Doing business with neighbors??

[pinkytoe]

Like everyone else around us, a summer hailstorm devastated our roof and it will need to be replaced. The neighbor behind us recently opened his own roofing business and came to our door asking for his business. If one operates on gut feelings about decisions as I sometimes do, I would rather not use his services. He has done a few in the neighborhood and did not pull permits for any of them, etc. I am however concerned about alienating a neighbor since he has extended neighborly kindnesses in the past and I know he will take it personally. He would probably also give us a better price. Thoughts?

[early morning]

That's kind of tricky, isn't it? Maybe talk to your insurance company. They may well have a list of preferred contractors, which you could use as an out if you so desired. Also, will insurance insist on inspections (which will require permits, I'd think)? What sort of warranty does he offer in comparison with other companies? Does he have references you can check? I'm always leery of online reviews, as anyone could have written those, but talking to people who have actually used his services may give you a better handle on how he conducts business, and you may discover that he really knows his craft. And you could always go with "I'm so sorry, but we have a policy of not doing business with family or friends, as we prefer to keep business and friendship separated - we've learned the hard way that this works better for us" or some such. Or if it's an insurance job, just send it his way and understand that future problems are likely going to be on your dime, regardless. We hired a long-standing, well regarded firm to repair our kitchen roof a few years ago, and last week, it started leaking again. And it's well out of their warranty period for repairs. So you don't always get what you pay for, sadly.

[Tybee]

We had the same situation and ended up telling him we had to use a provider from the insurance list.

[pinkytoe]

online reviews
On his website and ad flyer, we noted that he had another neighbor vouch for his superior roofing job even though he did not get a new roof. So there's dishonesty from the get-go. Thinking about just using the company that did it ten years ago since they have records on color and type. Already have the check from insurance so time to decide.

[iris lilies]

On his website and ad flyer, we noted that he had another neighbor vouch for his superior roofing job even though he did not get a new roof. So there's dishonesty from the get-go. Thinking about just using the company that did it ten years ago since they have records on color and type. Already have the check from insurance so time to decide.
Oh yikes! Agree, you don’t want to use him if he even does inquiry you could say you want to use the company that did the roof 10 years ago because you were very happy with it.

[Tybee]

On his website and ad flyer, we noted that he had another neighbor vouch for his superior roofing job even though he did not get a new roof. So there's dishonesty from the get-go. Thinking about just using the company that did it ten years ago since they have records on color and type. Already have the check from insurance so time to decide.

absolutely use the old roofer with the records and expertise.