A Disputed Line on Your Roof Bid Should Get a Written Answer

A homeowner with two or three roof bids on the table usually finds one line that does not match the others. It might be the tear-off count, the drip edge, the starter course, the dumpster, or a single flashing item. The argument over that one line often stalls the whole comparison, because each bid seems to answer a different question. This page covers what to do with that one line before you pick a roofer.

Roofer comparison

Start by pulling the disputed line out of every bid and putting it on its own sheet. Copy the wording exactly as it appears, along with the page number and the date on the proposal. Then write one question that every roofer will answer: what does this line include, what does it leave out, and what quantity or length does the price assume?

Send that question to each roofer in writing and ask for the answer in writing. A phone call can be fast, but it leaves nothing you can lay beside the other answers next month. Ask that the reply come back by email with the roofer's company name and the date, or on company letterhead. A spoken answer is a starting point, not a document.

Keep the question neutral. Do not tell one roofer what another bid says, and do not ask whether a competitor is cheaper. Ask what the line means on the roof in front of you. That keeps each answer tied to the property instead of to a price race.

When the answers arrive, check three things. First, does the roofer state a quantity, such as linear feet of drip edge or the number of squares of underlayment, or does the answer stay general? Second, does the roofer say what happens if the real quantity on the roof is higher or lower than assumed? Third, is the answer attributed to someone who will be on the job? A reply that says only drip edge is included tells you almost nothing. A reply that gives a linear footage taken from the roof measurement, and says that any added footage is billed at the unit rate on the proposal, lets you compare it to the other bids.

Once you have the answers, lay them side by side. If one roofer has written a quantity and another has written only a word, the comparison is not fair yet. The next step is to ask the second roofer for the quantity, not to assume their price is lower.

What it costs

A written answer usually costs nothing extra when the roofer already measured the roof for the bid. If the roofer must return to the property to measure again before answering, that return visit may carry a charge, and the charge should appear in writing before the visit happens. Ask the question by phone or email first, and only then decide whether a second trip is needed.

The disputed line is often a line that is cheap to leave out and expensive to add later. Drip edge, starter course, ice and water membrane at the eave, and the metal at valleys all look small on a proposal. In St. Louis, the freeze thaw cycle pushes water into any seam that lacks a continuous edge, and ice damming at the eave shows up on the first hard cold snap after a roof goes on. A bid that drops one of these lines to lower its total may only move the cost to a repair call a season later.

Permits add their own cost questions. Municipal permit desks across St. Louis County ask for different information about a roof replacement, and the scope on the proposal is often the document a desk or inspector compares to the finished work. If one bid describes the work vaguely, the permit paperwork may describe it differently from what the crew understands. Ask each roofer whether the proposal you receive will match what they file, and whether any permit fee sits inside the price or outside it.

Do not treat an excluded line as a discount. If a roofer says a line is not included, ask what that same line would cost if you requested it later in writing. That number is the real difference between two bids, and it is the number you need when you compare totals.

What to ask

Use this list for the disputed line, then keep the answers in one folder with the dated proposals.

• What exact quantity, length, count or area does this line assume?
• Where on the roof does this line start and stop, and does the photo file show it?
• What happens to the price if the measured quantity turns out higher once the old roof is off?
• Is this line a fixed price, a unit price, or billed as time and materials?
• If the line is metal, which material, gauge or thickness is named?
• Who on your job will check this line before the crew leaves the roof that day?
• Will this answer go into the signed contract, or into an addendum the contract refers to?

Keep the written answers with the proposals they belong to. If a question goes unanswered, note that in the file. An unanswered line is a fact about that bid, and it belongs in the comparison next to the answered ones.

Keys Roofing can be reached at (314) 220-2333 if you want to ask about a line on a bid you already hold. Have the proposal, the page number and the exact wording of the line in front of you when you call.