Verify the license, do not just ask about it
Indiana handles contractor licensing at the local level rather than through a single statewide roofing license, so what you are checking is that the company holds the registration required where the work is happening, and that the number they give you is real and current. Ask for the number in writing and confirm it with the issuing city or county rather than accepting a card or a website badge as proof. Multi-Family Roofing operates under Indiana license GL2500087.
A contractor who hesitates when you ask for a license number in writing has told you something useful.
Check insurance the right way
There are two policies that matter and they cover different things. General liability covers damage to your property. Workers compensation covers injuries to the crew on your roof. If a company carries only the first, and someone is hurt on your property, that can become your problem.
The important part is how you verify it. Do not accept a photocopied certificate handed to you at the kitchen table, because those are trivially easy to fake or to let lapse. Ask for a certificate of insurance sent directly from the insurance agency, with your name listed as the certificate holder. A legitimate contractor makes that call without complaint. It takes about five minutes.
Understand what a manufacturer certification means
Shingle manufacturers run contractor programs, and the tiers do mean something: they generally require verified insurance, a track record, and in some cases training, and they unlock extended warranty options that a non-certified installer cannot offer on the same product. We are a TAMKO certified contractor, which is why we can put TAMKO warranty coverage on the work.
What a certification does not mean is that the manufacturer supervises the crew or guarantees the workmanship. Treat it as one verified data point, not as a substitute for checking the license, the insurance, and the reviews yourself.
Read the estimate line by line
Price alone tells you very little, because two estimates can differ by thousands and describe genuinely different jobs. A complete scope should say, in writing:
- Full tear-off, or an overlay over the existing shingles. These are not the same job, and an overlay hides whatever is underneath
- How decking replacement is priced, per sheet, and what the rate is before work starts
- Which underlayment is used, and where ice and water shield goes at eaves and valleys
- Whether flashing is replaced or reused, especially at chimneys and walls
- What happens to ventilation, and whether intake and exhaust will be balanced when the job is done
- Cleanup, including magnetic sweeps for nails, and who pulls the permit
- The warranty, split into material coverage and workmanship coverage, with the length of each
If an estimate is a single number on one page, ask for the detail. The answer to that request tells you a lot about how the job will be run.
Storm season red flags
Indianapolis gets a spring storm season, and it reliably brings out-of-town crews who work a neighborhood for a few weeks and leave. Some are fine. The pattern worth watching for is:
- Pressure to sign today, or a discount that expires when the salesperson leaves your driveway
- An offer to cover, absorb, or waive your insurance deductible, which is insurance fraud in Indiana and puts you in it too
- A large deposit demanded up front before any material is delivered
- No permanent local address, or a phone number that goes to a call center in another state
- An inspection that finds severe damage on a roof another contractor just called sound, with no photos to back it up
None of these is proof of anything by itself. Two or three together is a reason to get another quote.
Ask who is actually on your roof
Some companies sell the job and subcontract the work to whoever is available that week. That is not automatically bad, but you should know before you sign, because it determines who answers the phone if something goes wrong in year three. Ask whether the crew is in-house or subcontracted, who will be on site as the point of contact, and who to call for a warranty issue.
Warranty: two different things
Material warranty comes from the shingle manufacturer and covers defects in the product. Workmanship warranty comes from the contractor and covers installation. A long material warranty means nothing if the company that installed it is gone, and most roofing problems are installation problems rather than product defects. Ask for both numbers, in writing, and ask what specifically voids each one. Improper ventilation is a common answer, which is one more reason it belongs in the scope.
A note on us
We wrote this page as a checklist you can use on any contractor in this market, including us. We would rather you ask these questions and hire someone good than skip them and get burned. If you want to see how we answer them, our about page covers who we are, and our reviews pull live from Google without any hand-picking.