Being a homeowner and living in the mountains in Colorado is awesome. That is until you need some work done on your house or roof. Then it can become kind of a problem. Here are my top 3 tips for finding independent contractors that will come to your house and work on the project that you need to be done.
Whether that's a roofing contractor, painter, electrician, plumber, or any other type of service provider, getting contractors to your home doesn't have to be painful. Finding roofing businesses in Colorado, especially in remote areas, can be easy if you follow the tips below:
Google is your friend for finding contractors. But here's the real deal behind the tip: don't be limited to looking for contractors in your town if you live in or around a tiny town in a remote location.
Independent roofing contractors or a roofing business from much further away will often service smaller remote areas and come to your home and do the work. It's really hard to remember every single community that you're servicing. For example, if you live in a tiny town in Colorado such as Fairplay, and you're searching for roofing companies who will serve your region, it's unlikely that they'll add Fairplay, Colorado to their website or Google My Business listing. If you're a homeowner, and all you search for is roof repairs, contractors, or roofers in your own little town, you may be missing out on a roofing contractor who would come and do the project for you.
What should you do instead? I'd recommend that in addition to searching the industry in your little town, broaden your search. If you have some large metropolitan areas within 2-3 hours from you, search also in those areas for roofing contractors and general contractors alike.
Don't limit yourself to contractors or professionals in your little town.
Expect to pay to have someone come out and inspect the property and give you a quote. If you're looking for a contractor, whether it's a roofer, painter, electrician, plumber, or any other type of expert, and you discover their site, you'll typically find that they provide free inspections or estimates (or both). However, if they're several hours away, that becomes an incredibly big investment for any contractor, so don't expect all professionals to extend you the same offer.
The reality for a roofer, or any other contractor, is that 4-5 hours could be better spent in his/her local market. A contractor might be able to do 2, 3, 4, or more inspections/estimates for other homeowners in that same amount of time.
Do you want to get good contractors to come out and work on your property? Or just a contractor who has more than enough time on their hands?
After you've gone through and you've done your virtual vetting, meaning you've read the reviews and you've read testimonials. Once you know a roofing contractor checks out, volunteer a fee for them to come out and give an estimate.
Contractors love nothing more than your understanding of their time and resource commitment.
Say, "I'm willing to pay you to come up here and give me an inspection and give me an estimate. I don't expect you to do that for free."
Anticipate that if you hire a roofer or contractor to do the job, the cost of that work will be higher because supplies in a remote area are more expensive to obtain.
If your contractor is buying materials locally to repair your roof, it will be more expensive than what he can get in his local market. Expect that the actual cost to do the work is going to be higher than if you lived in the metro area where the contractor is coming from.
If you have a roofing contractor or roofers who are driving 2-3 hours to get to your house to work on your roof–and maybe he has to do that over multiple days, be patient with him. Not only patient from the standpoint of his arrival times, but also just patient in the fact that the logistics of trying to do work in a remote area are a lot different than the logistics of trying to do the same contract work in his local market.
Roof materials may be harder to find in a remote area. Or what if your roofing contractor is halfway through the job and discovers something unexpected? Just to give an example, if it's a roofing job, it's not uncommon to find out only after all the roofing material is torn off, that there is wood decking underneath the shingles that needs to be replaced. In a small remote town, you may not be able to find those same roofing materials anywhere near the job site.
It may require a 4-5 hour round trip back to the metro area, to get the materials to bring those back up to the job site. If you lose 4-5 during a project, then you've just extended your project most likely by another day. There are a ton of little details on any given project, whether it's roofing, painting, electrical, repairs, or any number of services that may need to be performed.
When working in a remote area, a homeowner will have to factor in some cushion, both in the timeline and the general expectation of how the project should go.
We are Homestead Roofing Colorado. We're professionals with services like roofing, roof inspection, and roof repair.
Our website has a wealth of information, and if you live in a remote area (or if you don't), and you have questions, you have needs, or anything at all, feel free to contact us!
Remember, if you've hired the right roofer, or otherwise a contractor that you trust, they're going to try to do the best job he can to serve you in the best way possible. So remember: Search. Pay. Patience.