Review requests for roofers: ask after the walkthrough, and ask every homeowner

When to add the homeowner

Roofr, a roofing-software company, says on its blog (read on 16 October 2026) that the average North American house roof can be replaced in one to three days ^[1]. That is a vendor's claim, not a survey. Either way, the job does not end when the truck leaves: there is cleanup, a walkthrough and the last invoice.

1. The crew finishes, and you walk the job

   Google's policy says merchants “should not require or pressure users to leave ratings or write reviews while on the premises” ^[2], and it does not define “premises”. Our advice: keep the ask out of the install days and the walkthrough. Fix what the walkthrough turns up.

2. The last invoice is paid, or a set date passes

   Asking with a balance open can look like a review tied to payment or warranty paperwork (our advice, not a rule). If payment is your trigger, set a date after which you add the homeowner anyway, so a disputed bill never becomes a reason to skip someone.

3. Then add the homeowner

   Aim for one to two days after the crew leaves, once the walkthrough is done and the last invoice is paid or your set date has passed. Add them by hand, or import a CSV on the Contacts page and press Ask all new. The email goes out within about 10 minutes, inside your sending hours (8am to 8pm by default). If you close files in the afternoon, add that day's jobs together.

4. 72 hours after that: one reminder

   The default is one polite reminder, and you can have up to two. Each job gets one ask.

Which review sites matter to a roofer

Google comes first. It lists roofers among the businesses that can run Local Services Ads ^[3], and says star ratings and the number of reviews affect ranking there ^[4]. Beyond Google, as read on 16 October 2026:

Which site a request points to never depends on the customer.

A sample email for a finished roof

GossipGarden sends this by email, from your business's name. Write it the way you would talk to a homeowner at the end of a job: short, specific to the work, and offering nothing in return.

What Google and the FTC say about asking

Asking is allowed. As read on 16 October 2026, Google's policy lets a merchant “solicit or encourage the posting of content that does represent a genuine experience, without offering incentives to do so or attempting to influence the rating or the contents of the review” ^[2]. Besides the on-the-premises limit above, the limits that matter on a roofing job:

• No crew quotas. Google lists “Merchants requesting that staff solicit a certain number of reviews” as prohibited, and staff soliciting reviews “that include specific content, including content that identifies a staff member”. Nobody asks a homeowner to name the foreman ^[2].
• Nothing in return, in any form. Google calls incentives for reviews “strictly prohibited” ^[11]. The FTC's rule on consumer reviews (16 CFR 465.4, as read in the eCFR on 16 October 2026) makes it an unfair or deceptive practice to give compensation or other incentives in exchange for, or conditioned expressly or by implication on, reviews expressing a particular sentiment ^[12].
• No threats. The same rule (16 CFR 465.7(a)) bars “an unfounded or groundless legal threat, a physical threat, intimidation, or a public false accusation” made to stop a review being written or to get one removed ^[12].
• No picking and choosing. Google lists “selectively solicit positive reviews from customers” as prohibited ^[2]. In the FTC's Endorsement Guides (16 CFR 255.2(e), Example 11), inviting only the purchasers who give very positive feedback to post reviews may be an unfair or deceptive practice if it makes the posted reviews substantially more positive than they would have been. Inviting all recent purchasers “would not have been unfair or deceptive” ^[13].

Nothing in GossipGarden scores, screens or routes a homeowner. The walkthrough, the invoice and the calendar decide when you add someone, never how they seemed. The template editor rejects common incentive words, but it is a word list, so the rule is still yours to keep.

Questions roofers ask

A homeowner posted a low rating over a scheduling slip. Can I offer something if they take it down?

No. Google lists incentives for “revision or removal of a negative review” as prohibited ^[2], and the FTC rule bars unfounded legal threats, physical threats, intimidation and false public accusations made to get a review removed ^[12]. Fix the problem and reply in public. Google's advice for replies is to be “conversational, not promotional” ^[11].

Should I wait for the final payment before I ask?

We would wait, with a limit. In Roofr's sample workflow the roofer follows up for a review once the homeowner has paid online ^[1]. But a homeowner in a billing dispute is the one who may not pay, so set a date after which you add everyone anyway. Use the same trigger and date for every homeowner.

Can I leave out a homeowner I argued with about the bill?

No. Timing can differ by type of job, never by how the homeowner seemed. Google lists selectively soliciting positive reviews as prohibited ^[2]. Settle the bill on its own track, and send the same email on the same trigger as for every other job.

Which sites do homeowners check before hiring a roofer?

We found no roofing-specific survey. BrightLocal's 2026 survey of 1,002 US adults (a vendor survey, published 11 February 2026) says consumers use an average of six review sites, and that use of BBB and Angi rose over the previous 12 months ^[14]. It has no breakdown by industry.

Sources

Each number in the text points to the source it came from, as read on the date shown. Rules and prices change; check the source before you rely on one.

1. Roofr blog: how long does a roofing job usually take (read October 16, 2026)
2. Google Maps User Generated Content Policy: prohibited and restricted content (read October 16, 2026)
3. Google Local Services Ads Help: business types available in the US (read October 16, 2026)
4. Google Ads Help: reviews in Local Services Ads (read October 16, 2026)
5. BBB: paid and incentivized customer reviews (read October 16, 2026)
6. BBB serving St. Louis: Customer Review Generator (read October 16, 2026)
7. Meta: Community Feedback policy (read October 16, 2026)
8. Angi help: how to have success with reviews (read October 16, 2026)
9. Nextdoor for Business: how businesses can get more recommendations (read October 16, 2026)
10. Yelp for Business: how to get Yelp reviews without asking (7 March 2025) (read October 16, 2026)
11. Google Business Profile Help: reviews (asking, incentives, replies) (read October 16, 2026)
12. eCFR: 16 CFR Part 465, the FTC rule on consumer reviews (current text; last amended 21 October 2024) (read October 16, 2026)
13. eCFR: 16 CFR Part 255, the FTC Endorsement Guides (current text; last amended 26 July 2023) (read October 16, 2026)
14. BrightLocal: Local Consumer Review Survey 2026 (11 February 2026) (read October 16, 2026)

Every customer gets the same ask. GossipGarden never filters, screens or routes anyone by rating or sentiment. Why that matters.

More pages like this

• HVAC
• Electricians
• Landscapers