7 Tips When Hiring Green Roof Installers

Who wouldn’t rather look out onto a rooftop oasis of green plants than a sea of hot shingles or asphalt?

Daydreaming of a lush rooftop garden that will make you the cool company on the block?

Hire green roof installers who can tell you about the benefits, provide expert installation, and take care of your green rooftop plants once they’re installed. Follow these tips:

First, Why Install a Green Roof?

Sure, they look fantastic, but there are plenty of other reasons:

Noise reduction. Plants, soil, and air trapped in the soil are great acoustic insulators. Tests show that green roofs can reduce indoor sound by as much as 40 decibels — a great perk for city dwellers bombarded by noise from airports, industry, trains and traffic.

Tax credits. Building owners can take advantage of tax credits for installing green roofs.

Cost savings. Green roofs insulate, preventing heat loss through your roof, saving on your energy bill.

Reduction of stormwater runoff. The soil in green roof systems acts like a sponge and absorbs excess rain water, and the plants naturally filter out pollution.

Now that you know you need one, follow these tips for hiring green roof installers.

1. Ask About Expertise

Do your green roof installers know what they’re doing? Have they done this kind of work before?

Level Green Landscaping was certified as an installer by LiveRoof, a leading manufacturer of green roof systems.

That means Level Green crews were trained by a specialist at LiveRoof, learning how to install the product according to the manufacturer's instructions.

There are only a few such certified installers in the Washington D.C. metro area.

2. Ask for References

Great green roof companies should be able to refer you to happy customers. Call them.

Are they satisfied? How’s the company’s communication? If something went wrong, how did they handle it?

Check out other green roof projects they’ve done. How do they look?

3. How Long Have They Been in Business?

Will your green roof installers be around if you have questions or something goes wrong?

Make sure they’re rooted in the community with a solid reputation.

4. Ask About the Process

Ask a few questions about how the green roof installation process works to make sure they seem confident about their skills.

First, crews should come in to waterproof the roof, if it isn’t already suitable. They do a flood test, flooding the roof and letting the water stand for a few days to see if there are any leaks.

And they check to see if the roof can bear the extra weight of a rooftop garden.

Make sure the green roof company talks about these important steps — not just planting pretty greenery on your roof.

5. Visit the Company Website

Good green roof companies post photos of their work, share a bit about the company philosophy, and offer clear, up-front language about the services they offer.

Some offer educational blog posts, like this one, designed to help and engage customers.

Look for ways the company approaches its work.

6. Will They Maintain it for You?

Rooftop plants are sturdy by design, so they need very little maintenance. But they need some.

Plants should be checked once a month for watering, weeding, and fertilizing, and crews can replace any plants that have died.

Irrigation systems are made specifically for green roofs, if you choose that option. Or arrange for maintenance visits once or twice a month.

7. Ask Why You Should Hire Them

Give the green roof installers a chance to brag a bit. Why should you choose them over the other guys? They should have plenty of good answers.

Need a Green Roof Installer? Trust Level Green

If you’re pondering installing a green roof on your building, join the club. They’re not just cool, they’re hot.

All the obvious benefits, plus tax credits, means green roofs are more popular than ever.

Shout about it from the rooftop — then give us a call.

If you’re not already a Level Green Landscaping client, we’d love to add you to our growing list of happy customers.

Our focus is on commercial properties like offices, mixed-use sites, HOAs, municipalities and institutions in Maryland, Washington DC and parts of Virginia.

Contact us at 202-544-0968. You can also request a free consultation online to meet with us one-on-one.

We’d love to hear from you.