Narrow to Two Roofers by Their Answers, Not Their Prices

Most homeowners in St. Louis gather three or four roofing quotes and then start with the totals. That order makes price the first thing you weigh, and it is usually the weakest thing to trust at that stage. A number on a page can come from a different scope, a different shingle, or a different idea of what a tear-off includes. The answers a roofer gives to plain questions tell you more about the job they will actually run, so it makes sense to narrow the field on answers first and bring the prices back in once you have two names left.

Write the answers down before you reopen the bids

Before you reread any quote, take a single sheet and list the five or six questions that matter most to you. For a St. Louis house, that list often includes who will be on the roof, how the crew handles a rainy morning, what happens to the old shingles, and who you call when something goes wrong after the final walk. Put each roofer's name across the top. Then fill in what each one said, in their words where you can remember them, with the date of the conversation. A roofer who answered on the phone and a roofer who answered by email should both get a line, even if the answers do not match yet.

The point of the sheet is not to score anyone. It is to make sure the questions you cared about on the first call are still visible when you are tired and the totals are sitting side by side. Homeowners who skip this step often find that the cheapest bid came with answers they never thought to ask for, and by then the cheap number has already set their expectations.

Where a vague answer shows up

Vague answers tend to cluster in a few places. Ask who will be on your roof on day one and the reply may name a foreman without naming a crew. Ask how a freeze and thaw cycle affects the start date and you may hear that they will watch the weather, which tells you nothing about how the crew decides to stop. Ask about the permit card and the reply may be a shrug. None of these answers is automatically disqualifying, but each one marks a place where the job could drift once the trucks arrive.

When an answer is vague, do not treat the vagueness as a no. Ask the same question again in writing, and note how long the reply takes and whether it matches the first answer. A roofer who sends a clear paragraph within a day is giving you a different kind of information from one who sends a single sentence that restates your question back to you.

Hail season and the questions that repeat

Hail season in the St. Louis area runs through the spring and early summer, and many homeowners start looking for a roofer right after a storm. That timing puts pressure on the comparison. A busy roofer may give quick answers that are not complete, and a slow one may give complete answers that arrive too late for your decision. Either way, note the timing as data. How fast a roofer responds is part of the answer you are comparing.

It also helps to ask the same core questions in the same order to every roofer on your list. When the questions shift from one call to the next, the replies stop being comparable, and you end up comparing your own memory of each conversation instead of the roofers. A short script of five or six questions, read aloud or sent by email, keeps the comparison honest.

Cutting the list to two

Once your sheet is filled in, sort the roofers into three groups. The first group is the roofers whose answers were clear and consistent. The second group is roofers who were clear but raised a concern you cannot ignore. The third group is roofers whose answers stayed vague after a second ask. Most homeowners end up with one or two names in the first group. If you have only one, keep one more name in the running so that you still have something to compare against, but do not pad the list with someone whose answers you already doubt.

For the final two, write one sentence for each roofer that starts with "I am choosing" or "I am setting aside" and gives the answer that decided it. A reason you can state in one sentence is a reason you can defend later, whether to a spouse, to a lender, or to yourself when a question comes up in the middle of the job.

Bring the prices back in last

Now the totals belong on the table. Check that both bids cover the same scope, the same shingle line, the same tear-off, and the same disposal of the old roof. Keys documents damage, puts a written scope with photos and measurements in the homeowner's hands, and attends as the contractor while the homeowner deals with their own insurer. If a bid you are comparing says something different about any of those points, that is a reason to ask before you compare totals. Missouri law bars a roofing contractor from representing or negotiating a homeowner's insurance claim, so a bid that promises to handle the insurer should raise a question on its own.

If the prices still differ after the scope lines up, ask each roofer to walk you through where the gap comes from. Labor hours, material choices, and crew size all move the total, and a clear answer on any of them is part of the comparison you already started. A gap you can explain line by line is a gap you can judge. A gap that nobody can explain is a reason to keep asking.

Questions to take to the final call

• Who will be on the roof each day, and who is the lead?
• What happens to the job if rain stops the work on a morning that is already scheduled?
• Where does the old roof go, and who signs for the disposal?
• Who do I call after the final walk if something is wrong?
• Can you put the answer to each of these in writing before I sign?

If you want to talk through your list, Keys can be reached at (314) 220-2333. Bring your sheet with you, and the answers you already have will be easier to check against the written scope.