Updated August 2026 · Written by the APX Roofing team in Fruita, CO
After a big hailstorm, the Western Slope fills up with out-of-town trucks. Here's how to pick a contractor who'll still be here next year — including the questions to ask, the red flags to walk from, and the rights Colorado law gives you. Hold every roofer to this list, including us.
Ask for a current certificate of insurance. If a worker is hurt on your property and the contractor isn't covered, that can become your problem. A legitimate company produces the certificate without flinching.
Colorado licenses roofing locally, not statewide — your city or county building department can confirm a contractor is registered and pulling permits properly. A roofer who skips permits is skipping inspections too.
Read the recent Google reviews — not the star number, the actual text. Look for how they handle problems, cleanup, and communication. Reviews from your own town beat reviews from three states away.
Scope, materials, payment schedule, and cleanup — in the contract, before work starts. A good contractor puts it in writing without being asked; a great one walks you through it line by line.
A good contractor answers all ten without getting defensive — most of them should already be answered in the written quote before you ask. Print this, screenshot it, whatever works:
The last one matters more than it looks: any contractor who won't let a quote survive a week of thinking is telling you the deal doesn't hold up to thought. And when you compare answers on scope, our cost guide covers what a complete bid includes.
To be fair: knocking on doors after a storm isn't the crime — plenty of legitimate local companies do it, ours included. The difference is what's behind the knock.
If the company didn't exist here before the storm, it probably won't exist here after it — and neither will your workmanship warranty.
“This price is only good right now” is a sales tactic, not roofing. A real quote survives a week of thinking it over.
Materials get paid when they're delivered. A contractor who needs half your money before a shingle arrives is financing something — and it isn't your roof.
Offers to waive or absorb your insurance deductible are insurance fraud in Colorado. A contractor willing to commit fraud to win the job will cut corners on the roof too.
Colorado passed consumer-protection rules for roofing after the storm-chaser waves of the early 2010s. Three worth knowing:
Deciding whether the damage is even claim-worthy comes first, though — here's how to make that call, and what to do in the first 48 hours after hail.
A roof is a long relationship. The company that installs it should be reachable next season — for a warranty question, a follow-up, or just an honest look after the next storm. Ask where they're based, drive past the address if you want, and pick someone whose reputation lives in the same valley you do.
We're at 130 N Mulberry St in downtown Fruita — next door to the Hot Tomato — and we plan on being here a long time. Hold us to everything on this page: ask for our insurance certificate, read our reviews, and take a week to think our quote over. That's how it should work.
Yes — two or three is healthy, and any contractor bothered by that is telling on themselves. Just make sure the bids cover the same scope, or the cheapest number is an illusion.
See: How to compare quotes →No — canvassing after a storm is normal, and local companies do it too. Judge what's behind the knock: where they're based, whether they pressure you to sign, and how they answer the ten questions above.
Not always — but a bid dramatically below the others is usually missing scope: an overlay instead of tear-off, reused flashing, no deck repair line. Cheap on paper has a way of getting expensive on the roof.
Two separate things: the manufacturer's warranty on the shingles themselves, and the contractor's workmanship warranty on the installation. Get both in writing — and remember the workmanship warranty is only as good as the company's odds of still being here.
Yes — two or three is healthy. But compare itemized scope, not bottom lines: the cheapest number usually gets cheap by cutting things you can't see from the street. A bid that won't itemize is telling you something.
Ask for the contractor's license, general liability certificate, and workers' comp — and expect them to be produced without friction. On a storm claim, also ask whether they'll meet your adjuster on the roof; the good ones volunteer it.
Free inspection, written quote, insurance certificate on request — and take your time deciding.
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