Eight Questions to Ask Any Roofer Before You Sign — A Gilbert Homeowner's Checklist

If you’re getting roof estimates in Gilbert, you’re going to meet several contractors. They’ll sound different. Their prices will be different, sometimes by a lot. Their confidence will be different. It’s hard to tell from a living-room conversation who actually knows what they’re doing.

Here are eight questions that separate contractors who run a real operation from contractors who run a pitch. Ask all eight. A good roofer will have real answers. A bad one will bluff.

1. “What contractor details can I verify before work begins?”

A legitimate contractor should be able to give you the details you need to verify the business before work begins. Ask where to verify current standing, how long the business has operated, and whether the record matches what you were told during the estimate.

2. “Can I see your certificate of insurance?”

Specifically, general liability and workers’ compensation. If a crew member gets hurt on your property and the contractor doesn’t carry workers’ comp, you can be on the hook. Any real contractor carries both and can produce certificates within a business day.

3. “Who actually walks my roof and writes the estimate?”

There’s a meaningful difference between a contractor where the estimator writes the scope and a contractor where the salespersonwrites the scope. A salesperson is incentivized to close. An estimator is incentivized to get the scope right so the project doesn’t blow up later. Ask who’s coming out and how they’re compensated.

4. “What underlayment are you specifying, and why?”

This is the single most revealing question on a Gilbert tile roof. A contractor who quotes you 30-pound felt for a reinstall in 2026 is either cheap, uninformed, or both. A contractor who quotes you a synthetic high-temperature underlayment — and can explain why it matters in Gilbert’s climate — is probably going to do the rest of the job right too.

5. “What’s your written scope going to include?”

A real written estimate specifies: the material (brand, line, color, profile), the underlayment, the fasteners, the flashing details, the ventilation plan, the scope of tear-off, the deck inspection and repair allowance, the timeline, and the warranty terms. If the “estimate” you get is a number on a letterhead with no specifics, you don’t have an estimate. You have a bid.

6. “Will you pull the permit, or am I pulling it?”

The Town of Gilbert requires a building permit for full reroofs and most structural repairs. Any legitimate contractor pulls the permit on your behalf. A contractor who asks youto pull the permit is trying to avoid being on the record with the Town as the permitted contractor — which is a red flag.

7. “How do you document the finished work?”

A good roofer photographs the deck, the underlayment installation, the flashing details, and the finished roof. They give you the photo file at closeout. This matters for three reasons: it’s evidence the work was done correctly, it’s what you’ll want if you file an insurance claim later, and it’s what you’ll need when you sell the house.

8. “What does your workmanship warranty cover, and how do I make a claim?”

Manufacturer warranties cover material defects. Workmanship warranties cover installation defects. You want both, in writing. Ask specifically: who’s on the hook if a flashing detail fails in year three? What’s the process? How long does a claim response take? A contractor who can’t articulate clearly how their warranty works probably doesn’t honor it cleanly either.

A bonus: the ones that don’t matter as much as you think

Two questions homeowners ask a lot that actually tell you less than these eight:

• “How long have you been in business?” A relevant question, but a 30-year-old roofing company with three bad estimators isn’t better than a five-year-old roofing company with one great one. Combine this with question 3.
• “How many reviews do you have?” Reviews matter. But recentreviews that mention specific neighborhoods and specific roof types are much stronger signal than “1,200 five-star reviews” when half of them are from three years ago and from places that aren’t Gilbert. Our recent Gilbert reviews are here if you want the example.

What we think you’ll notice

If you ask these eight questions of every contractor you bring out, you’ll notice something pretty quickly: the answers separate cleanly into “specific, detailed, written” on one side and “vague, deflective, verbal” on the other. You want the first one. Every time.

When you’re ready to get a real estimate, request one here. We’ll answer all eight questions before you even ask them.