How Long Each Roofer's Price Holds When Shingles Run Short

A shingle price on a St. Louis roof bid is usually a snapshot of one day. The number on the page reflects what the supplier charged that week, and the paper you sign decides who carries the risk if that number moves before the bundles reach your driveway. When two bids land a few weeks apart in late winter, the gap often has less to do with the crew than with how long each price is allowed to stand. This page is for the homeowner who has two or three numbers in hand and wants to know which one will still mean what it says on the day the shingles are needed.

Roofer comparison

Start by writing down, for each roofer, two dates: the date printed at the top of the bid, and the date the roofer says the shingle price was last checked against supplier cost. These are different dates. A bid can be dated in January and still carry a price pulled from a supplier list that changed in March. Ask each roofer to point to the line that names the shingle product, the color, and the date the number was drawn from. If the answer is a shrug or a verbal promise, mark it as a blank cell in your sheet rather than a yes.

Next, ask what happens if the named product is not available on the install date. Keys installs Atlas and Malarkey shingles only, so a substitution would have to come from one of those two lines, and the written answer should say which shade or product would be offered and whether the price would change. A roofer who answers with a brand you have not heard of, or who cannot name a fallback, has given you a comparison point. Write that down beside the price.

Finally, compare the window each roofer gives. Some bids hold a price for a fixed number of days from the date of the proposal. Others hold the price until the homeowner signs, then reprice the materials at the day of delivery. A third version holds the price only if the start date stays inside a stated month. Each version can be fair, but they are not the same contract, and they should not be compared as though they were.

What it costs

A short-lot event rarely shows up as one large line on a bid. It shows up as a change in the shingle unit price, a delivery fee, or a note that the crew will wait on a second truck. When you compare totals, subtract the shingle line from each bid and compare what remains. The remainder should be close across roofers if the labor and tear-off scope match. If one bid is much lower only because its shingle line is priced on an old date, the gap will close after signing, and it will close in the roofer's favor.

Ask each roofer for the shingle line by itself, expressed per square and for the total number of squares on your roof. A per-square price lets you check the math when a delivery arrives and the count of bundles on the truck does not match the bid. It also lets you ask what the price would become if the order were split across two deliveries, which some suppliers charge for and some do not. A roofer who will not give the shingle line per square is making the price harder to test later.

Watch for the word allowance. Some bids carry a shingle allowance, which is a number that stands in for the material until the actual product is chosen. An allowance can be useful for planning, but it is not a price. If your bid uses one, ask what happens when the actual product costs more or less than the allowance, and whether the difference is billed at cost or at a markup. Write the answer on the same sheet as the price so the two stay together.

What to ask

Ask each roofer these questions in the same order, and write the answers in the words they use. Ask which date the shingle price was last verified. Ask which product line is named in the bid and whether a substitute is allowed. Ask whether the price holds until a specific calendar date, until the signature, or until the materials are delivered. Ask what the roofer will do, in writing, if the named product is out of stock when the crew is scheduled. Ask whether any delivery, handling, or restocking charge sits outside the shingle line.

If a roofer tells you the price is locked but cannot tell you the date it locks to, ask for that date in writing before you choose. If the answer comes back as a phone call, send a short email that repeats the question and asks for a reply by a stated day. The reply itself is part of the comparison. A roofer who answers the same question the same way in writing has given you something you can hold them to.

Ask whether the crew will be scheduled against the shingle delivery, or whether the delivery will be scheduled against the crew. Those are different plans. In the first, a late truck moves the crew. In the second, a late truck moves the start date, and the bid should say how far the date can move before the price changes. Ask each roofer how many days a delayed delivery is allowed to run before a new price is offered.

When the lot runs short

If a product does run short after you sign, the paper decides the next step, not the mood of the call. Read the bid and contract for three things: who chooses the substitute, who approves it, and who pays the difference. A contract that says the homeowner must approve any substitute in writing gives you a clear point of control. A contract that allows the roofer to substitute at its discretion gives you much less. Neither is automatically unfair, but you should know which one you signed before the truck arrives.

Shade is the part most homeowners check last and regret most. A replacement bundle can look close in the box and different on the roof, especially on a street where the house beside yours has weathered for years. Ask each roofer to show you the substitute shade on a sample before it goes on, and to note the lot number on the wrapper. Write the lot number in your file. If the roof needs a repair years from now, the number will tell a future roofer what they are matching.

Keep a dated log of every message about the shingle price, from the first estimate to the day the bundles land. Keep the emails, the texts, and the notes from each call in one folder. If the price changes, the log tells you when the change was first mentioned, whether you were told before the order was placed, and what you agreed to. A log is not a legal document, but it is the most useful record you can keep while the schedule is moving.

When two roofers quote close numbers and one holds its price only until a fixed date while the other holds until delivery, the comparison is not a tie. Write both terms beside the totals, and ask each roofer to explain the difference in one sentence. The answer you get will tell you more about how the roofer handles a short lot than any sales page will.