that they were visited by at least fifty roofing companies.
The fastest way to sort them is to ask where the company was before the storm and where it will be after. Below are seven questions that get you there.
What is a storm chaser?
A crew that follows weather. Plenty of them are licensed and some of the work is fine. The business model is volume, in a short window, in a place they have no history in.
The risk is not the day the roof goes on. It is the day two winters later when a valley leaks and the number on the paperwork is disconnected.
The seven questions to ask
- What is your local address, and how long have you been at it? A physical address you can drive to beats a PO box or a phone number.
- Can I see a job you did here more than three years ago? Chasers cannot answer this in your town, because they were not in your town three years ago.
- Are you licensed, bonded and insured, and can I see the certificates? Ask for the documents, not the assurance.
- Who is on the roof, your crew or a subcontractor you met last week? Either can be fine. You want to know which, and who is responsible if something goes wrong.
- What does your workmanship warranty cover, and who honours it? A manufacturer warranty covers the material. Workmanship is the company, so it is only worth what the company’s presence is worth.
- Will you put the full scope in writing before starting? Layers, flashing, decking price per sheet, cleanup. Vagueness up front becomes a change order later.
- What happens if the adjuster and you disagree? A good answer describes a documentation process. A bad one is a promise to make it go away.
What about the paperwork they hand you at the door?
Read it before you sign it, on the doorstep, while they wait.
Some of those forms are not estimates. Some are contingency agreements that assign your insurance claim to the contractor. Others commit you to using them if the claim is approved.
People sign them believing they have agreed to an inspection.
If you feel rushed, that is the signal. A roof is not an impulse purchase, and no straight crew needs a signature in the next four minutes.
Are the red flags always obvious?
No, and the good chasers are polished. A few things do repeat.
- Pressure about a deadline that belongs to them and not to you.
- An offer to cover or absorb your deductible, which is a problem for you as well as for them.
- A price that expires if you do not sign today.
- No local address anywhere on the paperwork.
- A truck with no branding, or plates from a state that does not border this one.
The most reliable test is question two. Ask to see local work with some years on it.
Why this hits the northwest suburbs hard
We get a lot of hail here. The housing is dense enough that one storm creates hundreds of claims in a few square miles. That concentration is what a travelling crew looks for.
Barrington, Lake Zurich, Palatine, Wauconda and Crystal Lake have all had that week where every street has a door knocker on it. The crews are gone by autumn, and the calls about a leaking valley start the winter after.
None of that means you should only use the first local company you find. It means the questions above are worth asking, of us as much as anyone.
What to do if a storm just hit
- Write down the storm date before anything else.
- Get an inspection from somebody with a local address.
- Do not sign at the door. Take the paperwork inside and read it.
- Ask your neighbours who they used and how it went a year later.
- Check the reviews for names. Reviews that name the crew are harder to manufacture than a star rating.
Who we are, for the record
We work out of this area, our name is on the trucks, and we were here before the storm. You can read what our customers say on our reviews page, including the one about the fifty companies. Our about page says who we are.
If a storm has hit your roof, here is how our storm damage roof repair work goes. It goes from the first inspection through the claim to the finished roof.
Call or text (224) 518-0278. The inspection is free and you get the photos either way.
