Ask Each Roofer Which Subcontractors Will Touch Your House

Most roof bids name one contractor and one total. Very few name the other people who will walk on your property during the job. On a St. Louis house that list can include a gutter installer, a sheet metal shop, a crew that handles chimney flashing, an electrician who moves a mast or a service line, a dumpster company, and a supplier who delivers the shingles. Each one is a separate set of hands in your yard, and each one brings its own insurance, its own schedule, and its own idea of who fixes a mistake. Before you compare totals, it helps to know which of those people are inside the price and which are not.

Why the trade list changes the comparison

Two bids for the same roof can look identical on the first page and still differ by a trade. One roofer may do the gutters with its own crew. Another may quote the roof and leave the gutter line to a separate company that will call you to schedule. The first bid sets one start date. The second may create two, and the second company may not be the one you were talking to when you signed. A bid that does not name its trades leaves you to find out on the day a truck arrives with a crew you did not expect.

The trades also set the order of work. Flashing at a wall, a vent through the roof, and a line that runs near the eave all have to happen in sequence. If one sub arrives before the roofer finishes the surface, you may get a second visit. If the roofer is responsible for the whole sequence, the cost of that second visit falls on the roofer. If you hire each sub directly, the sequencing falls on you. Ask which of these applies, and get the answer in writing.

What a roofer usually subcontracts in St. Louis

Roofing companies in the metro vary in how much they keep in house. Some do all the shingle work with their own crew and bring in outside help only for tasks that need a separate trade. Others subcontract more. The trades that show up most often on a roof job are these:

• Gutters and downspouts, especially where the old run is replaced along with the roof
• Sheet metal work at walls, chimneys, and step flashing that is cut to fit on site
• Electrical work when a mast, service drop, or exterior light has to be moved for the crew
• Dumpster and haul-away service, which may be billed by the roofer or by a separate company
• Shingle and underlayment delivery, which can come from a supplier or a freight carrier
• Chimney crown, masonry repair, or skylight work that sits inside the roof scope

Missouri does not issue a state roofing license, so the trade list cannot be checked against a state register the way some other licenses can. For electrical work, the city or county permit desk may require a licensed electrician to pull the permit. The roofer should say which trades it will use and whether it will pull any permit itself. Do not assume that a roofer's registration covers the people it hires.

What to ask each roofer, in writing

Send the same short list to every roofer you are comparing. The answers should appear in the proposal, not only on the phone.

1. Which trades will work on my property, named individually or described by type of work?
2. Which of those trades are your own employees, and which are hired for this job?
3. Is each subcontractor's price inside your total, or billed to me separately?
4. Who schedules each sub, and who calls me before a sub arrives?
5. Does each sub carry its own liability and workers' compensation coverage, and can I get a certificate for each one before work starts?
6. Who is responsible if a sub damages a gutter, a wall, or a planting bed?

The last question is the one most bids answer vaguely. A clear answer names the party who repairs the damage and the time frame for doing it. A vague answer says the company "will take care of it," which is not a commitment with a date attached.

What the bid should show on paper

A proposal that is complete about subcontractors usually has three features. Each trade appears on its own line or in a clearly labeled section. The price for that trade is either inside the total or marked as a separate allowance. And the proposal says what the roofer will do if a trade runs late, such as rescheduling the roof work around the gutter crew or keeping the roof open until the sheet metal is finished.

Be careful with the word "included." A roof bid can say gutters are included while leaving gutter removal, downspout routing, and disposal of the old run out of the line. Ask the roofer to read the trade list back to you, one line at a time, and to confirm that nothing on it is covered only by implication.

Where a second trade can change your own house

A roofer working near your electric service or your gas line needs to know what is there before anyone starts. An electrician may need to disconnect a mast. A gas line near the roofline may need to be marked. A satellite dish, a security camera, or a porch light may be mounted on the fascia where a sub has to work. Each of these is a second trade that can stop the roof, and each one should appear in the proposal before the crew arrives.

This is also the point to ask who checks the site before work begins. Some roofers walk each sub through the property on the morning of the job. Others leave that to the homeowner. Either approach can work, but the answer should be stated, not assumed. If the answer is "we'll figure it out on the day," that tells you about the schedule, not about your house.

If Keys Roofing is on your list

If you are comparing Keys Roofing with other contractors, send it the same six questions and ask for the answers in the proposal itself. You can call the office at (314) 220-2333 to ask about the trade list on any bid before you choose. Compare the written answers across all of your bids, not the first page of each one.

Questions to send before you choose

Send the six questions above to each roofer on the same day. A roofer that names its trades, states who pays them, and gives you a certificate timeline is easier to hold to a date. A roofer that says the subs are "handled" is asking you to trust a process you cannot see from your yard. Ask for the list now, while the choice is still open.