Compare Which Roof Slope Each Roofer Strips First

Many roofers strip a house from the top down, but few bids say which slope comes off first, and that order decides how long your deck sits bare under the sun, the wind and the afternoon storm. A tear-off that starts on the west slope in July is a different job from one that starts on the north slope in March. When you compare two bids, the sequence is one of the few places where a crew's habits show up on paper, if you ask for it.

Why the first slope matters

Once shingles come off a slope, the roof deck on that slope is the only thing between your attic and the weather. The crew has to put underlayment and new shingles back before the open deck takes water. Roofers call this drying in. A slope that is dried in the same day it was stripped is in good shape. A slope left open overnight with rain in the forecast is a risk, and you carry that risk whether or not the crew mentions it.

St. Louis gives this question real weight. Spring brings fast-moving fronts and afternoon thunderstorms, summer heat softens asphalt and makes a bare deck hot to stand on, and fall brings cold fronts with wind that can lift loose underlayment. Winter adds frost and the freeze thaw cycle. The north slope may stay damp or frosted into late morning while the south slope is already warm and dry. A crew that starts on the south side may be working on a surface that is easier to walk, while a north-side start may need more caution during the first hour.

Wind is the other half of the exposure. A loose sheet of underlayment on an open slope can lift in a gust, and on a long roof plane the crew needs to hold the edges down until the new shingles are nailed. Ask how the crew secures the open edges on a windy day, and whether that step is part of the bid or treated as something the foreman improvises.

The sun side and the shade side

South and west slopes take direct afternoon sun. Shingles on those slopes often show the most sun wear, and during tear-off the sun heats the bare deck and any fresh underlayment. Some roofers take the sun slopes first in the morning so that work is finished before the afternoon heat. Others leave the sun slopes for last so the shade side can go first while the air is cool. Both approaches can be reasonable. What matters is whether the bid says which one the crew uses and why, and whether the plan still fits the forecast on the day the work actually starts.

Ask each roofer which slope comes off first and what the crew does if the forecast changes after the first slope is open. A good answer names a specific slope, names what happens if the weather turns, and says who makes the call, whether that is the foreman on the roof or the office on the phone.

What a sequence looks like in writing

A sequence worth comparing names the slopes in order, says when each one is expected to be dried in, and explains how the crew handles a slope that cannot be finished in one day. It also says how valleys, hips and the chimney area are sequenced with the main slopes, because a valley joins two planes and the order decides which side gets the metal first. If one bid describes stripping the whole house in one push and another describes working one slope at a time, the two bids are not describing the same exposure.

Check whether the bid also says how shingle bundles are staged. Bundles stacked on a slope that has not been stripped add weight and get in the way of the crew. The staging plan and the slope order should agree with each other, and a bid that answers one but not the other has left a gap.

Questions to put to each roofer

• Which slope comes off first, and why that one?
• Is each slope dried in before the crew leaves for the day, or can an open slope be left overnight?
• What does the crew do if rain is forecast after the first slope is open?
• Who decides when to stop the tear-off, and how will you hear about it?
• How are valleys, hips and the chimney area sequenced with the main slopes?
• How are open edges secured on a windy day?
• Will the slope order be written into the scope you sign?

What to write on your comparison sheet

Give slope order its own row on your comparison sheet. Write the first slope each roofer names, whether that slope is on the sun side or the shade side, the dry-in rule they state, and their rule for a changed forecast. Two bids may both promise a same-day dry-in, but only one may say what happens on an afternoon when a storm line is forty minutes out. That answer tells you what the crew will do on a day you are not there to watch, which is often more useful than a general promise.

If you want a second look at the order before you sign, call Keys at (314) 220-2333 and ask us to walk the sequence against your roof. We will explain what we would do on your house and why, and we can put that answer in writing if you ask. Set it beside the other bids. The answer that gives a reason, and that changes when the weather changes, is the one to weigh most carefully.