Toronto roofing contractors & metal roofing installations by London Eco Roof

7 Traits the Roofing Contractors You Hire Should Possess

roofing contractors Mississauga So you’ve done your research and decided to update your home with metal roofing. Great! Now, it’s time to choose the perfect contractor for the job. Your new roof is a big investment and since you’ve chosen metal, it’s likely to last you a very long time. Metal roofing installation is highly specialized so it’s even more important to choose your contractor carefully.

How to Find Your Perfect Roofing Contractor

With metal roofing becoming more and more popular, there are plenty of contractors in the Mississauga area to choose from. The key is to find the one who can do your project best. Finding the right roofing contractor doesn’t have to be a headache if you can check these 7 traits off your list.

Experience: Choose a contractor that has at least 3 years of metal roofing installation experience. The tools and materials used for metal roofing are not like those used for more traditional roofs. Therefore, you should be careful to only hire someone who has experience with this type of installation.
Client References: If you have had friends or family go through the process, ask for references. If not, ask neighbours or look online at websites that review home improvement companies. Or simply ask the roofing contractor for references. If they’re unwilling to provide them, avoid doing business with them.
Industry References: A good contractor should have done business with other people in a similar industry like architects and builders. Call some local companies and see what they have to say about the roofing contractors in your area.
Knowledge: A good roofing contractor can explain your options to you. A great roofing contractor can listen to your goals and not only explain the options, but also recommend the best solution. Opt for a contractor who can detail why certain materials or installation procedures would be best for you.
Problem Solving Skills: While there is no easy way to test for this, it’s important that your roofing contractor be able to solve any problems that may arise during your installation. If they gloss over problems during this phase, it will lead to bigger problems, like leakage, for property owners further down the line.
Communication: This is probably one of the most important traits a roofing contractor should possess. From the start to the finish of the project, the contractor should be able to communicate their plans to you in a manner that you can understand.
Diverse Backgrounds: This can be difficult to find, but if you find a contractor with employees from different professional backgrounds, it can be a real advantage. They can use their combined experience to ensure that your project, however unique it may be, is successful.

From the minute the first shingle is removed from your old roof until the final panel of your new roof is put into place, you can rest at ease that your contractor is doing a good job if you have checked these seven items off your list.

Have You Considered Metal Roofing? Here are 5 Reasons Why You Should

The popularity of metal roofing has been growing by leaps and bounds. So much so in fact that it’s share of the total roofing market has increased by nearly 400% over the last 10 years. Homeowners have caught on to the many benefits of having a metal roof and it seems some of the more stubborn myths about this type of roofing – like the myth that it attracts lighting – have finally begun to die off.

The Many Benefits of Metal Roofing

Decisions related to people’s homes are not ones that are made on a whim. Homes are serious business, lifelong investments and the place where you, your family and your closest friends live and gather. So if metal roofing is becoming popular there must be good reasons for it, and here are five of them.

Long Term Savings – It should be no surprise that this tops the list because everyone is interested in long term value. While the initial installation of a premium metal roofing system will cost about the same as other materials, where metal roofing separates itself from the pack is in terms of longevity. A properly installed metal roof can be expected to last 40 to 50 years. That’s several times the life expectancy of asphalt shingles, tiles or wood.

Fire Resistance – Asphalt or wood shingles often do little during a house fire other than make the situation many times worse. Metal roofs by comparison carry a ‘Class A’ fire resistance rating and will never be the source of or a contributing factor to a house fire.

Weight – An average tile roof weighs about 750 lbs per 100 sq feet, wood shingles around 300 lbs per 100 sq feet and slate can weigh as much as 1000 lbs per 100 sq feet. By comparison the average metal roof will weigh around 100 lbs per 100 sq feet. The lightweight nature of steel roofing and other types of metal means you don’t need as many roof supports and you don’t have to worry about your roof sagging under the weight of the roofing material.

Ability to Shed Snow and Rain – With a metal roof snow slides off easily before it can accumulate and rain never gets a chance to pool and seep in to create water damage. No more worrying about all that snow that’s been accumulating on the roof.

Ease of Installation – Qualified, experienced metal roofing contractors can install one of these roofs on your home in a fraction of the time it would take to install shingles or tile.

In addition to all those benefits metal is also resistant to mold, mildew and rot and will not become home to colonies of insects that can take up residence in the cracks and crevices of other roofing materials. Metal roofs also reflect radiant heat helping to keep your home cooler during the hot summer months.

With all these benefits it’s no wonder so many homeowners are choosing a metal roofing system over more traditional roofing materials!

London Eco Metal has a reputable team of metal roofing contractors offering services for steel roofing in Toronto, Mississauga, Windsor, Kitchener and Ottawa.

Machine Operator

We are currently looking for qualified applicants to fill in this position:

Machine Operator

Requirements:

Experienced running Coiled steel threw, CNC controlled stamping process would be preferred.
Experienced running a shear.
Fork Lift Certified.
Own Transportation as we are located out side the City of London.
Salary depending on Experience

Apply for this position

A Few Questions You Should Always Ask Metal Roofing Contractors Before Hiring

Installing a metal roof is a smart decision more and more homeowners are making for a number of good reasons. Before you can enjoy the benefits of a new metal roof however, you need to find someone to do the work. Someone who will get the job done right, on time and within the agreed upon budget. The problem is that finding the right metal roofing contractor isn’t always easy because for every reputable roofer out there there’s one who is just looking to make a few bucks by cutting corners.

Questions to Ask Metal Roofing Contractors

To protect yourself and your home you’ll need to ask any prospective roofing contractors a few questions designed to put your mind at ease and to establish whether their level of expertise is sufficient for them to do a good job. These questions should always include:

What Kind of Experience Do They Have Installing Metal Roofs? – The metal roofing industry is booming and boom situations tend to attract lots of unqualified people trying to cash in on the boom. Ask your prospective metal roofing contractors for references and follow them up. Also, ask to see a contractor’s license.

Are They Properly Insured? – If the contractor you choose to install your new metal roof is uninsured and something happens you could be liable. Make sure the contractor you choose has insurance that covers both his workers and your property so you’re not left holding the bag should a worker get injured or they burn your house down. And don’t just take their word. Insist on seeing proof.

What Kind of Coating Will Be Applied to Your Roof? – Coatings are necessary to prevent fading and to add aesthetic value to your metal roof. Ask the contractor which coating they intend to apply and then do some research on that particular coating.

What Warranty Will You Receive With Your Metal Roof? – The metal roofing contractor in front of you may be a wonderful, hard-working human being but you’ll want to see the warranty anyway. Read the fine print. All of it. Formulate questions and ask him. If he doesn’t know the answers ask him to find out for you.

A metal roof can add immediate and lasting value to your home, make it a safer, healthier place and save you money on heating and air conditioning. Choosing the right metal roofing contractor to install your new roof will go a long way toward ensuring you get to enjoy these benefits for decades to come.

London Eco Metal has a reputable team of metal roofing contractors offering services for steel roofing in Toronto, Mississauga, Windsor, Kitchener and Ottawa.

Roofing Contractors: How to Make Sure You Get a Great Deal

The roof that covers your home can mean the difference between your single biggest investment appreciating or depreciating in value. It doesn’t pay to skimp on the roof you live under but it doesn’t make sense to overpay for it either. With so many roofing companies willing to promise the moon, how do you get the best deal possible while also getting high-quality metal roofing properly installed? The fact is that although the internet is loaded with stories of people who trusted the wrong contractor and lived to regret it, you don’t have to be one of them.

Roofing Contractors – Approach With Caution

Way before you ever start talking prices there are some other steps you should take to make sure the metal roofing contractors you’re speaking with are worth considering for the job. Here are a few:

Make sure they have a permanent, verifiable address, phone number and tax ID number.
Insist they provide you with proof of insurance. If they don’t have insurance and an accident occurs during the roofing process, you could be liable for damages.
Ask for references and check them out thoroughly.
Check to see if the contractor is a member of a local or regional trade association.

Once you’ve developed a pool of roofing contractors to choose from you should move onto the next phase of the process, where you should:

Get Competitive Bids – As a general rule you can toss the lowest bid since it’s not uncommon for unscrupulous contractors to submit a lowball price to get the job and then spring unexpected or “emergency” costs on you in the middle of the process, when your roof has been ripped apart and you’re in a vulnerable position.
Negotiate – Once you’ve decided which bids seem the most realistic ask the different roofing contractors involved for a discount on labour or materials. Get them bidding against each other. But beware of pushing things too far. Contractors have real expenses after all and if the discounts become too deep the winning contractor may look for ways to recoup that money later on.
Get Everything in Writing – That includes the discounts you negotiated as well as a maximum price for various discretionary items. Shady roofing contractors sometimes try to pad their margins by inflating the cost of these items. Since you don’t want to wind up paying $200 for a sheet of plywood it’s in your interest to make sure the unit price for discretionary items are entered into the contract as well as a maximum number of these items that can be purchased without further, written approval from you. You may also want to include a penalty that kicks in should the work run past an agreed-upon completion date.

Getting a great deal from a roofing contractor requires patience and persistence during the negotiating process and then making sure the deal you negotiated is set down in writing. A reputable contractor will not object to this process and will adhere to the terms of the contract allowing you to reap the benefits of your deal-making prowess.

London Eco Metal has a reputable team of metal roofing contractors offering services for steel roofing in Toronto, Mississauga, Windsor, Kitchener and Ottawa.

How Does Steel Roofing Compare to Other Roofing Materials

Steel roofing has been around for more than 100 years but it’s only recently that its outstanding value has finally begun to get the media attention it deserves. Still, in spite of the gains steel roofing has made in the public eye more traditional roofing materials like asphalt shingles, tile and even slate continue to hold the lion’s share of the roofing market. So let’s take a look at these different materials and see how they stack up when compared to steel.

Steel Roofing vs. Traditional Roofing Materials

While many comparisons are completely subjective, comparing steel to other roofing material does not require an injection of opinion or speculation. There are plenty of hard facts to kick around regarding:

Cost – Steel will generally cost a bit more than asphalt, wood shingles or ceramic tiles and less than slate tiles to install. However, while asphalt, ceramic and wood have life expectancies of 10 – 20 years a steel roof can last 50 years or more. Slate is about the only material that compares to steel in terms of longevity but woe unto you should one of your slate roofing tiles break.
Maintenance – Once installed your steel roofing system is maintenance free. Compare that to tiles that can be torn off in storms or asphalt shingles that begin to degrade the minute they’re installed and often need to be patched or repaired due to leaks. And as alluded to above, trying to patch a slate roof should a tile break can be an expensive and tricky process with the odds very long indeed that you’ll actually find a tile to match the ones you have.
Safety – Asphalt is a form of petroleum, that is, crude oil. When you install asphalt shingles on your roof you are in fact installing a layer of solidified oil across the top of your house. Should a fire break out these asphalt shingles become an immediate liability and act as an accelerant, turning a bad situation into a potentially devastating one. The same can be said of wood shingles. Steel roofing on the other hand will never catch fire or promote the spread of a fire that may be underway. A huge safety plus.
Green Value – When a roofing contractor replaces the asphalt shingles on your roof the old shingles almost invariably go straight to landfill. During any given year thousands of tons of these rotting petroleum sheets are dumped into landfill sites across Canada adding to groundwater contamination and releasing toxic gases as they break down. 50 years or so from now, if you decide it’s finally time to replace it, you’ll be able to recycle it once again.

As you can see, metal roofing has distinct advantages over more traditional roofing materials. When you factor in the substantial energy savings you’ll enjoy due to steel’s ability to reflect the sun’s heat as well as the relief you’ll see on your homeowner’s insurance due to steel’s safety factor you’ll realize there’s no mystery behind the growing popularity of steel roofs.

London Eco Metal has a reputable team of metal roofing contractors offering services for steel roofing in Toronto, Mississauga, Windsor, Kitchener and Ottawa.

Jobs: Service Coordinator

Service Coordinator Position

The Service Coordinator is responsible for scheduling, planning, and coordinating service work with our customers and crews, as well as problem-solving repair requirements and the ability to put those plans into action.

The Ideal Candidate will be highly organized with a customer service mindset. They will bring excellent organizational skills, the ability to multitask in a fast paced office and in-the-field environment. Requires understanding of general construction practices as well as a valid driver’s licence. This job will require working at heights.

This is a full-time position with benefits based at our manufacturing facility at 531 Shaw Rd, Dorchester.

Please send your resume to apply@londonecoroof.com with “Service Coordinator” in the subject line.

Jobs: Crew Leaders, Roofing Apprentice, General Labour

– Crew Leaders (Starting at $20+/hr)

Requirements:

3-5 years residential metal roofing experience
Previous experience with supervision on job sites
Valid Driver’s Licence
Job site Safety and Fall-Arrest Certified
Capable of consistent performance and leadership including safety enforcement and productivity
Grade 12 or equivalent required
Fluent in reading/writing English
Requires physical exertion at heights
Understanding of construction general practices

– Roofing Apprentice (Starting at $16+/hr)

Requirements:

1-3 years residential metal roofing experience
Job site Safety and Fall-Arrest Certified
Valid Driver’s Licence
Requires physical exertion at heights
Understanding of construction general practices

– General Labour (Starting at $14+/hr )

Requirements:

Previous roofing experience
Impeccable safety record
Requires physical exertion at heights
Understanding of construction general practices
Training provided

All positions include benefits, and have possibility for advancement with proper experience and qualifications. Hiring in all markets in Ontario from Windsor to Ottawa.

To apply email resume to apply@londonecoroof.com with “Roofing Installer” in the subject line. Only qualified applicants will be contacted.

Mythbusters: We Clear Up Some of the Biggest Misconceptions About Steel Roofing

Ever since elementary school, we’ve witnessed the cycles of the rumour mill. Sometimes it was positive, and brought great tidings; that there would be pizza for lunch in the cafeteria, or that Friday was only a half-day. Sometimes it was negative, and quickly spun out of control; that Charlie failed an English test, or that Amanda hadn’t brushed her teeth. The larger the network involved, the harder it became to track down the truth, and convince everyone against all of the myths. The rumour mill is still busy these days, but hopefully we can help debunk some of these myths about steel roofing.

What Are the Biggest Myths About Steel Roofing?

1. It Will Heat Up Your House in the Summer – This myth is the first one we must address because it seems to be the most common one. We’ve all accidentally touched a pan fresh from the stove or brushed by a car baking in the sun, and in Toronto, Mississauga, Kitchener, Windsor, and Ottawa, we know that summers can run hot. From that brief encounter, we learn a lesson very quickly: that metal conducts heat. In the case of roofing, however, it’s not as straightforward as that. While metal generally conducts heat that it has absorbed, metal roofing does not absorb heat- it reflects it. So instead of making our homes hotter, steel roofing actually reflects the heat away, and keeps them cooler.

2. It Will Attract Lightning – Lightning searches for the highest point. If that’s your house, you should likely install lightning rods, regardless of your roofing type. If lightning were to strike directly upon your roof, instead of on a lightning rod, having metal roofing actually serves as greater protection to your house as it will not catch fire- stainless steel roofs are Class A fire resistant. Steel roofing serves to dissipate the charge of the lightning, in the off chance it were to strike.

3. It Will Be Really Loud During Bad Weather – You’re probably thinking of a tin roof over a ramshackle little hut, where every raindrop sounds like a bullet. Not to worry though, that’s not exactly what we’re working with here. A big piece of this myth depends on the quality of your roofing contractors. Steel roofs are not inherently louder than other types of roofing, and with proper installation, they can even be quieter than regular asphalt shingle roofs.

4. It Will Rust – We’ve all seen what water, weather and time can do to metal, and it

isn’t pretty. Older cars showcase patches of rust just blossoming across them, and certainly the last thing you’d want is your house to sport a matching pattern. Which is, of course, why that’s been taken care of. The metal treatment and finish prevents oxidation, and the roof itself is moisture resistant. The steel roof you install today is the steel roof you’ll still see four or five decades from now.

Even in elementary school, we’d get lectures about the dangers of the rumour mill. Then, we’d smile and nod along with chastisement, and potentially search out the truth for ourselves, or hope that someone else would figure it all out and share with you. Now, it’s much easier. When you catch word of something, and aren’t quite sure of the veracity, go straight to the source of metal roofing expertise, at londonecoroof.com.

London Eco Metal has a reputable team of metal roofing contractors offering services for steel roofing in Toronto, Mississauga, Windsor, Kitchener and Ottawa.

Super Long Warranties: Our Roofing Contractors Tell You Why This is a Deal Clincher

When buying a smart phone, you’re given the option to purchase different insurance or protection plans. Two years coverage, which will allow you to purchase a new phone for $50 instead of the $300 plus it could cost you if you drop it in the sink. Some people invest in this, others hesitate- assuring themselves that they will be careful, that they will be responsible, or, if all else fails- by the time they break their phone, a newer and better one may be on the market. But what if that coverage came standard, and covered the lifetime of the product? If instead of 2 years and a few hundred dollars, we’re talking 40 – 50 years and several thousand dollars? Roofing contractors and roofing materials each come with their own warranties, and this is something that you should pay close attention to when shopping around for a new roof.

Our Roofing Contractors Explain Why the Length of the Warranty is Important

1. Value over Time – The value of a good isn’t its selling price; it’s the monetary worth over time – in other words the importance or significance it holds. Instead of thinking of a price tag as a single transaction, the swipe of a card, consider the years ahead- and the difference made in them. Metal roofing has a competitive advantage in terms of value, in that it is often guaranteed for 40-50 years. The fact that metal roofing warranties are quite often given for this length of time means a lot – it says that the materials involved are quality, and will last you for years ( if they don’t, the company pays). It also says a lot about commitment- that roofing contractors don’t just complete the installation and then leave as quickly as possible, but that there’s a lasting contract to ensure your satisfaction. It also tells you that roofing companies trust their products and are prepared to put their money where their mouths are.

2. Maintenance – Here we can build another layer into that “value” emphasis. Maintenance on a roof can be really expensive. At times, upkeep or replacement due to damage can be just as expensive as the installation in the first place! With that in mind, it becomes exponentially more important to ensure that you have a quality product- like steel roofing– and a lengthy warranty.

3. Environmental Hazards – As any experienced roofing contractor can tell you, the weather is not a fate you need tempt. In Toronto, Mississauga, Kitchener, Windsor, and Ottawa, we face extremes all year round, whether that’s rainstorms, snowstorms, heat, cold, or just that nasty gust that could topple your neighbour’s tree onto your roof. No matter how nature decides to torment your home, it’s important to know that you have a quality roof overhead and a good warranty to cover any damage that may occur.

So you may not be a roofing contractor. You may not have any experience with metal or steel roofing– or you may be an expert. Regardless of your position along that spectrum, it’s important to recognize what a long term warranty says about a product, and why you should look for one. Whether it’s 10 years or 50, it demonstrates the level of trust that roofing companies have in their products. If you’re looking for a long-term warranty, or a product you can trust for decades, check out londonecometal.com.

London Eco Metal has a reputable team of metal roofing contractors offering services for steel roofing in Toronto, Mississauga, Windsor, Kitchener and Ottawa.

Metal Roofing Blog

The Many Benefits of Metal Roofing

Requirements:

Questions to Ask Metal Roofing Contractors

Roofing Contractors – Approach With Caution

Steel Roofing vs. Traditional Roofing Materials