Ask Each Roofer Who Makes the Done Call and What They Say

When a roof is finished, most homeowners hear from the roofer one more time. It is usually a call that comes after the crew has loaded out and before the final check clears. That call is easy to skip in a comparison, because every roofer on your list will say they call when the job is done. The useful questions are who makes that call, what they say on it, and whether anything they say ends up in writing. Two roofers can promise the same closing call and deliver very different follow-ups.

Roofer comparison

Ask each roofer to name the person who makes the done call. Some will say the lead installer, some the office manager, some the owner. None of those answers is wrong by itself, but the name tells you where accountability sits after the crew leaves your street. A lead installer knows the roof but may not control the billing. An office manager controls the invoice but may never have walked your attic. Write each answer in the same column of your comparison sheet, and note whether the named person is also the one who answers the phone while the job is open. If the done caller and the daytime contact are two different people who have never spoken about your house, that gap is worth recording.

Then ask how the call is scheduled. A roofer who says "we will call when it is done" has not answered the question. Ask whether they call the day the final nail goes in, the day after, or only after the final walkthrough is signed. The timing matters in St. Louis because a roof can be finished on a Friday while the permit inspection waits for the next available slot at the municipal permit desk. In much of St. Louis County, the inspection may be booked days out, and a done call placed before the inspection closes can sound complete when it is not. The call should say which steps have happened and which are still open.

Ask also what the caller is allowed to tell you. A good done call covers the crew's final count of squares, what was cleaned up in the yard and the gutters, which vents, pipe boots and flashings were replaced, and what happens next with the permit card. It should not be a sales pitch, and it should not be the first time you hear about a change. If the caller mentions a cost that was not on the written scope, that is a change order question, and it belongs in writing before you pay anything further.

What it costs

The done call itself costs nothing, but the gaps it exposes can cost money. Suppose the roofer's office calls the Thursday after the crew left, and the caller says the drip edge at one rake was left off the job. You need to know whether that item is inside the contract price or whether a separate line will follow. Ask each roofer whether any work discovered at the done call is billed separately, and whether that answer appears in the signed contract. Keep the price question apart from the schedule question so the answers do not blur together.

Ask how the final payment connects to the call. Some contracts tie the last payment to a signed completion form. Others tie it to the date the permit is closed, or to a fixed number of days after the final walk. If the done call happens before the inspection is closed, the homeowner may be asked to sign a completion statement before the city has signed off on the work. That order matters. Compare how each roofer places the call relative to the payment step, and write down which document you are signing when you hear from them.

Winter adds a cost that summer jobs do not carry. A roof finished in late November may get its done call weeks after the crew leaves, because the final walk waits for a dry day and the permit desk runs on a shorter schedule. Freeze and thaw cycles can also reveal a loose ridge cap or a lifted starter strip after the crew is gone. Ask each roofer who answers that call in a cold week, and whether a return visit for a freeze-related item carries a charge. A roofer who has not thought about the question will usually say so, which is itself information for your comparison sheet.

What to ask

Put these questions to each roofer, in this order, and write the answers in the same words for every bid:

1. Who makes the done call, and what is that person's role on the job?
2. How many days after the last nail does the call happen, and is that before or after the permit inspection?
3. Which items will the call confirm, such as the cleanup, the vent count, the flashing work and the final square count?
4. If the call finds a problem, who calls you back, and by what date?
5. Is the final payment tied to the call, to a signed completion form, or to the permit close?
6. Where does the call get written down, and will you receive a copy the same day?

If a roofer cannot answer the fourth question with a name and a date, weigh that answer heavily. A roofer who will not commit to a callback date after a finished job is telling you how a later problem will be handled. Ask for the answer by email, not only on the phone, and keep it in the same file as the rest of your comparison. A verbal promise made at the end of a job is easy to forget and hard to prove.

Once you have the answers, call the office number on each roofer's paperwork and see whether the person who answers gives the same account. Keys Roofing's office line is (314) 220-2333. The same six questions can be put to any roofer on your list, and the answers can be checked against each other. The goal is not to find the most reassuring voice. The goal is to find the roofer whose answers stay the same from the first call to the last, and whose done call matches what the contract and the permit card actually say.