How do I know if a roofer is being honest with me?
Watch for four things: pressure to sign today, an offer to cover or work around your deductible, a scope that exists only as a total rather than as a written list of what is being done, and an inspection that finds serious damage on a roof nobody was worried about an hour ago. Any one of them is worth pausing over. The offer to waive a deductible is a criminal offense in Texas, so it is more than a warning sign.
Urgency is the tell that costs the most
After a hailstorm, a lot of people knock a lot of doors, and the pitch usually includes a reason the decision has to be made now. The price is only good today. The crew is in the neighborhood this week. The filing window is closing.
Roofs do not work on that timetable. Insurance claims have deadlines measured in months or years, not in afternoons, and a roof that has held for a week will hold for another one while you get a second opinion.
The reason the urgency is there is that comparison is what kills a bad deal. Anything designed to prevent you comparing is designed against you.
The deductible offer
If a contractor offers to pay, waive, absorb or rebate your deductible, or to build it into the claim so you do not feel it, stop there. In Texas that is illegal for them and it puts you in the position of having filed on a false basis.
It is also self-defeating for the homeowner. The money has to come from somewhere, and it comes out of the roof: cheaper underlayment, fewer fasteners, skipped flashing, or line items billed and never installed.
A contractor willing to break that law in the first conversation has told you what their paperwork is worth.
Ask for the scope in writing, item by item
A total is not a scope. Ask what underlayment, how the valleys are being treated, whether the flashing and the pipe boots are being replaced or reused, what the per-sheet rate is for decking that turns out to be soft, and who hauls the debris.
Two estimates that look $2,000 apart are frequently the same money for different work once those lines are written down, and sometimes the cheaper one is cheaper because it reuses the flashing that is going to leak.
Anyone reluctant to put the scope in writing is asking you to buy something they will not describe.
Check the things that are checkable
Ask for a physical address, and look at whether it is a local one. Ask how long they have been working in this area. Ask whether they carry general liability and workers compensation, and ask for the certificates rather than for the assurance.
Look at the reviews, and specifically at whether they are recent, whether they name people, and whether any of them describe something going wrong and being fixed. A wall of five-star reviews with no detail in them tells you less than one detailed three-star.
Manufacturer certifications are checkable too. Owens Corning and IKO both publish their contractor directories, so a claimed certification can be confirmed in about a minute.
Photographs, or it did not happen
An inspection that produces conclusions but no pictures is not an inspection you can act on. Ask to see the damage. A roofer who has been on your roof should be able to show you what they found, where it is, and why it matters.
The corollary is that a good inspection sometimes ends with nothing. A roof that turns out to be fine is a legitimate result, and a contractor who never once reaches that conclusion is not inspecting roofs, they are selling them.
Related questions
Is it illegal for a roofer to cover my deductible in Texas?
Yes. Texas law makes it an offense for a contractor to pay, rebate or waive an insurance deductible on repairs funded by a claim, and prohibits advertising the offer.
Should I sign anything at the door?
No. Nothing about a roof requires a same-day signature, and any pressure to give one is a reason to slow down rather than to hurry.
What should a written estimate include?
The underlayment, the valley treatment, whether flashing and pipe boots are replaced or reused, the per-sheet rate for decking replacement, disposal, and who is responsible for the permit. A single total tells you none of that.
How do I check a manufacturer certification?
Both Owens Corning and IKO publish contractor directories on their own sites, so a claimed certification can be looked up directly rather than taken on trust.
