Questions to ask a welding contractor in Greenwood, IN

We answer these questions for a living, so yes, we have a horse in this race. But we also get called to redo work from welders who were never asked any of them, and the redo always costs more than the repair would have. A cracked trailer tongue that gets a cosmetic bead instead of a ground, welded, and gusseted repair does not fail in the driveway. It fails on I-65 with the trailer loaded. Ten minutes of questions up front is the cheapest insurance you will ever buy.

The seven questions, and the answers you want to hear

1. Are you insured, and will you send the certificate before you start?

   Good answer: Yes, and the COI arrives by email the same day you ask.

   Red flag: Any pause, or an offer to show a photo of a card.

2. Who holds the AWS certification, and to which code?

   Good answer: A named welder and a named code, D1.1 for structural steel.

   Red flag: "We are all certified" with no card number to check.

3. What process will you use on my metal?

   Good answer: A specific answer: TIG for aluminum, nickel rod for cast iron.

   Red flag: One machine welds everything, no questions about the metal.

4. What does the quote include?

   Good answer: Service call, hourly after the first hour, trip charge stated.

   Red flag: A number with no breakdown, or "we will see when we get there".

5. Will you fix the cause or just the crack?

   Good answer: Talk of gussets, backing plates, and why the part failed.

   Red flag: A promise to "just zap it" on a part that has cracked twice.

6. What happens if the weld fails?

   Good answer: A stated warranty period and a return visit at no charge.

   Red flag: Warranty talk that changes the subject to price.

7. How do you handle fire safety at my property?

   Good answer: Fire watch, a clear zone, an extinguisher off the rig, hot work permits at commercial sites.

   Red flag: No mention of sparks, tarps, or what is behind the wall.

Notice what is not on the list: "how cheap can you do it". Price matters, but it is the last question, not the first, because the answer only means something once you know what you are buying. Our numbers are on the published rate table so you can ask question four and check our answer against our own website.

How do I know if a welder is actually certified?

Ask for the welder's name and certification number, then look it up yourself in the American Welding Society credential registry, which is free and public. AWS certification is per person, per process, and per position, so "our shop is certified" is not a real sentence. A welder certified to AWS D1.1 has passed a witnessed test on structural steel, which is the certification that matters for load-bearing work like pallet racking uprights, mezzanine steel, and equipment frames.

For a gate hinge or a mower deck, certification is less critical than experience with the metal in front of them. For anything that holds weight over a person or rides a public road behind your truck, ask for the card and check the registry. Indiana does not license welders at the state level, so AWS paper and insurance are the only third-party checks you have.

What should a welding repair quote include?

A real mobile welding quote around Greenwood has three visible parts: a service call covering travel and setup, an hourly rate after the first hour, and any trip charge past the shop's normal radius. On our table that reads $150 to $250 for the first hour on site, $95 to $150 per hour after, and a stated per-mile charge beyond 15 miles. If a contractor quotes one flat number, ask what happens when the rust runs deeper than the photo showed. The good ones have an answer because grinding back corroded metal on a 20-year-old trailer frame is half the job some days.

Photos speed everything up. Two or three phone pictures showing the crack, the surrounding metal, and the access let a shop quote off real information instead of padding the number to cover surprises. That is how our mobile welding process works, and any contractor who cannot quote from photos of a straightforward break is telling you something about their experience.

The fire safety question matters more at your business

Welding at an occupied commercial building is regulated hot work. OSHA standard 1910.252 requires moving or shielding combustibles, posting a fire watch where sparks can reach flammable material, and keeping extinguishing equipment at the work area. A contractor working your warehouse dock or racking should ask about your hot work permit process before you ask about theirs. If they look blank at the phrase, they have not done much commercial work, whatever the truck lettering says.

At a house the same thinking applies with less paperwork. Sparks from grinding travel farther than people expect, and a welder who tarps your siding and wets the mulch before striking an arc is showing you how they treat the rest of the job.

When you can skip most of this

Not every repair deserves an interview. A broken bracket, a cracked mower deck, or a hitch that fits in a truck bed is drop-off work, cheap and low stakes, and the only question that matters is turnaround time. Save the full seven for structural steel, trailers that ride the highway, racking that holds inventory over your crew, and anything where a failed weld hurts more than the repair cost. And if a part is safety-rated, like lifting chain or a damaged racking upright past its repair pattern, the honest answer is replacement, not welding. A contractor who tells you not to hire them for those jobs is the one to keep in your phone. Ours is on the FAQ page next to the rest of the straight answers.