What to have ready
The useful information for the first conversation is plainer than most people guess:
- What the roof is doing and where. That might be a ring on a bedroom ceiling, or a shingle you can see missing near the garage end.
- The material and the age of the roof, if you know them. Composition shingles. A standing seam metal roof. Clay tile. "Original to the house, which was built in 2003." If you don't know, we work from what we see.
- What the weather did in the last day or week. Hail, high wind, a tree that came down, a lot of rain, or none of those (and the stain or drip is just there).
- The building. A house, a rental, a duplex or a fourplex. For a rental, say whether you're the owner, a property manager or a tenant.
- Access notes. A locked gate, a dog in the back yard, a steep driveway, a security system, or anything else a roofer should know before pulling up.
If it isn't all written down, that is fine. Say what you remember.