The Roofing Industry is Broken

Alright, this is going to be a long one.  This piece is primarily for homeowners.

Why is roofing broken?

Who wants to spend money replacing a roof?  No one.  It falls into the category of dreaded home repairs: things like HVAC, plumbing, you name it.  These are the types of things homeowners need to pay with by dipping into savings, pulling a HELOC, or financing the project.  There are some exceptions with exteriors home remodeling, even with roofing.  For wealthy homeowners in luxury homes, upgrading from an asphalt to a slate or standing seam metal roof can be both an investment and a beautification to the home.  For the rest of us, it kind of just sucks to replace your roof.  It's going to probably look the same, and cost tens of thousands of dollars.

So – you how do you know if you need a roof?  You may have been in your home for 10 years, and bought a 10 year old home at the time of purchase.  This puts your roof at 20 years.  Maybe you have a few missing asphalt shingles, but no leaks.  You see guys replacing roofs around your neighborhood, but you don't really know any of your neighbors.  So you just start googling.  How much does a roof cost?  What material is my roof?  How do I even know if I need to replace my roof?  Should I wait for my roof to leak to replace it?

I want to give some general advice here, but this is a big decision.  You want to arm yourself with as much information prior to beginning conversations with roofing contractors.  It is unbelievably difficult to find a roofing company with a fair price.  Here's a few rules of thumb:

• Here are some red flags:
  • If a roofer is knocking on your door, and is pushy about setting an appointment, don't.
    • Good roofing companies typically do not rely on canvassers to set appointments.  
    • They have a track record of inbound demand through online sources, referrals from insurance companies, and top notch online tools like RoofHero.  
    • There are some exceptions here, where maybe you have a new company that is trying to drum up business and it's been started by industry pros.
  • If a roofer has been in business for less than 3 years, you are taking on more risk than you need to.
    • Roofing is over saturated with contractors.  I'll explain more on this below.  
    • Just hire the company with tons of good Google reviews that has been in business for 10+ years.
  • If a roofer shows up to your house in a nice sports car and not a truck with a ladder, send them home.
    • You have a salesman at your house whose sole job is to sell – not find a solution for your home.  More on this below.
  • If a roofer tries to get you to sign the same day, don't.
    • This is a classic timeshare salesman technique.  
    • They start with a giant number, then haggle their way down on price (sometimes as much as a 50% same day discount).  
    • More on this below.
• Here are some green flags:
  • You have a company owner or representative showing up in a uniformed polo, driving a roofing truck, without a hard sales pitch.
  • They are able to perform a detailed estimate on site, or within a day or two for complicated projects.
  • They do not push you to sign the same day.
  • They are polite, professional, and competent about material questions and options.
  • If it makes sense, they inspect the roof for storm insurance damage and are able to work with your insurance company directly to reach a suitable claim according to your homeowner's insurance policy.
  • They may have a drone for inspection (this is becoming more common).
  • They have a centralized app where they're able to prepare and send estimates, review policies, etc.  (Something like Leap).  I used to work with the Founder of this company – more on this below
  • Use a free roof pricing tool like RoofHero to estimate the cost of your home.  You can either see a price from a pre-vetted contractor, or a national average price if RoofHero isn't already partnered with someone in your zip code.  In cases where we aren't partnered, we show a national average price specific to your material, and the actual square footage of your roof.
  • The roofer is willing to do a free inspection, and offer a repair or replacement estimate.
  • Above all else, they bring a calming and reassuring professional presence.  Don't feel like you have to work with someone incompetent or untrustworthy when it comes to your roof.  It's too critical of a component of your home.

I wanted to front load this article with all of the guidelines up front.  If you want to understand my reasoning and perspective, here it is.

Why are there sales rep in the roofing industry?

This is a tough one.  Roofing companies are like any other company – they need sales to survive.  And uniquely, there is no recurring revenue in roofing.  Their lifeblood is new business.  “Sales” as a profession is not inherently bad, but it often gets a bad wrap because folks are trained incorrectly, or they place self interest above finding the right solution for the customer.

Here's a few things to consider. 

• Good sales rep do exist.  But in roofing – they wear polos, not shirts and ties.  And they drive trucks, not sports cars.
• Good sales reps don't pressure homeowners into buying.  They know if their price is competitive, and if they work for a good company with solid lead sources, sales becomes a numbers game.  Even if they work on pure commission – if they are doing the right thing by the homeowner, the sales will come in.
• Bad sales reps are everywhere, in every industry.  They try scammy techniques like “calling their manager”, or fear mongering you in to buying that same day.

Ultimately, as a roofing company scales, they need sales reps.  And they need good, honest reps that actually know how to navigate a roof and provide the best solution.  Roofing companies that focus on training product expertise versus same-day closing sales tactics are the ones you want to hire.  My final thought on this section is that if you can find an owner-operated roofing company, this is sometimes the best deal.  Often the owner was either a sales rep or production manager at a previous company and decided to go the entrepreneurial route.  This is the route I took before getting into software and building RoofHero, and our interactions with our customers were awesome.

Before I was an owner-operator of a roofing company, I first worked at a same-day sales company (I didn't know any better at the time, as a 22 year old hungry to make some money).  I did well, but the sales process ultimately didn't sit well with my moral conscience.  I went to work for a competitor that fits the green flags listed above for 6 months after that, and learned an immeasurable amount.  I enjoyed working there, driving a truck, not feeling pressured by owners to make same-day closes, and being lead to delivering pleasant customer experiences above all else.  I built my business on the blueprint they taught me.

How can I find a good roofing company?

In the old days, folks would use referrals or the Yellow Pages.  Today, we have Google.  Google is a great tool, but here's some things to be cognizant of:

• Google makes its money from ads (about 95% of its money, actually).  
  • Because of this, the first ~4 listings you see are going to be businesses paying to get your valuable click onto their website.
  • To identify this, look for the little “sponsored” text next to their website listing.  They are usually at the very top and very bottom of the page that's rendered after you do an initial Google search.
  • Good companies do advertise all the time (including RoofHero), but it's something to be aware of.
• Most roofing companies are not able to give an instant price online.
  • Typically, they showcase past work, service areas, and pictures of their team.  All green flags.
  • However, they don't have software (usually) to instantly price your roof online.  Some do, using tools like Roofle or Roofr.
• Referrals are great, but they shouldn't be the final measure.
  • Your neighbor be under the impression that their roof replacement project went fine, but:
    • They may have been overcharged.
    • They may have been pressured into a sale or pressured into referring you to get a cash payment for a referral.
    • They probably have no idea if the project was done correctly.
• The absolute best litmus test for quality is the age of the roofing business.
  • It shows they are financially stable.
  • And most importantly: it shows they've been around to either service their warranty calls, or install projects that last (probably both).
• To keep the guesswork out of it, I would recommend using the free tool on RoofHero to see if we have a pre-vetted contractor.  
  • You'll get an instant price to make sure it's in your budget.
  • In most cases, the contractor can work with the insurance company if you have storm damage.
  • In most cases, the contractor can offer financing as well.
  • Worst case, we aren't partnered with a contractor in your zone and it's a free price protection tool you can have in hand as you meet with other companies.
• If you don't feel like using RoofHero, I would recommend doing the following:
  • Google top roofing companies
  • Skip the paid advertisements, look for the “Google Guaranteed” (usually at the top of the page).
  • Use the online pricing tool they may have embedded in their website.
  • Schedule in-person estimates with 3 or 4 roofing companies with excellent onlines reputations.
  • Make sure they check all of the “green flags” listed above.
  • Invest with the one you feel is most trustworthy and fairly priced.
  • Don't always hire the cheapest guy.  Sometimes this is a hidden red flag.

Where does RoofHero fit in?

So you read that I worked in roofing for 2 companies, then started my own.  I worked in roofing for a total of 5 years, and then decided to go to graduate school for computer science to learn how to build roofhero.com (seriously, it was in my cover letter!).  It's been a lot of work, and our team has built something we think is truly special.  I was inspired by my colleague Steve Stencil, who founded Leap.  Leap basically brought the digital age to roofing.  When I first started (in 2016), most companies were still doing paper contracts.  There wasn't an app built to put together an estimate.  So, it's been a long journey of learning computer science the right way, but we now have a product I'm proud to call our own and has served many homeowners and trustworthy roofing contractors.

Why RoofHero exist?  Here are the most important reasons:

• The roofing industry has no centralized trusted brand.  I'm building RoofHero to be the single source for homeowners to find the best contractor in their zip code with the highest quality and fairest price.
• Most roofing companies cannot provide an instant price.  The first thing I started with when building this site was the machine learning model that can look at an aerial image of your home, detect the roof's surface area, and map it to real pricing from a contractor in your zip code. 
• Finally, even good roofing companies have websites that suck.  
  • Website users often equate brand quality to how good their website is.  
  • While this isn't always the best proxy, I knew in building a central source for homeowners to find a roofer with an intuitive user experience and actually valuable content (the price of the roof replacement), that it would build trust and help homeowners find the right roofers for them.

Final Thoughts

The modern economy is about reducing friction in the buying process and building trust. The roofing industry is lagging behind, and my hope is that RoofHero can provide you with the absolute best roof buying process – by delivering instant and valuable information, trust, and transparency.  If you have questions or comments, please email me at [email protected] – I'll respond within a day.  If you're a homeowner and want to give RoofHero a try, click here.  If you're a roofing contractor reading this and you fit our “green flags” listed above, apply here.  

About RoofHero | RoofHero is your go-to platform for instant roof estimates and seamless roofing services. RoofHero connects you with vetted roofing professionals and provides AI-driven pricing that save you time and money. Our services include custom roof estimates tailored to your needs and access to roofing contractors with transparent pricing. Trust RoofHero for a smooth and stress-free roofing experience.

Get your free, instant estimate with RoofHero today for your next roofing project!