Friday Handoffs: What Each Roofer Writes Before the Weekend

A roofing crew that leaves for the weekend with part of the roof stripped has made a decision you will live with until Monday. Few homeowners ever see that decision written down. The crew lead decides whether to tarp, how the tarp is anchored, whether the last course is nailed off or left open, whether the dumpster stays in the drive, and whether anyone calls you before the rain arrives. When you compare roofers, the Friday handoff is a test that takes one afternoon and shows how a company thinks about the hours nobody is on the roof.

Why Friday matters in St. Louis

St. Louis weather does not follow a crew's schedule. Spring and fall storms can roll in from the west with an hour's notice, and a summer thunderstorm can drop an inch of rain before a tarp is square on the ridge. A freeze that arrives Saturday night on a roof with underlayment exposed and no shingles over it leaves the deck wet and cold by morning. Freeze and thaw cycles lift loose tabs and work at nail holes, so an open deck that sat through a cold night needs a check before the crew walks it again.

The handoff is not a safety speech. It is a short written note that answers three questions: what is open, what covers it, and who you call if something moves. A roofer who writes that note every Friday is describing a routine. A roofer who says "we'll take care of it" is describing a hope, and you have no way to check a hope on Saturday morning.

Roofer comparison

Put each roofer's answer into the same columns so you can line them up. Use five rows: the open area in squares, the covering used over the open area and who placed it, the phone number for the crew lead on Saturday and Sunday, the time of the Monday start, and the time of the last walk on Friday. A blank cell is an answer too, and it tells you the roofer did not think the question applied to their company.

Ask each roofer for a sample handoff note from a past job, with the customer's name and address removed. Compare the samples side by side. One note might list the open squares, the tarp type, the number of sandbags or straps at the corners, and the name of the person who walked the roof last. Another might say only "tarped, see you Monday." The first is a record you can check against the roof later. The second is a promise you have to take on trust.

Ask how the note is delivered. Some companies send it by email to the homeowner. Others text a photo to a phone number that belongs to the crew lead. Some keep it only in the crew's file and tell the homeowner it exists if they ask. Each method can work, but the homeowner should know which one applies before the crew leaves the lot on the first day.

Keys Roofing can be asked the same questions as any other company you are comparing. Ask for a sample note before you sign, and ask who receives the original. Keys can be reached at (314) 220-2333 if you want to request one before you decide.

What it costs

The handoff itself usually does not add a separate line to a bid, because writing a note is part of running the day. A few items sit close to it, however, and they are often priced apart. A tarp and the labor to set it can be a line of its own, sometimes priced per tarp and sometimes folded into the per-square rate. A return visit to re-tarp after wind is a separate trip in most bids, and some companies show it as a fixed charge. An extra dumpster day, needed because the bin has to stay through a weekend when the crew cannot haul, can add a rental day to the total.

Ask whether a weekend tarp is included in the price or billed as an extra item. Ask what happens if rain arrives Friday night and the crew has to come back Saturday morning. A roofer who says the tarp is included should be able to point to the line in the bid. A roofer who says it depends should be able to name exactly what it depends on, such as the number of open squares or the forecast.

Compare the standby rate too, if one is quoted. A standby day is a day when the crew is on the schedule but cannot work because of weather, materials, or access. Some bids pay the crew for standby days and bill them to the job. Others bill only for days worked and absorb the rest. Write both answers on the comparison sheet before you compare totals, because a bid with a lower total can carry more standby exposure than one that looks higher on paper.

Shingle deliveries that arrive late in the week also raise costs if they sit on the drive over a weekend. Ask who pays a re-delivery fee if the bundles have to be moved, and whether any bundle is staged on your property overnight. Atlas and Malarkey shingles are the only lines Keys installs, so ask each roofer which line they plan to use and where those bundles will wait between Friday and Monday.

What to ask

Ask each roofer these questions in the same order, and write the answer beside each question so you can compare the replies later.

1. What is still open on the roof at the end of the last working day, measured in squares and not in "about half"?
2. How is the open area covered, how is the covering anchored, and who checks the anchors before the crew leaves?
3. Who walks the roof on Saturday and Sunday when rain or wind is forecast, and who calls you if the covering moves?
4. What is the Monday start time, and does it change if the crew has to re-tarp or re-check the deck?
5. Where does the handoff note go after it is written, and how do you receive it?
6. Where are any shingle bundles staged overnight, and who is responsible for them if rain or a delivery mix-up occurs?

Mark any answer that comes back as "we'll see" or "usually." A roofer who can answer the first question with a number has looked at the roof that day. A roofer who cannot has not, and you should note that before you weigh the price.

Finally, ask for the name of the person who signs the note. If the answer is the same person who runs the Monday crew, the note is in the hands of the one who will do the next day's work. If it is an office staffer who never climbs a ladder, ask how that person learns what is open on the roof and how quickly the information reaches the crew.

Reading the answers side by side

Once each roofer has answered, lay the replies next to each other and look for the gaps. A missing time, a phone number that goes to a voicemail with no name on it, or a tarp described without any mention of anchoring tells you more than a small difference in price. Two roofers can quote nearly the same total and leave very different roofs open on the same Friday. The useful comparison is not which company sounds more confident. It is which company wrote down what it would leave for you over a weekend, and which one only described it.

Keep the notes in one folder with the bids and the contracts. If a roofer's Friday note turns out to be incomplete on Monday, the written sample you collected before signing is the document you can point to.