Tell Each Roofer How Many Quotes You Are Collecting, and Note the Reply

When you are collecting roof bids in St. Louis, one fact about your own process tends to get left out of the conversation: how many roofers you are asking. Homeowners often keep that number private, and some roofers never ask for it. Yet the count can change how a roofer schedules your job, how hard they push on price, and what they choose to put in writing. Telling each roofer the number, then writing down exactly what each one says back, is a quick way to learn how the bid will be handled after you sign.

Why the count changes the schedule

St. Louis roofing runs on seasons that a homeowner can see from the street. Hail storms in spring and early summer send crews to the damaged neighborhoods first, and a roofer who is already stacked with storm work may quote a start date that depends on how many roofs are ahead of yours. The freeze-thaw cycle in January and February slows the work in its own way, since a crew that tears off a roof during a cold snap has to watch for wet deck and brittle shingles. A roofer who knows you are holding three written quotes has a reason to give you the real lead time, because a vague date may lose the job to someone with a clear one.

Roofer comparison

Use the same sentence with each roofer. Something like: "I am getting three written quotes for this roof, and I expect to choose within two weeks." Then note four things in their reply.

• Whether they ask for the date you will decide, and whether they give a date of their own in return.
• Whether they offer a lower price on the spot, and what they remove to reach it.
• Whether they ask to see the other quotes, and how they react when you say no.
• Whether the start date they name is the same date they put in the contract.

A roofer who asks for the other numbers is trying to use them. You can describe what is different in the scopes, such as whether one bid includes ice and water shield at the eaves and another does not, without handing over another company's figures. That is a fair comparison. A roofer who presses for a price match before looking at the roof has told you how they will price changes later, and that is worth recording.

Keep the replies on one sheet. Write the roofer's name, the date you spoke or wrote, the number you gave, and their answer in a line or two. Three entries are enough to see a pattern. If one roofer says their price will hold through the end of the month and another says the price is good only for the day of the visit, the sheet shows that difference before the numbers do.

What it costs

Telling roofers how many quotes you hold does not change the cost of materials or labor by itself. What it can change is the pressure on the number. A roofer who hears you have competing bids may drop an allowance line, trim a flashing step, or move the crew start up to win the job. Each of those moves deserves a second look against the scope. A lower total that leaves out the drip edge or the pipe boots is not a lower price for the same roof, and it tends to come back as a change order once the tear-off has started.

Ask for every change in writing, with the line it touches. A revised bid should say what was added, what was removed, and what the new total is. If a roofer will not name the line they changed, the lower number is not yet a price you can compare. Your own time has a cost too. Each site visit takes a morning or an afternoon away from work, and a roofer who asks you to come back for a second look at a number they already gave should say why in writing.

Missouri does not license roofers, so no state board checks whether a bidder is qualified to hold a price. The practical check is the paper: the written scope, the dates, and the payment schedule.

Permits and insurance, and where the count does not reach

The number of bids does not change the permit. In St. Louis County, a roof permit is pulled through the municipal desk of the city where the house sits, and that desk's queue can add days no matter how many roofers you compare. Ask each roofer who will pull the permit and how long they expect the desk to take. Keys can be reached at (314) 220-2333 if you want to ask those questions directly.

If the roof is part of an insurance claim, the bid count is not the question to focus on. Missouri law under RSMo 407.725 forbids a roofing contractor from representing or negotiating a homeowner's insurance claim, and it also forbids the contractor from saying anything about paying, waiving or covering a deductible. What a roofer can do is document the damage, put a written scope with photos and measurements in your hands, and attend as the contractor while you deal with your own insurer. Ask each roofer to put that in writing before you choose one.

What to ask

These questions fit naturally into a conversation about how many quotes you hold. Ask them in the same order with every roofer so the replies line up on your sheet.

1. If I sign by the end of the month, what is the first day your crew can start?
2. Does your price hold through that date, and does it change if the shingle price moves?
3. Which line in your bid would you move first if you knew I had two other written quotes?
4. Who on your side will I speak with if the start date slips?
5. Will you put the start date and the decision deadline in the contract?

Read the answers against each other, not against a score. A roofer who gives a firm start window, a price that stays put, and a plain answer about what they would move is showing you how they will run the job. A roofer who answers each question with a sales line has also told you something, and that goes on the sheet too.