GAF CERTIFIED CONTRACTOR · TILE ROOF INSTITUTE · FAA LICENSED DRONE PILOT · FORMER ADJUSTER · 23-STATE GC LICENSE
The Roofing Industry Has a Trust Problem. Here Is Exactly How We're Different.
Most roofing contractors in Arizona are competent at some things. Very few are credentialed at everything. Almost none will tell you the truth if it costs them a sale. Here is what makes Stephens Roofing different — with specific, verifiable evidence for every claim.
See the evidence ↓Let's be honest for a moment
You Have Every Reason to Be Skeptical of Roofing Contractors.
The roofing industry, broadly speaking, has earned its reputation for inconsistency. There are excellent contractors in every market — and far more who learned the minimum required to stay licensed, who walk tile roofs without understanding the damage they cause, who write vague reports designed to maximize replacement sales, and who disappear after the final payment clears.
You have probably encountered at least one of these contractors. You may have been burned by one. Your skepticism is not paranoia — it is pattern recognition.
This page exists because you deserve a clear, specific, verifiable answer to the question every careful homeowner should ask: "What, exactly, makes you different from the others?" We're going to answer that in full — not with vague promises, but with specific credentials, documented processes, and honest explanations of why each one matters to you. Read what follows. Then decide.
Differentiator 01 of 08
We Inspect Your Roof Without Ever Setting Foot On It.
The standard inspection in Arizona involves walking across your roof. For composition shingle this is harmless. For tile — the vast majority of Phoenix-metro homes — it is a problem. Tile is brittle, its load zones are unforgiving, and an untrained person walking it will crack tiles. Often without realizing it. Sometimes without telling the homeowner.
Bryan holds an FAA Part 107 commercial drone pilot's license and uses a FLIR thermal camera on a commercial-grade drone to inspect your entire roof from the air. The drone captures 4K footage of every section; the FLIR detects heat differentials that reveal hidden moisture, failing underlayment, insulation gaps, and compromised membrane — anomalies invisible to an inspector on the ground or even walking the surface.
The result is a more complete inspection than any traditional method — without a single tile being touched, shifted, or stressed.
Every cracked tile is a potential leak point. If an inspector cracks tiles and doesn't tell you — or doesn't realize it — you're paying for damage you didn't have before the inspection started.
- FAA Part 107 Commercial Pilot
- FLIR Thermal Imaging
- HAAG Certified
- Zero tile-damage incidents
Differentiator 02 of 08
Our Founder Trained the Adjusters Who Approve — or Deny — Your Claim.
Most roofers know how to install roofs. Very few understand how insurance claims work from the inside — what documentation adjusters require, what language gets claims approved, and what carriers look for to construct a denial. When a typical roofer "helps with your claim," they write a brief summary and hope for the best.
Bryan was a licensed insurance adjuster. He trained adjusters for State Farm and Allstate. He left when he watched carriers misuse satellite imagery to deny legitimate claims as "pre-existing." Now he uses everything he learned on the inside to protect the homeowners on the outside.
When Bryan documents storm damage, he produces the kind of report adjusters are trained to approve — because he wrote the training. He knows the language, the documentation standards, and exactly what a carrier needs to see to have no defensible basis for denial.
If your roof has storm damage, the way it is documented is as important as the damage itself. A weak package gives carriers the opening they need. Bryan's documentation gives them none.
- Former Licensed Insurance Adjuster
- Trained State Farm & Allstate adjusters
- Left the industry on principle
Differentiator 03 of 08
GAF Certified — Able to Offer Very High-Level GAF Warranties Most Roofers Cannot.
Contractor certifications span a wide spectrum — from a basic state license to manufacturer certifications that require demonstrated workmanship, a clean record, ongoing training, and good standing. Most homeowners have no way of knowing which type a contractor is claiming. Many deliberately obscure it.
Bryan is a GAF Certified Contractor — certified by GAF, North America's largest roofing manufacturer, to install its systems to specification. That certification lets him offer very high-level GAF warranties — a different category of protection from the contractor-only warranty most roofers provide.
Why that matters: most roofing warranties are contractor-only and depreciate over time — many are effectively useless by year ten, and some simply ship you replacement material while you pay for the tear-off, labor, and haul-off. A manufacturer-backed GAF warranty is built to actually protect your investment.
A contractor's certification determines what warranty they can offer you. That's not a minor distinction on a 30-to-50-year roof decision.
- GAF Certified Contractor
- Very high-level GAF warranties
- Tile Roof Institute
- HAAG Certified
- Polyglass
- Modern Metal
Differentiator 04 of 08
If Your Roof Doesn't Need Replacing, Bryan Will Tell You. Even If It Costs Him the Job.
The industry has a replacement-bias problem. A contractor who earns their living from replacements has a financial incentive to recommend replacement even when repair would suffice. The average homeowner has no way to evaluate whether the damage they're shown is as serious as they're told.
Bryan's reports present findings objectively — with photographic and thermal evidence — ranked from most to least urgent across three categories: monitor, repair, or replace. He uses all three. He'll tell you when your roof needs replacing, and when it does not, showing you exactly why with the same drone footage and thermal imaging he has.
This isn't just ethical — it's strategic. A homeowner told the truth about a repair that saved them $15,000 becomes an advocate for life.
You deserve the truth about your roof — not a version shaped by what a contractor hopes to sell. Bryan built his entire standard in opposition to claim manipulation and sales pressure.
- "He saved me $18,000 and didn't make a dime from telling me the truth." — David M., Scottsdale ★★★★★
Differentiator 05 of 08
Our Reports Are Written to Engineering Standards. Most Contractors Write a Paragraph.
A typical Arizona inspection "report" ranges from a verbal driveway summary to a one-page document with three bullets and a replacement recommendation. These serve the contractor's sales process — not your need to understand a major structural asset — and are rarely detailed enough for an insurance claim or real estate transaction.
Bryan holds the HAAG Certified Commercial Roofing Inspector designation and applies commercial engineering documentation standards to every residential project. Your report is a photo-documented, GPS-annotated, thermally imaged analysis of your entire roof: every anomaly located, each finding classified by severity, probable cause and likely progression explained, options ranked by urgency and cost.
It's detailed enough to submit to your insurance adjuster, present to a real estate attorney, or anchor a 10-year HOA capital plan.
A detailed, evidence-based report protects you three ways: no basis for documentation-based denial, leverage in a real estate transaction, and a clear, prioritized action plan instead of reactive decisions.
- HAAG Certified
- FLIR Thermal Documentation
- GPS-Tagged Findings
- 24-Hour Report Delivery
Differentiator 06 of 08
Tile Roofing Is a Specialty. Bryan Is One of the Few in Arizona Who Treats It That Way.
Arizona has one of the highest concentrations of tile roofs in the US — and many contractors who learned tile by working alongside someone who learned it the same way, without formal training in the techniques, load requirements, and underlayment systems tile demands. The homeowner usually finds out during the first monsoon after installation.
Bryan is Tile Roof Institute Certified — the gold standard for tile in the US — and has installed, repaired, and inspected tile since the early 1990s. He understands load distribution for clay and concrete systems, correct underlayment selection for Arizona's thermal cycling, the mortar and fastening methods that prevent ridge-cap failure, and the inspection techniques that catch underlayment failure before interior water damage.
He also understands what most tile roofers refuse to acknowledge: the single greatest risk to a tile roof is not weather — it is uninformed foot traffic. Which is why he inspects from the air.
In Arizona, tile roofs are load-bearing, weather-critical systems representing a major share of your home's value. Formal tile training is not academic — it shows up in installation quality, system longevity, and the condition of your tiles after the inspection.
- Tile Roof Institute Certified
- 30+ Years Arizona Tile Experience
- Touchless Protocol — Zero Tile Contact
- Polyglass Underlayment Certified
Differentiator 07 of 08
Our Warranties Are Backed by a Multi-Billion-Dollar Manufacturer — Not Just Our Word.
Most residential roofing warranties are contractor workmanship warranties — only as good as the contractor who issued them. Homeowners often discover this 5 or 10 years later when they try to make a claim and find the company gone, unresponsive, or sold to owners who disclaim prior work.
As a GAF Certified Contractor, Bryan can offer very high-level GAF warranties — manufacturer-backed coverage that is a different category from the contractor-only warranties most roofers provide.
Why it matters: most residential warranties are contractor-only — only as good as the contractor who issued them, and frequently depreciated to near-nothing by year ten. Many "warranties" simply ship you replacement material while you pay for the tear-off, labor, and haul-off. Bryan also offers Polyglass system warranties, Modern Metal manufacturer warranties on stone-coated steel, and his own workmanship guarantee on every project.
A roof is a 30-to-50-year asset. The warranty protecting it should last as long as the system — and be backed by an entity with the resources to honor it decades from now.
- Very high-level GAF warranties
- Manufacturer-backed coverage
- Polyglass & Modern Metal warranties
- Workmanship guarantee on every project
Differentiator 08 of 08
Licensed in 23 States. Three Decades in the Trade. This Is Not a Second Career.
Experienced, knowledgeable roofers are genuinely rare. Many contractors entered during high-demand periods with limited formal training and limited experience across system types. Multi-state licensure is uncommon because it requires maintaining standards across multiple regulatory environments.
Bryan went to work in his stepfather's roofing business in 1995, at 25, and has been at it ever since — three decades of hands-on, multi-system expertise that can't be replicated by someone who took a licensing course last year.
He holds an active GC license in 23 states and is certified in tile, metal, foam, TPO, EPDM, PVC, stone-coated steel, and metal overlay. When he looks at your roof — any type, age, or condition — he has almost certainly seen it before, and knows what the failure modes look like at every stage.
You're not hiring a resume. You're hiring the judgment, pattern recognition, and accumulated experience of someone who has done this at the highest level for three decades — the thing that cannot be certified, manufactured, or faked.
- Licensed GC — 23 States
- 30+ Years Active Experience
- 8+ Major System Certifications
- Roofing since 1995
The summary
At a Glance: What Sets Stephens Roofing Apart.
| What matters | Typical Arizona Roofer | Stephens Roofing |
|---|---|---|
| Inspection method | Walks your tile roof | Touchless drone + FLIR thermal — zero tile contact |
| Insurance knowledge | Basic damage summary | Former adjuster who trained State Farm & Allstate |
| GAF certification level | Basic certified or uncertified | GAF Certified Contractor — very high-level GAF warranties |
| Tile specialty training | On-the-job learning | Tile Roof Institute Certified |
| Inspection report quality | Verbal summary or 1-page writeup | Engineering-grade, photo + GPS + thermal |
| Warranty backing | Contractor only | Manufacturer-backed GAF warranties |
| Honesty standard | Replacement bias common | Will tell you when repair is sufficient |
| Years of experience | Varies widely | 30+ years, since 1995 |
| State licensure | Single state typical | Licensed GC in 23 states |
| Drone license | Rare | FAA Part 107 — active & current |
The bottom line
You Are Not Just Hiring a Roofer. You Are Hiring 30 Years of Knowledge, Integrity, and Personal Accountability.
Every differentiator on this page points to the same thing: a contractor who has spent three decades building expertise that cannot be faked, earning credentials that cannot be purchased, and operating by a standard of honesty that has cost him sales and earned him clients for life.
Bryan Stephens is not the largest roofing company in Arizona. He is not trying to be. He is trying to be the best — for homeowners who understand the difference between volume and quality, between the lowest bid and the right decision.
- Touchless drone + thermal inspection — zero tile damage
- Engineering-grade report — delivered in 24 hours
- GAF Certified Contractor — very high-level GAF warranties
- Former adjuster — on your side, not the carrier's
- Honest assessment — even when it costs the sale
Don't take our word for it
Homeowners Who Found Out the Difference Firsthand.
“He never set foot on my tile roof. The drone footage showed every tile in 4K. He found damage two other roofers had completely missed — without touching a single tile.”
“My claim was denied. Bryan's documentation package directly refuted every point in the denial letter. Approved in full three weeks later. The man knows the system from the inside.”
“He told me my roof didn't need replacing. Every other roofer said it did. He saved me $18,000 and didn't profit from telling me the truth. That is extraordinary in this industry.”
Read all reviews → · ★★★★★ 5.0 on Google
Questions we hear often
Honest Answers to the Questions Every Careful Homeowner Asks.
How do I know your GAF certification is real?
GAF maintains a public contractor locator at gaf.com where you can search by company name and location. Search "Stephens Roofing" and you will find Bryan's active GAF Certified Contractor status. It is publicly verifiable and actively maintained — not a badge purchased once and forgotten.
Does the touchless inspection actually find everything a traditional inspection finds?
For most conditions it finds more — thermal imaging detects moisture and heat anomalies invisible to the naked eye. For findings that require physical confirmation, Bryan uses purpose-built access paths that minimize tile contact. In 30 years, the combination of drone aerial, thermal imaging, and targeted access has never produced a missed finding a walking inspection would have caught.
My insurance company already denied my claim. Can Bryan still help?
In many cases, yes. A denial based on documentation deficiency can often be overturned with a properly structured supplemental claim supported by engineering-grade documentation. Bryan's adjuster background lets him review your denial letter, identify the basis, and tell you honestly whether a supplemental package is likely to succeed.
Is Bryan personally involved in every project, or does he hand it off to a crew?
Bryan is personally involved in every inspection and project assessment. During this phase of deliberate rebuilding he has chosen to maintain personal involvement in every engagement rather than scaling to a volume that requires delegating the expert functions. When you hire Stephens Roofing, you get Bryan — his drone, his eyes, his report, his name on your warranty.
Why does Bryan work in only the Phoenix metro right now if he's licensed in 23 states?
Because building something excellent requires focus. His 23-state licensure comes from storm restoration, commercial, and specialty work across the country. His current focus on the Phoenix metro is a deliberate choice to build the most trusted roofing brand in the area he knows best. Expansion is possible. Compromise is not.
How does the free touchless inspection actually work?
You submit a request. Bryan's team contacts you within 2 business hours and schedules a time — typically the same week. Bryan conducts the full drone and thermal inspection and delivers a complete written photo-report within 24 hours. It's free and carries no obligation. If your roof has issues, we explain your options; if it doesn't, we tell you — and you keep a documented record of your roof's condition at no cost.
What if I just had another roofer inspect my roof?
We're happy to review another contractor's findings alongside our own. Most often a drone and thermal inspection reveals conditions a walking inspection missed or assessed differently. If our findings align, you have confirmation; if they differ, you have information worth acting on. Either way you're better positioned than before.
Are your prices higher than other roofers?
We do not compete on price. We compete on expertise, documentation quality, warranty depth, and honest assessment. Homeowners who choose the lowest price frequently pay more long-term through premature failure, voided warranties, cracked tiles, or denied claims. Bryan's pricing reflects genuine expertise, manufacturer-grade materials, engineering-level documentation, and manufacturer-backed warranties. We are not the cheapest option — we are the one that protects your home correctly the first time.
What areas do you serve?
Stephens Roofing currently serves Scottsdale, Phoenix, Paradise Valley, Fountain Hills, Arcadia, Biltmore, North Phoenix, and surrounding communities. For large commercial or specialty projects, Bryan's 23-state GC licensure means geographic flexibility is possible case-by-case.
How long has Bryan been roofing?
Bryan went to work in his stepfather's roofing business in 1995, at 25, and has been a roofing professional ever since. That is roughly three decades of active, hands-on experience across every major residential and commercial roofing system.
You've Done the Research. You Know What You're Looking For. Let's Talk About Your Roof.
Schedule a free touchless inspection. Bryan reviews every request personally. His team responds within 2 business hours. You receive a complete, honest, photo-documented report within 24 hours — with zero obligation and zero pressure.
✓ Response within 2 business hours · ✓ Zero tile damage guaranteed · ✓ Full report in 24 hours · ✓ No pressure