What's Going On: Roofers, politicians have lots in common if you look closely

 They called on the phone. They knocked on doors. They sought local endorsements. They stuck signs in your yards. They launched advertising campaigns. 

And they weren’t even running for office. 

With the mass of unfamiliar numbers flashing across my phone’s caller identification, I had a flashback to the last presidential caucus. 

But instead of Mitt Romney harassing me at home, it was roofers, roofers and a few more roofers providing me with valuable information. 

Caller: “Sir, I’m contacting you with a weather alert.”

Me (feigning interest): “Okay. What might that be?”

Caller: “You have had sizable hail in your area and your roof may have sustained serious damage.”

Me: “Are you talking about the storm from four days ago? Or is there another storm on the way? I think I need to hang up now and go shelter my pregnant wife and two young children in our tornado/bomb shelter we just purchased from a friendly door-to-door salesman offering a great deal today only.”

Caller: “Um. What?”

I drove around Red Oak Sunday afternoon looking at the aftermath of our first severe thunderstorm of 2014. I saw several cars with dimples, especially those parked near Highway 48. The damage seemed fairly intermittent, and considering the lack of downed trees/limbs, I didn’t figure the storm amounted to much. 

Then I saw a PT Cruiser painted fluorescent orange with gawdy decals advertising a “local” roofer out of somewhere in Nebraska. 

That’s when I realized this wouldn’t be treated as an ordinary storm as I warned my wife the out-of-town roofers would be all over Red Oak the next day.

I had no idea how right I was. 

That one obnoxious looking car turned into 30 overnight and before long, Red Oak was hosting a roofing convention, drawing in contractors from Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri. 

But of course, these weren’t really roofers driving the wrong way down  Red Oak’s maze of one way streets. 

I drove around town Monday as well and saw lots of these “roofers” knocking on doors. Two things I noticed: they had pretty hair and fair skin.

Here’s the first sign your “roofer” isn’t really a “roofer:” his skin. If it’s milky white and isn’t weather beaten, he isn’t a roofer. 

Chances are, he’s a salesman. And truthfully, there were a lot more of them in Red Oak last week than roofers. 

There’s a huge difference between the two. A salesman is trained in the art of convincing people to buy something they may not want or even need. 

Their job is to manipulate and much like the roofer, they too have their tools of the trade. They include high pressure tactics that force/coerce/lure you into signing a contract that day. Another favorite weapon is fear. “If that roof starts leaking, you could have serious electrical problems which could cause a fire and you might die!”

OH MY LORD! WHERE DO I SIGN! PLEASE, SAVE ME!!!

I don’t intend this to read as a condemnation of all out-of-town contractors. Some of them are reputable and will do a fine job. And if you really do need a roof put on sooner than later, an out- of-town contractor will probably get the work done sooner, as local guys weren’t waiting on a hail storm to find work. They already had jobs keeping them busy before the storm. 

But do use a little common sense if you feel like you have to spend your money with someone who doesn’t spend his locally in terms of payroll and buying supplies. 

Don’t pay for anything up front. Contact your insurance company before signing anything to make sure the work is covered. Make sure the contractor is licensed to work in Iowa and that they have worker’s compensation insurance, because if they don’t and someone falls off your roof replacing it, you will be the one footing that bill. 

And of course, shop around. Don’t sign a contract with the first person who comes knocking on your door. 

In other words, choosing a contractor is more similar to choosing a politician than I realized. You need to do some research and choose based on knowledge rather than emotion. 

And most importantly, be able to recognize a line of you know what when you hear it. 

Gregory Orear is the General Manager/Editor of the Red Oak Express and Glenwood Opinion-Tribune. He can be contacted at publisher@redoakexpress.com.