Ask Every St. Louis Roofer the Same Questions in the Same Order

Two roofers can answer the same question correctly and still leave you with a comparison that tells you nothing, because the answers came in different orders. One roofer walks you through the tear-off before you have asked about the deck. Another starts with price and gets to the crew later. By the time you have both answers, you are not comparing the same two bids. You are comparing two conversations. This page is about fixing that before you sign anything.

The method is simple. Write a fixed list of questions, ask every roofer on your shortlist the same ones, and keep them in the same sequence. Log the answers as they come, with the date. Then compare the answers line by line. If you are still early in the process, the list below will give you a starting point. If you already have bids in hand, the log will show you where the gaps are.

Roofer comparison

Start by deciding what counts as a comparable answer. A roofer who says the crew will be on site by seven and a roofer who says the crew will start when the materials land have not given you two versions of the same fact. Write each question so that a yes, a number, a name or a date is the only acceptable kind of answer. Words like "usually" and "we try" go in the log as hedges, not as answers.

Keep the sequence fixed for every roofer. Put the questions about the crew first, then the materials, then the tear-off and disposal, then the schedule, then payment. This matters because a roofer who has already talked through the crew will often answer the schedule question more directly, and a roofer who has been asked about payment first may get defensive when you reach the crew. Fixing the order removes that from the comparison, so the difference in answers is more likely to come from the roofers themselves.

Write down the time of each call and the time of each reply. If you send a written question by email, note when it was sent and when the answer arrived. Gaps in reply time are data. A roofer who answers the crew question in twenty minutes and the payment question in four days has told you something about how the job will be run once it is on the calendar.

Give every roofer the same starting facts. Send the same address, the same roof description and the same photos. If one roofer measured the roof from a satellite image and another walked it, the bids will differ for reasons that have nothing to do with their workmanship. Note which method each roofer used, and place the measurement questions in the same position on your list every time.

What it costs

The log itself costs nothing, but the time it takes is real. A workable sheet has one row per question and one column per roofer. Keep the cells short. A number, a yes or no, a name, or the word "unclear" is enough. Put longer answers in a notes column. When you compare totals later, the log will show which price differences come from the same scope and which come from different ones.

Expect the log to change the price conversation. A roofer asked to name the crew size may give a number that makes the bid look different from the one you had in mind. A roofer asked when the shingles arrive may give a date that moves the start by a week. None of that changes the price on paper yet, but it is a cost difference you will feel once the job is underway. St. Louis winters make this sharper. A start in late October and a start in March can carry different cold-weather assumptions, and those assumptions belong in the log next to the price.

Do not treat a missing answer as a zero. If one roofer does not address tear-off disposal, the bid may still be correct, but the comparison is incomplete. Leave that cell blank, ask the question again in writing, and record the reply. If the answer comes back vague, the vagueness is part of the comparison too.

What to ask

Ask these in the same order with every roofer on your list. Each one should be answered with a fact you can write down.

1. Who will be on the roof on the first day, and who is the lead on site?
2. What is the shingle product and the color name, and where will the bundles wait before they go up?
3. How many days does the tear-off take in your estimate, and where does the first day stop?
4. Where does the old roof go, and who pays the landfill charge if the load is heavier than expected?
5. What start date can you commit to in writing, and what happens if the permit desk is slow to respond?
6. What is the payment schedule, and what is due at each step?
7. Who do I call after the final walk if something is not right?

Put the answers in the sheet as they come. Do not reword the questions between roofers. If a roofer asks you to clarify, answer in one sentence and read the same clarification to the next roofer. Writing each question the same way keeps the comparison honest.

Once every roofer has answered, read across each row before you look at totals. A row where one roofer says yes, one says no, and one says it depends is the row to call back on. Call the roofer back with the same question, in writing, and note whether the answer moved. An answer that changes between calls is more useful than one that never changes, because it shows you where the bid is still soft.

Keep the log open until you sign. Add a line for every change to the scope, with the date and who requested it. If a roofer sends a revised bid, note its version. Your comparison stops being useful the moment the bids you are reading no longer match the bids you asked about.

When the answers stop changing

There is a point where the log has enough to decide. You will recognize it because every row has an answer from every roofer, the hedge words have been replaced with facts, and a second round of the same questions returns the same answers. At that point the comparison is finished, and the choice becomes a judgment about which roofer you trust to do what the log says. If you want to talk through the sheet before you decide, the Keys office line is (314) 220-2333.