The Bay Area rainy season brings uninsured, uncertified and inexperienced roofers to neighborhoods, seeking roofing work from unsuspecting homeowners whose roofs suffered wind or rain damage or experienced leakage.
Belmont, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 01/23/2014 -- Signature Roofing, a residential roofing company serving San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, warns local homeowners to carefully check a roofer’s background and reputation before agreeing to roof repair or replacement. The warning comes with the rainy season, which attracts roofers who collect insurance checks and perform poor roofing jobs, leaving homeowners without recourse should the work be sub-par.
Storm chasers are roofing companies that trail severe weather around the country, installing new roofs or repairing roof damage caused by severe weather such as excessive wind, rain or both. These non-local roofers take homeowners' insurance claim checks as payment for roofing services and rush through as many roofing jobs as possible before moving on to the neighborhood or state.
"Bay Area residents rarely deal with severe weather, and they are even less prepared for the storm chasers that follow heavy wind and rain. These companies send sales people door-to-door, blanket the area with signs, and sometimes even advertise as insurance recovery experts or restoration specialists," explains George Belden, Signature Roofing owner.
Just because the company is local and recognizable doesn’t mean homeowners are really dealing with that company. Out of state roofing companies establish local phone numbers and office addresses to use in their signs and marketing. Since the area code is local, unsuspecting homeowners believe it is a local company. Homeowners should ask roofers if they do business in different states and verify the information with a driver’s license. Also check with the local Better Business Bureau.
Some local roofing companies perpetuate the problem by leasing their names to out-of-state roofers so they legitimately appear as Santa Clara or San Mateo-based roofers. They leave when the work is done and the local company is responsible for the warranty. Most local roofing contractors cannot keep up with the sheer amount of the repairs needed to fix errors for free under the warranty. They can bankrupt quickly, leaving customers without a warranty and with thousands of dollar in roof repair on what was to be a new roof.