How to Tell a Real Roofer From a Storm Chaser (North Texas Homeowner's Guide)

The fastest test: ask for the physical address of their office and the name of the person who will honor the workmanship warranty in year four. A local company answers both in one sentence. A storm chaser changes the subject to how fast they can start.

None of this is about out-of-town crews being bad people. It's about math. A company that follows storms has no reason to still exist when your workmanship problem shows up, so the warranty they're selling you has nothing behind it.

The eleven questions

1. What's your physical office address? Not a PO box, not "we're mobile." Ours is on Alma Drive in Plano and you can drive to it.
2. How long have you been working in Collin County specifically? Local history means local references you can actually go look at.
3. Who pulls the permit? Plano, Allen, Frisco, McKinney, Murphy, Wylie, Parker, and Richardson all require permits for replacement. A crew that skips the permit leaves you holding an unpermitted roof at resale.
4. Can I see your general liability and workers' comp certificates? If a subcontractor gets hurt on an uninsured crew, that can land on your homeowner policy.
5. Is your crew employed by you or subcontracted out? Either answer can be fine — a dodged answer isn't.
6. What's the workmanship warranty, in writing, and who honors it? Material warranties come from the manufacturer. Workmanship comes from the company, and it's only as real as the company.
7. What underlayment, what valley protection, and how much decking is included? This is where cheap bids hide. Ice-and-water membrane in the valleys or rolled felt? How many sheets of decking before change orders start?
8. What are you doing about ventilation? Replacing shingles over a badly ventilated attic in Texas just cooks the new roof. Anyone who doesn't mention it hasn't looked.
9. Will you be on the roof with my adjuster? Emailing photos is not the same as walking the slopes together. This is where claims get underpaid.
10. What do you need before work starts? Materials-stage payment is normal. A large cash deposit on the porch is not.
11. What happens if you find rotten decking? A real answer sounds like a per-sheet price agreed up front.

The deductible line — this one is the law

If anyone offers to "eat," "waive," "cover," or "work around" your insurance deductible, end the conversation. In Texas it is illegal for a contractor to pay or rebate your deductible on an insurance job, and a homeowner who goes along with it is exposed too. Offering it is also a straightforward admission that the quoted price was inflated to absorb it.

The honest version is simple: on an approved claim, you pay your deductible and your carrier pays the rest. Our roof insurance claim page says nothing more complicated than that.

Warning signs before anyone even talks price

• Out-of-state plates and magnetic door signs. Magnets come off.
• Pressure on the porch — "the price is only good today," "we're only in the neighborhood this week."
• An "authorization to inspect" form. Read it. It's frequently a contract assigning your claim to them.
• They found damage before going on the roof. Nobody can diagnose a roof from the driveway, including us.
• They won't leave a written report. If the damage is real, it photographs. Ask for the file.
• A bid far below everyone else's. On the same scope, that gap is coming out of underlayment, decking, or the ventilation you needed.
• No local reviews that mention your city. Reviews naming Plano, Allen, Frisco, or McKinney streets are hard to fake.

How to verify in ten minutes

1. Search the company name plus "Plano" or your city and see whether anything local comes back.
2. Check whether the address on the estimate is an office, a house, or a mailbox store.
3. Ask your city's permit office whether that company has pulled permits locally.
4. Call the shingle manufacturer and confirm any certification they claim.
5. Read our reviews and any competitor's the same way — look for city names, street names, and job specifics.

What a straight process looks like

Free inspection with photos and a written verdict either way. If there's no damage, we say so and leave. If there is, we document each slope, meet your adjuster up there, and handle supplements when the first scope comes back short. If insurance isn't in play, our numbers are published on the roof replacement cost page and financing is available.

Start with a free roof inspection, read what to do the day after a hailstorm, or just call (945) 298-3335 and ask us the eleven questions above.

Written by

Giovanni Esoto

SEO Specialist & Content Writer

Five years of SEO and content experience focused on useful, locally relevant homeowner guidance.

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Reviewed for roofing accuracy by

Curtis Dunn

Owner & Roofing Subject Matter Expert

Homebase Roofing reviews technical roofing details for accuracy and North Texas relevance. This content is not legal, engineering, or insurance advice.