The storm blew through an hour ago. Now there’s a truck you don’t know parked on your street, and a man at your door with a clipboard. He says your roof is shot. He can start Monday if you sign today.
I’m Chris. I served in the Marine Corps, then worked as a police officer. Now my son and I run C&D Roof Restoration in Spring. I started it after watching homeowners, my own parents among them, get pushed into new roofs they didn’t need. So when people ask how to pick a roofer they can trust, I answer like a cop. Check the story. Then check it again.
Start with what Texas doesn’t check
This one surprises people. Texas does not license roofers. The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, or TDLR, keeps a list of the 41 programs it oversees. Roofing isn’t on it.
The Roofing Contractors Association of Texas, or RCAT, says the same thing: TDLR does not run a licensing program for roofing contractors. RCAT runs its own program, and it’s voluntary. To qualify at the residential level, a roofer needs $300,000 in general liability coverage and a score of 70% or better on its exams.
So when a yard sign says “licensed roofer,” it’s telling you nothing. What you can check is better anyway. The short version is on our page about what to ask a Texas roofer instead.
How a cop reads a sales pitch
Police work teaches you to listen to how a story gets told. Here’s what I listen for when someone’s selling a roof.
A clock
“This price is only good today.” Pressure is the tell. A fair price will still be fair on Thursday. If someone won’t give you a day to think, give them the door.
Fear first
“Your roof could fall in.” “One more storm and it’s done.” Scare talk comes before the facts. When someone leads with fear, slow down and ask to see photos of the problem.
A story that grows
On the first visit it’s a few loose shingles. On the second it’s the whole roof. Ask the same question twice, a few days apart. Honest answers don’t move.
No paper
In police work, if it isn’t in the report, it didn’t happen. Roofs work the same way. If the price, the warranty and the scope aren’t written down, they don’t exist.
Nothing you can check
No company name you can look up. No town they work out of. A phone number that only ever goes to voicemail. A real local business has a name you can look up and a number someone answers.
My 10-point checklist
Print this and keep it by the front door.
- Get the company’s full name and look it up before you agree to anything. Look both up before you agree to anything.
- Ask where they’re based. Then call the number on the card and see who picks up.
- Ask for a current certificate of insurance before any work starts. General liability is the floor.
- Ask who will be on your roof. Is it the person selling the job, a crew you’ll never meet or the owner?
- Get photos of your own roof. Every slope, with each problem pointed out.
- Get the warranty in writing: what it covers, how long it runs and whether it moves to the next owner if you sell.
- Ask, “What if my roof doesn’t need this?” Then watch their face. Someone you can trust will tell you no.
- Don’t sign at the door, and don’t sign the same day. Not after a storm, and not because a price “expires tonight.”
- Get the full price in writing before work starts, along with what it includes.
- Get a second opinion on any replacement. An honest roofer won’t mind.
How we hold ourselves to the same list
It’s only fair that C&D passes the same test. Here’s how we do it.
- You’ll deal with me and my son. We’re the ones on your roof.
- We’re based in Spring, 77386. Call or text (281) 466-7436, Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm.
- Ask me for current insurance paperwork before any work starts. I’d ask the same of anyone working on my house.
- The treatment comes with Bright Green Roof’s written warranty: 5 years, transferable, that the treated shingle stays pliable and flexible. Read the warranty, in plain English, before you pay.
- Every inspection comes with photos of every slope.
- The Straight Answer Promise: if your roof isn’t a candidate, I tell you so for free, with the photos. If it’s fine, I say it’s fine.
Here’s the part that matters most to me. We don’t sell new roofs or repairs. I have no reason to talk you into one. That’s by design. There’s more about my son and me on our about page.
When the honest answer is a new roof
Sometimes a new roof is the right call, and I’ll say so. Active leaks. The mat showing through. Hail bruising across the slopes. Soft spots in the decking. One cost guide draws the line at granules: if more than 40% are gone, replacement may be the better option. A treatment won’t fix any of that.
If that’s your roof, I’ll show you the photos and tell you to get replacement quotes. Get more than one. Run this same checklist on every roofer who shows up. Our guide to rejuvenation vs replacement lays out which answer fits which roof.
Get a second set of eyes
Got a quote on the table and a bad feeling about it? That’s what the free roof inspection is for. I’ll come out, photograph every slope and tell you what I see, even if that means there’s no job for me. Call or text me at (281) 466-7436, or book the free assessment online.