We had a huge storm in our area at the end of August. Tons of damage in our neighborhood. So lots of roofs need work.
We had 7 (!) trees that fell on our house. Thankful they were small trees from the vacant lot next door and there was not structural damage to our roof. Needless to say, it’s been really hard to get contractors out here to give us quotes on the damage to our roof.
I got a recommendation from a neighbor about a roofing contractor that he said was the best in our area. Someone came out to tarp the house but it wasn’t needed and he took pictures and wrote down what needed to be done. My insurance adjuster called them and they never heard of us! So another person came out and again took pictures. Told me they were really busy, had all the work they could handle and that it would look bad to repair the roof so it would need to be replaced.
So my insurance adjuster has been calling, no quote. Yesterday the roofing company called, I needed to pick up a quote. I picked up the quote, one for the insurance company for repairs and one to replace the roof. The quote was outrageous with absolutely no breakdown on anything, just a final quote. They had pictures of my house and a drawing of what needed to be done for the storm damage but would not give me those pictures.
My husband, who is an engineer and did project management for many, many years, said absolutely he would never use a contractor that didn’t give us a price breakdown. He felt that they didn’t need our business but threw out a big number and if we bought, they would do our roof.
Sorry for the long explanation. But if you have had your roof replaced, how many bids did you get? Do you remember getting a price breakdown on the work?
Our insurance adjuster said that he thinks we should wait until the spring to have the work done. As it’s too cold already, but I’d like to try and find another roofer out here. And any advice as to what to look for in a contractor?
We got two bids when we had our roof done. Both were from contractors others had used. Both came out…and walked the place with me. Both wrote their price quotes on a sheet that day. Neither one gave a specific breakdown of the costs…but both listed the things we wanted…ice dam stuff, architectural shingles and the color, some repair of flashing, etc. total cost listed but no specific prices for each thing.
My husband is an engineer also. He had no trouble with this as both estimates clearly listed what we wanted done…and the total price.
For the record…I chose the more expensive estimate because I went and looked at work he did, and it was more similar to our house. The estimates were about $500 different.
I’m not surprised by your story. When we had a huge storm years ago I think almost everybody except us had roof damage. The damage was so widespread that I’m not sure insurance companies asked much about quotes. Claims adjusters came to the house to assess damage and gave you a check. They handed out money just taking care of claims as fast as possible. It wasn’t about the cheapest price it was about getting the roof fixed to prevent further damage and limiting losses. We had people coming from out of state to work. I’m sure your big price is based on supply and demand right now.
That being said when we’ve had roof repairs done (not in a storm situation) I don’t remember getting an actual breakdown of costs. More along the line of what work was to be done and type of materials to be used and final cost. That could be because there isn’t a whole lot of companies to choose between anyway so you pick the one with the best reputation and hope for reasonable cost.
We got 3 or 4 estimates. We went with the cheapest, but it was also a local company that I had several recommendations for. Ours was also right after Hurricane Sandy - sad to say, if you are in an area with a lot of storm damage, you may be getting price gouged - your insurance adjuster may be able to comment on that. We got lucky - our roof really had minimal damage, but because of the age and condition of the rest of the roof, our insurance adjuster recommended an entirely new roof for us. I don’t believe they broke out the price, but the estimate did indicate the type of shingle, removal of the existing roof (recommend this instead of putting a second layer - sometimes depends on code where you are), clean up/haul away etc… with a final price noted at the bottom.
If you can wait until spring, you may find a more reasonable estimate after the storm rush dies down.
I would go to the website of a roofing manufacturer and check the list of Factory-Certified Contractors in your area. I have used this method for roof, window, and door replacement. I have always been satisfied with the results.
I love my neighbors but I wouldn’t ask them for a contractor recommendation. I am an engineer and am picky about the quality of work. I recently took the recommendations from NextDoor for some small jobs and was dissatisfied.
After Hurricane Ike, the insurance adjuster went up on our roof and declared that we needed a replacement, saying that the shingles were lifted. OK by me! We got the roofing contractor my MIL had previously used. Our bid listed what we wanted, such as the addition of a ridge vent, but no break out.
I have a long sad roofing story … skip if you don’t want to hear a tale of woe.
Short answer: I got 3 bids, with 3 different levels of detail (one noted cost of debris hauling, one I wasn’t sure they were going to haul it!) This was for a flat roof office building in a small town. Price spread was about $7000 between most and next most expensive. I went with the middle quote, even though the high quote had done repairs on the roof previously and we were satisfied.
Long answer:
After signing the middle bid (I glanced at the bid and saw a contractor ID on it and assumed that meant he had a license … nope that meant that he had a contractor ID. I also did not go to the contractor board and see if that ID had complaints. BIG mistake… make sure you check that.
He cashed the $13000 check for half the cost in April and then disappeared, except responded to my property manager. And the contract DID state that he didn’t have an exact schedule and he might do other jobs (I assumed emergency jobs, but NEVER assume…try to get a firm schedule). In June he told my agent that the job was going to start next week). … … … … and same in July and August. In August, I was in town and got in the loop and he said he had ordered the material. I called back the next day and asked from what store and he told me and I called the store who said he had NOT ordered the materials, just asked if they were available. I called him back and tried to fire him for lying. But he said the materials were on the truck … and now it is almost Sept when the rains can start. And by the way, I found out that he needed a permit which he hadn’t gotten. And 2 weeks later he tore off the roof and walked away without covering it. I am still negotiating with the restoration damage people and insurance to cover the $160,000 worth of rain damage that the building and my tenant suffered. And I have paid the most expensive bid to start over and finish the roof, which they have. They gave me a little break on the original price because the roof was mostly gone.
So besides the bid, check the ID, check the contractors board status (most states have it on-line), check with code enforcement in your town to see if he has had violations, ask for references, and check your contract very carefully.
I got 3 bids when I replaced the roof recently. It was before the economy picked up in my area. All three estimates were about same. They didn’t break it down. Now that the economy is picking up I am having tough time getting people out to do anything. I needed to repair wood floor. One person came out and I took the bid to get over with. It was way overpriced. I paid the same to repair 5’x5’ what I paid to refinish 25’x100’, sand and two coats, a couple of years ago.
Ditto that. I distinctly remember a business meeting with our state Registrar of Contractors (their database was built on software I used to sell). OMG the horror stories those guys had about unlicensed contractors! I was actually in the middle of getting bids on building a pool and everyone in the room said, “Don’t use xxx” where xxx is a very large, well-known pool builder in our state! Apparently xxx had a huge number of complaints with that office.
Anyway, at least in my state you can look up a contractor’s license online to verify if it’s valid and IIRC they also list the number of complaints. I used their website regularly when we were getting a lot of work done on the house many years ago.
We asked for insurance and license confirmation up front.
We made the list of what we wanted done…and that included hauling away debris AND cleaning up our yard every single day. No nails or other debris to be left.
The bonus for us was that the roofer got an oversized dumpster and told us we could add whatever to it!
The other thing…get a your warranty info up front. We had a small leak a year later, and our guy was there the next day, and fixed it…that’s good service.
I’ve had 3 roofs replaced, but never from storm damage.
In one case, it was a house we just bought and the roofer came highly recommended from our realtor and several other people. I don’t recall much of a price breakdown, but I know our house was “difficult” because they couldn’t get a dumpster next to the roof and they also had to get a specific historic district permit. It cost about $14,000 and came with a long warranty.
A few years later, we used the same company to re-roof our garage (membrane roof, only slightly sloped) but we got a quote from another highly recommended roofer. The quotes came in only $25 apart! We went with the first company we had used but I’m sure it would have been fine either way. It was about $3500.
Older roofing project - re-roofing, plus “wrapping the eaves”, plus some ice dam thing, plus a 50 year warranty. This one had more price breakdowns but we had a bit of trouble with the roofer. He had “replace plywood sheathing as needed” and that really quickly added up. How much does it cost to nail on a new 4 x 8 sheet of plywood? I called him and he reduced the price for that. It ended up being about $15,000.
I had asked friends, but also asked around on Next Door and called places that had more than 2 people vouching for them.
We had three quotes and I don’t remember a breakdown of costs, but rather a detailed description of what would be done (ie type of shingles to be used). We did not go with the cheapest, but rather the one we felt had the best reputation and had been in business for a long time. We were very happy with them.
And especially after a storm situation make sure the contractor is licensed and gets the proper permits pulled. Way to many people out to make a buck (some without ever doing any work).
Beyond issues finding contractors, consider whether you want a light or dark color roof in the context of how warm or cold it gets in the area the house is in.
In my experience, roof replacement is a fluid process, adjuster and contractor go back and forth several times and often estimates are not too clear. Just pick a reputable local company with good references and usually it’s an easy process, just feels intimidating.
I dealt with the roof replacement this summer. I asked around and got the names of four companies that did jobs in the past few years for people that I know.
All four came out, looked at or walked on the roof. Three of the four provided quotes (one never did) and all three that quoted left folders with the details of the product that they’d provide.
One company left a detailed written quote before they left my house. Two others sent detailed quotes via email.
Mine weren’t vague either and pretty much in line with other quotes I received. Yet, after replacing roofs on few investment properties, it’s clear that numbers can change and additional work may need to be taken care of. Good thing is that homeowners only pay deductible, rest is negotiated with the insurance companies.