Verify Local Roof Jobs: Homeowner's 5-Mile, 2-Year Checklist

To verify a roofer's recent local work, ask for 3 to 5 completed roofs finished in the last two years within about 5 miles of your address, then check three things on each one: the roof itself from the street or driveway, a phone call to the actual homeowner, and the permit or final inspection record with the local building department. A roofer who does regular work in your area should be able to produce this list in a few minutes, because they track their own jobs. One who stalls, gets vague about addresses, or offers only out-of-area photos is telling you something important before you ever sign a contract.

Roofing is a trade where local conditions matter more than most people realize. Pitch, wind exposure, snow load, and even the typical underlayment spec used by inspectors in your county can vary from one town to the next. A crew that installs mostly low-slope ranch roofs across town may not have current experience on the steep-slope Cape or Colonial roofs common in your neighborhood. Local, recent proof answers the question that reviews cannot: does this crew currently do the kind of work your roof needs, in your climate, under your permit jurisdiction.

Why 5 miles and 24 months is the right window for a roof

Two years is short enough that you're looking at the current crew, current material suppliers, and current workmanship standards, not a highlight reel from a company that has since changed ownership or lost its lead foreman. Roofing crews turn over. A five-star job from four years ago tells you almost nothing about the tear-off and underlayment practices being used on your street today.

Five miles keeps the comparison honest for climate and code. Wind exposure category, typical hail history, and the local building department's inspection habits don't change much within that radius, but they can change meaningfully across a county line. A contractor who installs thirty roofs a year across three counties but can't name a handful within five miles of you either doesn't work your area often, or isn't tracking outcomes closely enough to answer the question when asked.

What to ask for before you look at a single shingle

Before you drive anywhere, ask the contractor for a written scope of work on one or two of those recent local jobs. A contractor who runs a tight operation will have this on hand. You're looking for:

• Total squares installed, and whether that number matches the roof's visible size
• Roof pitch, confirmed with a pitch gauge or noted from the estimate
• Tear-off scope, meaning how many layers were removed and whether any decking was replaced
• Underlayment type used, and whether ice and water shield was called out at eaves, valleys, and penetrations
• Ridge, hip, and valley linear footage, which drives both material cost and labor time

If a contractor's estimate lists a lump sum with no squares, no pitch, and no waste factor, that's a document written for speed, not accuracy. Most legitimate roofing estimates today are built from a measuring wheel walk-through, a drone flyover, or a satellite measurement report pasted directly into the proposal. Ask which method they used on the job you're checking. If they can't say, ask them to walk your roof with a pitch gauge before quoting yours.

The drive-by inspection: what you can actually judge from the street

You don't need to climb a ladder to learn something. From the ground or driveway, with permission, look for:

• Straight, consistent shingle or metal panel lines along the ridge and eaves
• Clean valley work with no exposed nail heads or visible underlayment gaps
• Flashing around chimneys, skylights, and pipe boots that looks tight and properly step-flashed, not caulked over as a shortcut
• Gutter lines free of granule buildup that would suggest premature shingle wear
• No visible sagging between rafters, which can point to decking that should have been replaced during tear-off but wasn't

None of this replaces a real inspection, but a roof that looks sloppy from the curb after two years usually was installed sloppily to begin with. Ask the contractor if they'll walk the property with you if the current homeowner allows it. A contractor confident in their work usually says yes without hesitation.

Calling the homeowner: the questions that actually matter

When you call, skip "were you happy with them." Ask specific, hard-to-fake questions instead:

• Did the crew show up on the day scheduled, and how long did tear-off and install actually take compared to what was quoted
• Was there a decking replacement contingency in the contract, and did it come up during tear-off
• Did the price change once the old roof came off, and if so, why
• Was the job an insurance-driven reroof or a retail job paid out of pocket, and did the scope match what the adjuster or the contract described
• Did they get a copy of the manufacturer's wind warranty registration, or just a verbal promise

A homeowner who can answer these in detail, even a version with minor complaints, is more convincing than one who just says everything was great. Real jobs have small hiccups. A crew that manages them well without excuses or cost surprises is the crew you want.

Permit and inspection verification

Reroofing in most jurisdictions requires a permit, and a final inspection closes it out. Ask the contractor for the permit number on one of the local jobs and check it against your local building department's public permit lookup, if one exists, or call the office directly. A closed, passed permit tells you the work was inspected by a third party who has no financial stake in the outcome. A contractor who avoids permits, or tells you permits "aren't really needed for a reroof," is either cutting corners or hasn't done enough local work to know your jurisdiction's actual requirements. Neither is a good sign.

Red flags specific to roofing that generic reviews won't catch

Storm season brings out door-knocking crews offering to "inspect your roof for free" right after a hail event. Some are legitimate local contractors picking up storm work. Others are storm chasers who show up after major weather, sign as many contracts as possible, then leave the area once the insurance claims dry up. Ask specifically whether the contractor has a permanent local address and whether they'll still be reachable a year from now for warranty callbacks. If they can't answer that clearly, that's the red flag no star rating will show you.

Watch for vague tear-off pricing. Pitch-driven labor means a steep-slope crew day rate is real and justified, but it should be itemized, not buried. A contract that doesn't separate tear-off labor, dumpster cost, and decking replacement contingency from material cost makes it hard to know what you're actually paying for if the crew finds rotten decking mid-job.

Material branch availability matters more than most homeowners expect. If a contractor quotes a specific laminate shingle or standing seam metal color and the local supply branch is out of stock, a legitimate contractor tells you up front and offers a comparable option. One who substitutes materials without telling you, especially swapping to a lower wind-rated product without discussion, is cutting into the manufacturer's wind warranty terms without your knowledge.

Materials and warranty verification

Ask to see the manufacturer's wind warranty documentation tied to one of the local jobs, not just a brochure. Manufacturer wind warranties typically require specific installation methods, including nailing patterns and underlayment specs, and NRCA guidance generally reinforces these installation standards regardless of manufacturer. If a contractor can produce a warranty registration number for a nearby job, that's strong evidence the install followed spec closely enough to qualify. If they shrug and say "we always do it right, don't worry about the paperwork," push back. Paperwork is the whole point.

Putting the checklist together

Here is the short version to bring to any first conversation with a roofer:

• Request 3 to 5 completed roofs within 5 miles, finished in the last 24 months
• Get the written scope for at least one, including squares, pitch, tear-off layers, and underlayment type
• Drive by and inspect what you can from the ground, with permission
• Call the homeowner and ask about timeline, pricing changes, and decking surprises
• Verify the permit number and confirm a final inspection was closed
• Ask for manufacturer wind warranty documentation on a comparable job

Contractors who use estimating software like RoofWright to generate detailed, squares-and-pitch-based proposals tend to have this documentation ready without digging through paper files, which itself is a small but useful signal of how organized the operation is.

Frequently asked questions

What if a roofer only works outside my immediate area?

That's fine as long as they can show recent work in a climate and code environment similar to yours. Ask about wind exposure, typical pitch, and permit jurisdiction differences directly rather than assuming distance alone disqualifies them.

Is it reasonable to ask for a homeowner's phone number?

Yes, with the understanding that the contractor needs to get that homeowner's permission first. A contractor who regularly does local work usually has a few references who don't mind a short call.

What's a normal waste factor for a straightforward gable roof versus a complex roof with lots of valleys?

Waste factor typically runs lower on simple gable roofs and higher on roofs with many hips, valleys, and cut-ins, since more material is trimmed away. Ask your contractor to explain the waste factor on your specific estimate rather than accepting a flat industry number, since roof complexity varies a lot house to house.

Should I be worried if the price changes after tear-off?

Not automatically. Decking replacement contingencies exist because rotten or damaged decking isn't always visible until the old roofing material comes off. What matters is whether the original contract disclosed a contingency rate up front and whether the contractor documents the damage with photos before charging for it.

Does a permit guarantee good workmanship?

No, but it guarantees a third-party inspector reviewed the job against local code at some point. Combined with a drive-by look and a homeowner reference call, it's one more layer of verification that a curated review page simply can't provide.