Getting new siding for your home is an exciting experience. It gives you an opportunity to choose a new material, change your home’s aesthetic appearance, and sometimes save money with better weather protection and energy efficiency.
But, siding depends on its installation. If your sliding is improperly installed, it can lead to significant losses and even damage to your home. Choosing the right siding contractor for your siding project is, therefore, critical.
Choosing the right contractor is not as easy as it seems. While the cost of installation is important, you need to go beyond that when choosing siding contractors.
A non-reputable or inexperienced siding contractor can leave your home unprotected from external elements. It is, therefore, important to evaluate carefully whom you select as your siding contractor as you would do when choosing any other professional.
Besides reviewing the company’s online reviews and consulting friends and family, here are a few other ways you can determine whether the siding contractor you’re about to choose is the best fit for you.
What Should You Look for in a Siding Professional?
There are two crucial things to look out for when selecting the right siding contractor. This includes their qualifications and their daily work processes. To that end, we’ve compiled some top questions you need to ask when choosing a siding professional.
1. What Are Your Company’s Full Details?
Knowing the full name and address of the company you’re about to work with is crucial. Even if you know their P.O. Box, it is still important to ask for their full street address. Having a physical address does not only increase their likelihood of being legitimate, but it also guarantees better response times and customer service.
2. Do You Have Insurance?
Reputable siding contractors such as Rocky Mountain Exteriors carry the right insurance coverage and in the proper amounts. You should avoid sliding contractors without proper insurance.
Siding contractors should at least carry general liability insurance and worker’s compensation insurance. The two policies will ensure that homeowners are protected in the event of property damage during installation.
In case you hire an uninsured contractor or the one who does not carry the right insurance, your homeowner’s policy will be liable for the medical bills if a worker gets injured on work.
Be sure to ask for proof of proper insurance coverage and review it so you can stay informed.
3. How Long Have You Been in Business?
While everyone has to start somewhere, we bet you’ll not want your home to be a case study for a new siding contractor. Ideally, it’s good to hire a contractor that has been in business for some years.
This way, you’ll be sure that the contractor you’re dealing with has the skills required to run a successful business. What’s more, the warranty you’re offered by your contractor is only valuable if the contractor remains in business.
4. Are You Licensed
It is also important to find out whether the contractor is licensed by the state. While not all states require contractors to be licensed, chances are something written was needed for them to legally offer siding services.
Review both the local and state laws to determine whether the contractor is in compliance. Remember having a business license does not mean that a person is a licensed contractor and so ask for both proofs from the contractor.
5. Do You Have a Workmanship Warranty?
Generally, there are two warranties. The manufacturer’s warranty and the workmanship warranty.
The manufacturer’s warranty covers material manufacturing defects. The workmanship warranty, on the other hand, is provided by the contractor and covers installation-related issues.
Ideally, a contractor must be willing to back up their work with a warranty. Apart from the size of the warranty period, look at the intent as well as the contractor’s ability to fulfill the warranty terms.
6. Can You Provide Referrals
The same way you wouldn’t want to hire an employee without references, you should not hire a siding contractor without checking the same. During the interview, ask the contractors to provide at least five names and phone numbers of previous clients they’ve worked for.
This way, you have a chance to see how they do their work before you commit. We would advise you to stay away from a company that is unwilling to provide referrals.
7. How Do You Handle Customer Complaints?
No company that has been running for a long time exists without experiencing a dispute. The problem is not the dispute but how the company handled the dispute.
If the company resolved the dispute amicably, it’s a sign that the company does its best in handling customer concerns. You should think twice if the matter went to court or if a company had their license suspended due to a dispute.
