Siding Contractor Hiring Guidelines

The siding of your house is its skin, providing protection from water and weather. It also is a main factor in the appearance of the house and it will certainly affect its property value. This means you should take care in choosing which siding contractor to use when building or renovating your home.

Choosing a Contractor

Different siding contractors have varying abilities and experience, so you have to go beyond finding someone who puts you at ease with his confidence. Start by making sure that you fully understand the work you want done, and the quality you expect. Then take these steps to find the best contractor for your work:

• Ask building material suppliers for recommendations

• Ask two or three contractors to give you quotes on your list of specifications, including information about qualifications, insurance, and licensing

• Your choice should not necessarily be the lowest quote as it is also important that you feel comfortable with people who will be working around your home and family

• Before signing a contract, check with the Better Business Bureau for any negative reports

Written Agreement

Before any work begins, complete a written agreement signed by yourself and the contractor. Whether it is a one-page work order or a more complex contract, this agreement usually includes:    

• Complete details of work to be done, and materials to be installed

• Requirements for project completion, including milestones for payments

• Standards for condition of the job site and worker conduct

• Who is responsible for obtaining and paying for any permits or inspections

• Understandings about change orders that require cost adjustments

• Warranty information on work performed

If you follow these guidelines for hiring a siding contractor, you can expect to get the best job done at a fair price. For more information on siding contractors, check out GAM Home Improvement!

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The Roof over Your Head

So you’re building a new home for you and your family, and you’re weighing your options about what type of roof to get. Like most people, you don’t know a lot about roofing. Well, one option that more and more people are choosing is standing seam metal roofs. Yeah, the initial cost of a standing seam metal roof is higher than other kinds of roofs, but it more than pays for itself in the long run.

The biggest reason anyone should consider a standing seam metal roof is ease of ownership. Most roofs require maintenance. Believe me, you don’t want to be worrying about your roof every time it rains. Standing seam metal roofs relieve you of this problem. They’re made of sturdy aluminum and are extremely durable, and properly installed and treated roofs can last for 50 years or more with little-to-no maintenance. Traditional shingle roofs need serious maintenance every 10-20 years, and can spring a leak at any time. You won’t run into that problem with a metal roof.

Another advantage of standing seam metal roofs is that they make it very easy to utilize solar energy. To put up solar panels on most roofs, you are forced to put holes in the roof in order to attach the panels. With standing seam metal roofs, this isn’t necessary. You have the option of clipping traditional solar panels to the seams, or applying peel-and-stick photovoltaic cells directly to the metal surface. The convenience of solar energy is improving rapidly, and standing seam metal roofs make this clean energy source must easier to install.

And for those of you who are eco-friendly, standing seam metal roofs have another advantage, and it’s that because they are so long-lasting, you don’t have to use more resources to replace it. And aluminum is an environmentally friendly material too. Standing seam metal roofs can be painted a wide variety of colors, depending on what you are looking for, and roofs painted light or bright colors are very effective at reflecting the sun’s rays, which is especially important as we head into the hot summer months. Coupled with effective insulation, metal roofs can help keep your home cool. And because water runs off of metal so easily, you can use standing seam metal roofs for buildings with almost any roof angle.

One downside to this type of roof is that it is more expensive than other kinds of roofing, at least initially, and some people are uncomfortable putting that much money into roofing up front. But because you don’t have to pay to have it replaced or repaired, it ultimately is very cost effective in the long run. Another issue that you could run into is that metal roofs, when paired with little ceiling sound-proofing, can be very loud when it rains. But you also might enjoy the loud patter of rain on the roof.

There are a lot of choices out there as far as roofing goes. But if you are willing to spend a little more right now, no other roof will give you as much peace of mind as a Standing Seam Metal Roof.