Score Each Roofer on Five Questions You Wrote

Many homeowners compare roofers by looking at the number at the bottom and picking the one that seems lowest or easiest to trust. The trouble is that each roofer answers different questions, in a different order, so the numbers rarely line up. Before you call anyone back, write five questions of your own. Ask the same five of every roofer, and score each written answer on the same scale. That keeps the comparison about the roof rather than about who sounded surest on the phone.

Roofer comparison

Good questions are specific enough that a vague answer stands out. For a St. Louis house, that usually means asking how the tear-off is protected if a storm comes up in the middle of the day, how the roof is designed around the freeze and thaw cycle at the eaves, how ice damming is addressed at the lower edge, which permit desk will hold the job, and what the written scope says about valleys, chimney flashing and penetrations. You do not need twenty questions. Five questions asked the same way let you see where each roofer is precise and where they hedge.

Write each question on its own line, and leave room beside it for a score. A simple scale works. Give a 2 for a specific answer that is in writing, a 1 for an answer given only out loud, and a 0 for no answer or a change of subject. Score the answer, not the speaker. A roofer who is warm and friendly but vague on the valleys gets a 0 on the valleys, even if the next answer is strong.

Send the questions in writing when you can. A written reply is easier to score, and easier to hold a roofer to later if something changes. If a roofer will only answer by phone, write a dated note the same day and read it back on the next call. Ask whether the roofer agrees with your note. A yes is worth recording, and so is a correction.

Keep the scores on one sheet with one column per roofer. Five questions, five rows, and a total at the bottom. Do not add a row for impressions. Impressions are hard to compare and easy to inflate after a pleasant visit. If you want to note how a roofer treated your questions, write that on a separate line that you do not add to the score.

What it costs

Scoring does not mean price drops out of the picture. Put the total on the sheet as its own row, below the five questions, and keep it out of the score. A roofer who answers all five well and quotes a higher figure has not lost the comparison by default. A roofer with the lowest number and two weak answers has not won it either. Once the scores are in, read the price beside them and ask what the lower bid leaves out. Missing flashing, a smaller dumpster or a thinner underlayment can all lower a total without making the roof any better.

Ask each roofer to say in writing whether the total includes tear-off, disposal, underlayment, drip edge and the ridge. If a figure is an allowance rather than a firm line, mark it on your sheet. An allowance is a number that will move once the crew finds out what is under the shingles. Two bids with allowances in different places cannot be compared directly until each allowance is named and sized.

Keep cost apart from timing. A roofer who quotes a lower number but cannot give a start date in writing has given you a price, not a schedule. Pair each total with the date the roofer says the work can begin, and note whether that date is a commitment or an estimate. In St. Louis, a date that slides into late fall can change what the roof needs, so the calendar belongs on the same sheet as the money.

Also note whether a roofer's total depends on a condition you have not confirmed, such as the deck being sound or the old roof being a single layer. Write the condition beside the number. If it turns out to be false, you will know which price to ask about.

What to ask

The five questions below are a starting set. Change the wording to fit your house, but keep the structure, because the structure is what makes the answers comparable.

1. Which shingle line and weight will go on the roof, and where is that named in the written scope?
2. How will the tear-off be protected if rain arrives before the roof is closed in?
3. What does the written scope say about the valleys, the chimney flashing and the eave ice barrier?
4. Which permit desk will pull the permit, and who will be on site when the inspector comes?
5. What will you put in writing if the decking is soft once the old shingles are off?

Ask for every reply in writing, and ask for a date next to it. A written answer gives you something to hold each roofer to. An answer given only in a meeting is a conversation, and it should be written up before you compare it with anything else.

Watch for the answer that sounds complete but skips the part you asked about. "We always do it right" is not an answer to a question about valleys. Ask again, in the same words, and score what comes back. If the second reply is still general, the score stays low, and that is useful information. A roofer who gives the same specific answer twice, a week apart, has shown you something that a single phone call cannot.

If you want to put these five questions to Keys directly, the office number is (314) 220-2333. Ask in the same order you would ask anyone else, and keep the written reply with the rest of your sheet. The comparison is only as good as the answers you can hold up side by side.