Hiring a roofer to replace asphalt roof

In My Humble Opinion
1

I’m in the process of getting quotes to replace my roof because it is leaking. I’m looking for any tips that I should look for to weed out the bad contractors. So far, I have contacted four roofers and have quotes from two of them.
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Roofer/Carpenter #1:** applied a patch to my roof about 3 years ago and I was happy with their work. At the time they said the entire roof should be replaced soon. The quote is for $7,300 and includes the replacement of two skylights, but the quote isn’t very specific and doesn’t mention the brand of shingles or the brand of skylight. The job includes underlayment, ice shield, flashing, and removal of old roof and debris. He did not inspect the roof or measure anything like I had expected him to. So I’m confused how he can quote the work by seemingly ballparking the roof size.

Roofer #2: Quoted $8,700 for essentially the same work, but does provide a few more specifics, such as Timberline shingles and Veluxe (presumably should be Velux) skylights. The job includes underlayment, ice shield, flashing, and removal of old roof and debris. But this guy also didn’t go on my roof or measure anything as far as I know. He dropped off shingle samples when I wasn’t home one day and scheduled a time to stop by, but never showed up. He emailed me the quote only after I asked if he was still interested in quoting the job.

Roofer #3 Wanted to come out on a Saturday “morning”, but I said I may not be there because I had a kids birthday party to go to. He didn’t seem interested in another time and I never heard back. It’s been about 10 days since I last spoke to them.

Roofer #4 Just reached out to them yesterday and haven’t heard back yet, so I’ll see what happens.

My Concerns:
[ul]
[li]Shouldn’t they examine my roof and measure it to provide an accurate quote?[/li][li]Why are they assuming the skylights need replacement, they never saw them.[/li][li]Both of these quotes are much less than I was expecting. My neighbors roof (same model home) cost about $12,500 a couple years ago. They used a large contractor with a sales department that I would prefer not to use.[/li][li]It’s the dead of winter and I’m concerned about the new shingles cracking during installation. They said as long as it’s above 40 degrees, it should be fine. Is that accurate?[/li][li]Shouldn’t the quote provide more specific information? Such as the amount of material and the dimensions and model of the skylight? Or a time frame for getting the work completed.[/li][li]It pretty much looks like no one wants the job as I’ve had to wave my money at them just to get a half-assed quote.[/li][/ul]

This all reminds me of when we bought the house 10 years and the inspector that I hired used binoculars to examine the roof instead of going on it. I’m very puzzled that these quotes are so much cheaper than I had anticipated.

2

Guys who have been doing this kind of work can usually eyeball pretty good. If there there are house in the neighborhood who have similar or identical floor pans, they might have the numbers right there. I’ve done some roofing, but not for pay in many years. I’ve helped a couple of neighbors with this, and $100 per square is about right. Make sure you are quoted the same shingles, so you get a decent comparison. Roofing seems to be whatever the traffic will bear, so quotes are going to be all over the place. I got a quote last year on some good quality shingles, just under $100 per square. I have a long time friend who has a roofing company. I referred him to a friend of ours. He gave her a quote, of almost 8000. She found out her neighbors, with an identical home had it done for 4400. Small homes. I asked my “friend “ about the quote, he got angry, he says he quotes everything high, he is going to make as much as he can off everybody. I won’t be referring folks to him.

3

Also, the shingles now are fiberglass, and less likely to crack when cold. If you live in a real windy area, ask about putting 6 nails per shingle, the standard is 4.

4

Thanks for the info. It seemed odd that they wouldn’t look at the roof, but I guess if they just need an approximate size they can find the house information on Zillow or other property sites.

5

I had my roof replaced a year ago, and they replaced my asphalt shingles with new asphalt shingles. Roofing with asphalt shingles is alive and well. :smiley: