Have you ever sat through a roofing estimate and walked away thinking, “I don’t know if that's real advice or just a sales pitch”? Are you worried that your roofer is more focused on selling premium upgrades than actually fixing what’s wrong with your roof?
The truth is, not all roofing companies approach your project with your best interests in mind. Some salespeople focus more on closing the deal than actually diagnosing your roof’s problems or offering honest recommendations.
At RoofSmart, we prioritize educating our customers about the issues on their roofs and giving them options to choose from to fix them. Each year, we walk hundreds of customers through the proposal that we customized to fit their roof’s needs. Our priority is to solve ALL of your roof problems and give you a top-quality roof that lasts for a long time.
In this article, we’ll break down the most common red flags that suggest a roofer might be upselling you or cutting corners. You’ll learn how to spot when a contractor really cares about quality and how to protect yourself from proposals that are vague, pushy, or misaligned with what your roof actually needs.
What are some red flags that show if my roofer doesn’t really care about my roof?
When you’re interviewing different roofing companies while deciding who to hire to help you with your roofing project, you can tell a lot about a company based on the estimator’s behavior and responses.
There's a tendency to want to defer to the expert, but you only want to do that if you can trust them. So before you trust somebody with your hard-earned money, these are things to evaluate:
1. Is one roofing estimator minimizing problems that others want to fix?
Not all roofing companies offer the same services or have the skills to do everything that you might want done on your roof. As a result, their estimators might try to minimize problems that other estimators have pointed out to try to still win your business.
If you have mold in your attic, that is definitely a big issue and should be fixed while your roof is being worked on. But not all roofers want to deal with the extra steps to remove mold from the attic, so they’ll tell you that it’s not a big deal.
Another major issue that gets minimized is attic ventilation. Most roofers completely ignore attic ventilation issues and will not fix them. But if your attic ventilation isn’t working properly, it can damage your roof. So, if your estimator tells you that you don’t need to worry about it (or never even brings it up), that’s a major red flag.
2. Is the scope of work clear and easy to understand in your roof proposal?
When your roofer gives you the proposal for your roof work, it should be crystal clear exactly what steps they’re taking on your roof and how much they’re charging for everything.
You should be able to see prices listed out line by line for labor and materials so that you can do the math yourself and come up with the same total as them.
Here are some guidelines for what makes a bad proposal:
- There is a lump sum total with little to no description of the scope of work
- The descriptions are vague or hard to understand
- There is nothing about your specific roof issues
If your estimator is vague when describing what needs to be done on your roof, then that’s a red flag. If they can’t give you a better explanation when you ask follow-up questions, then you should probably drop them from your list.
You want a proposal that’s clear, and also addresses the issues that your roof is facing. Beware of generic, one-size-fits-all roof proposals that could apply to anybody’s roof. If your roof has mold in the attic, needs new gutters, or has some other issue, it should be addressed clearly in the proposal.
Make sure that your proposal is always in writing.
3. Did your roofing estimator immediately start selling to you without even looking at your roof?
If your estimator immediately jumps into their sales pitch when they get to your door without even looking around at your roof, then that’s a red flag. They're just trying to sell you a product without really understanding what your roof needs.
If they don’t even look around before trying to sell you a product, they’ve made it very clear that their top priority is making a sale. They are not invested in the quality of your roof.
A trustworthy roofer will:
- Inspect your roof
- Update you on any issues they found
- Talk to you about your concerns and roofing preferences.
After they’ve looked around and heard from you, they’ll be able to make accurate suggestions regarding your roofing needs.
4. Is your roofing estimator insistent that you only use materials from one brand?
A lot of roofing companies collaborate with one particular shingle manufacturer (like Owens Corning, GAF, or CertainTeed) and only sell their stuff. All of these manufacturers make quality products, so there’s nothing wrong with committing to one.
However, if your estimator shows up and insists that you have to buy from a certain brand because they’re the best, but doesn’t really explain why, then that’s a red flag. They should be able to back up their claim with evidence.
Don’t hesitate to ask why the estimator thinks this. Have them explain to you why that particular brand is so great in Seattle weather and why it’s a good choice for your roof specifically. You can even ask how that brand compares to others.
A lot of shingles from different brands are pretty similar, so this is a good test to see if your roofer is knowledgeable about key differences or is willing to be honest about their similarities.
5. Does your roofing estimator focus most of their time on one small detail that doesn’t matter?
Some salespeople focus on a certain product or material that doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme of your roof. What this can really show is that they don’t have anything to say about the skill or expertise of their company.
For example, if the salesperson from your roofing company spends all of their time overhyping the importance of a certain brand of synthetic underlayment, then it might be because they have nothing else to say.
When it comes to synthetic underlayment, the brand choice isn’t really impactful to the homeowner, as all meet the same ASTM standards.
Regular synthetic underlayment is usually made of woven polypropylene. Some are more slip-resistant on a steep slope, and some are more tear-resistant on a steep slope. None of that matters to the consumer because it’s going to protect your roof either way. These differences only matter to the installer.
When do different grades of underlayment matter on my roof?
Sometimes, instead of the standard synthetic underlayment, your roof needs superior protection with ice and water shield (which is a type of underlayment that provides increased protection from water intrusion).
That's where the difference in underlayment type can actually matter, but I don't hear anybody talking about it. I only ever hear customers saying that other salespeople only talked about synthetic underlayment brands, which really has no cost difference to the consumer.
And in my experience, most roofers don't even know the difference between the grades of ice and water shield. They will choose the cheaper one because it will save them money. And so in that regard, they act like a consumer.
How Do You Know If a Roofer Is Actually Worth Hiring?
Now that you know the red flags to watch for (like vague proposals, pushy sales tactics, or skipping important roof issues), it’s easier to see when a roofing company is more focused on closing a deal than protecting your home.
But spotting bad behavior is only half the battle. The next step is making sure you’re asking the right questions to find a roofer who’s qualified, transparent, and truly invested in the quality of your roof.
If you want to feel confident before signing a contract, arm yourself with the exact questions that reveal a roofer’s true priorities by reading our article “How to Disqualify a Roofer”.
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