Guide
The questions that separate the quotes
Every contractor will answer these. The differences between the answers are where the useful information is.
Get it looked at
Three questions, and up to three Mission Viejo contractors. Free either way.
You are on the list.
No provider in Mission Viejo is taking requests through this service yet. We are lining them up, and yours is kept until one can.
- Nobody gets your details yet. Your request stays with us and is not passed to any company.
- One email when someone can help. When a provider covering your area can take it on, we email you once and ask whether you want that company, by name, to contact you.
- Deleted after 90 days. If nobody can take it on, or you do not say yes, your contact details are deleted 90 days after your request.
- You decide, or you do not. There is nothing to cancel and nothing to pay us.
Nobody will call you about this request unless you say yes to a company by name.
"What does your workmanship warranty cover, and for how long?"
Ask for it in writing, in the company name, with a term. Five to ten years is common; the term matters less than whether they will still be trading.
"Can I see a job you finished five years ago?"
Recent work shows tidiness. Older work shows competence. Ask for the older one.
"Who is actually doing the work?"
Employees, or subcontractors? Both are fine, but subcontracted crews change who carries the workers compensation cover and who stands behind the workmanship warranty.
"What happens if the decking is rotten?"
The right answer is a specific price per sheet, written into the contract before work starts. A vague answer here is how a fixed price stops being fixed on day two.
"What underlayment, and how are the valleys done?"
This is the question that reveals whether you are comparing the same roof. Underlayment, ice-and-water placement, drip edge and valley treatment are where quotes quietly diverge.
"What is your licence number, and who holds it?"
Then look it up. You are checking that the licence is current and that the name on it matches the name on the contract you are being asked to sign.
In short
Six questions, three contractors, one afternoon. It is the cheapest insurance available on a job this size.
Related questions
I rent. Can I use this?
You can submit it, but the owner has to authorise any work, so the useful move is to get the landlord to make the request or to give you permission in writing first. Contractors will not start work for a tenant.
Should I take the cheapest quote?
Not automatically. Put the quotes side by side on layers, not on totals — underlayment, ice-and-water, drip edge, valley treatment, ventilation, decking allowance, warranty. Cheap usually means less of those, not the same roof for less money.
Do I have to hire anyone?
Not at all. Plenty of people use this to find out what a job costs and then do nothing for a year. That is a perfectly reasonable outcome.
Find out what it costs
Free, no obligation, and your details go to no company until you say yes.