Guide
What to ask before you sign anything
Ask all three contractors the same list. Comparing the answers is far more revealing than comparing the totals.
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Three questions, and up to three Rancho Santa Margarita contractors. Free either way.
You are on the list.
No provider in Rancho Santa Margarita is taking requests through this service yet. We are lining them up, and yours is kept until one can.
- Nobody gets your details yet. Your request stays with us and is not passed to any company.
- One email when someone can help. When a provider covering your area can take it on, we email you once and ask whether you want that company, by name, to contact you.
- Deleted after 90 days. If nobody can take it on, or you do not say yes, your contact details are deleted 90 days after your request.
- You decide, or you do not. There is nothing to cancel and nothing to pay us.
Nobody will call you about this request unless you say yes to a company by name.
"Who is actually doing the work?"
Employees, or subcontractors? Both are fine, but subcontracted crews change who carries the workers compensation cover and who stands behind the workmanship warranty.
"What happens if the decking is rotten?"
The right answer is a specific price per sheet, written into the contract before work starts. A vague answer here is how a fixed price stops being fixed on day two.
"What does your workmanship warranty cover, and for how long?"
Material warranties come from the manufacturer and are conditional on correct installation. The workmanship warranty is the contractor's own promise, and it is worth exactly as much as the company behind it.
"Can I see a job you finished five years ago?"
Recent work shows tidiness. Older work shows competence. Ask for the older one.
"What is your licence number, and who holds it?"
Then look it up. You are checking that the licence is current and that the name on it matches the name on the contract you are being asked to sign.
"What underlayment, and how are the valleys done?"
This is the question that reveals whether you are comparing the same roof. Underlayment, ice-and-water placement, drip edge and valley treatment are where quotes quietly diverge.
In short
Six questions, three contractors, one afternoon. It is the cheapest insurance available on a job this size.
Related questions
How quickly will someone call?
Usually within the hour during working hours. If you marked the job as an emergency it goes to the front of the queue and is normally picked up faster than that.
Why three quotes and not one?
One quote is a number with no context. Three gives you a range, and the conversation about why they differ is where you learn what you are actually buying.
Do you handle commercial buildings?
We do. It is a different set of contractors — commercial and low-slope work is a separate trade from residential re-roofing — so answering the property question accurately matters.
Start with a free estimate
Free, no obligation, and your details go to no company until you say yes.