In 2016, there were several huge hailstorms in El Paso County. Homeowners all over the area had windows smashed and siding demolished, not to mention the damage that occurred to their roofs. Literally, within 1 hour of the storm, the door-to-door guys were out canvassing those areas. Current estimates are that only about 1/3 of the damaged roofs in El Paso County have been replaced, so be prepared for the door-to-door guys to start hitting your neighborhood again in April.
When your friends and family and neighbors are getting bombarded by the door-knockers, tell them to remember this little saying, “Not every roofer who knocks on your door will rip you off, but every roofer that will rip you off will knock on your door.”
Every county that requires a roofer to be licensed should issue a license with a number on it. The reason you should ask that is to make sure that the roofer who wants to be hired by you is, in fact, allowed to pull permits in your county.
Last fall, one of the local news stations caught up with a local “roofing contractor” and confronted him about his license. They had gotten a tip that he was working without a license, so they set him up. As he was climbing off a roof, they came out of the house and began to ask him questions. When they asked him about his license, he said he had one in his truck, but when he presented it to them, the camera zoomed in and the expiration date could be clearly seen. It had been expired for almost 2 years.
If a roofing contractor tells you that you need to pull the permit for your re-roof, or that no permit is needed, or you see that a different contractor’s name is on your permit, these are all “red-flags” that your contractor doesn’t have a license in your county and he shouldn’t be running a roofing contractor business here. Most of all, it indicates that you should never hire one of these scammers to do your roof. Buyer beware!
So ask for the contractor’s license number and check with Pikes Peak Regional Building Department at 719-327-2880 to see when it expires.