Keep Each Roofer's Answer Beside the Question It Answers

A comparison sheet fails in a quiet way. You write a column for each roofer, fill it with short phrases like good crew or fast reply, and a few weeks later you cannot tell which phrase came from which question. The fix is to keep each roofer's answer beside the exact question it answers, close to their own words, with the date you asked and the date they replied. Then the sheet shows what was asked and what came back, and you can check it when a number changes.

This matters most when you are deciding between two or three roofers who all sound reasonable on the phone. Most homeowners remember the feeling of a good call more than the content of it. A written pair of question and answer holds up better than memory, and it lets you see where one roofer answered a different question than the one you asked.

Roofer comparison

Set the sheet up with four columns before you talk to anyone. The first column holds the question exactly as you wrote it. The second column holds the date you sent or asked it. The next columns are one per roofer, and each cell holds that roofer's reply in their words as close as you can get them. If you took the reply by phone, write down that it was a phone call and what time it was. A phone answer is still an answer, but it is weaker evidence than a written one, and the sheet should make that visible.

Put the questions in the same order for every roofer. Changing the order changes the answers, because a roofer who hears a question about the tear-off after a question about price tends to frame the tear-off as a cost. Keep the same wording too. If you ask one roofer how many days the job takes and another how long the crew stays on the roof, you are comparing two different facts, and the sheet will look like a disagreement when it is only a gap in what you asked.

Leave the cell empty when a roofer does not answer. An empty cell is information. It means the question did not get a reply, and that is worth noting in the same way you would note a wrong number. Do not fill empty cells with what you assume they meant. If a roofer answers with a question of their own, copy the question into the cell, mark the time, and then ask the original question again in writing.

Watch for replies that answer the spirit of the question and skip the part you cared about. A roofer asked which shingle line goes on the roof might say a quality architectural shingle, which is true for almost any bid and tells you nothing about the product name. Write the product name into the cell only if the roofer gave one. For Keys Roofing, the shingles are Atlas or Malarkey, so a reply that names a different brand is a reply you should question in writing.

St. Louis conditions give you specific questions to keep side by side. Ask each roofer how they handle the freeze and thaw cycle on an open roof, what they do with the ridge when a cold snap comes in mid-job, and how they plan for hail season, which runs through the spring and early summer. The answers will differ, and the differences are what you are comparing. Keep the question on the same row so the reply for each roofer sits in front of you.

What it costs

The sheet itself costs nothing. A notebook page, a spreadsheet, or a shared document each does the job. What it costs is time, mostly the time you spend asking the same questions the same way and writing the answers down before you forget them. Plan for a short block for each roofer, not a long one for all of them at once. If you are asking eight questions per roofer, a single phone call or a single email exchange usually covers most of them.

Some answers will cost the roofer time too. A written reply to a specific question about the scope may take them an hour or a day to put together. That is a normal request. A roofer who takes a week to answer a single question, or who will only answer by phone and never in writing, is telling you something about how the job will be run. Note the reply time in the date column. A slow reply is a data point, and so is a refusal.

The sheet can also show you a cost you had not priced. When a reply says the crew will need a dumpster swap, a second ladder setup, or a day held for a second visit, that work belongs on the bid as a line with a price, or it belongs in the contract as a stated condition. If a roofer's answer to a question about access or staging does not match the bid total, write that mismatch in the cell and ask which one is right. Do not add the cost in your head and assume it is included.

Keep the price out of the answer cells. The point of the sheet is to see what each roofer said about the work, not to compare numbers in the same row. Prices belong in a separate table you build after the answers are complete. A roofer whose price is low but whose answers are vague may cost you more later, and seeing the answers first makes that clearer.

Missouri law limits what a roofer can do with a homeowner's insurance claim. A roofer may not represent or negotiate your insurance claim, and may not say anything about paying, waiving or covering your deductible, under RSMo 407.725. If a question on your sheet touches your claim, a roofer can document the damage, provide a written scope with photos and measurements, and attend as the contractor while you deal with your own insurer. A roofer who offers to handle the claim for you is making an offer the statute forbids, and that reply belongs in the sheet as a warning.

What to ask

Build the sheet from a short list of questions that each roofer answers in the same order. The list below is a workable starting set. Copy each question exactly, then record each reply under the roofer's name with the date.

1. Who will be the lead installer on your roof, and how long have they worked roofs in the St. Louis area?

2. What is the start date you can commit to in writing, and what would move it?

3. How does the crew protect the ground, the plants and the walk while the tear-off is open?

4. What happens to the roof at the end of a workday if weather turns?

5. Which written document will you give me at the final walk, and when?

6. Who answers my calls while the roof is open, and what is the office number for that?

After the list, go back to any cell that says something general, such as we handle that or it is covered. Ask the roofer to name where in the written scope the item appears. If the answer is a page number or a line on the bid, write it down. If the answer is a restatement of the general claim, mark the cell as unresolved. Call the roofer back where the answer went vague, and record the second reply in its own column so both are visible.

Check each cell against the others before you decide anything. If two roofers give you different answers to the same fact, such as the number of days on site or the material delivery window, log both answers and ask each roofer to confirm theirs in writing. Do not pick the answer you like better. The sheet is for finding out which roofer will give you a straight answer when you ask a plain question, and that is worth more than any single reply.

When the sheet is full, read it row by row, not roofer by roofer. Reading across a question shows you how the roofers differ on that question. Reading down one roofer's column shows you how they answered everything, which is useful too, but it hides the comparison you came to make. Once a question has the same kind of answer from every roofer, you can decide. If you still have a row where every roofer is vague, that is a question to ask again, not a reason to choose the cheapest bid.

If you want Keys Roofing to answer one of these questions in writing, call the office at (314) 220-2333 and say which row you are working on. Ask for the reply in writing and keep the date it arrives beside the question on your sheet.