Three Price Tiers on One Roof Bid Are Not Three Roofs

A roofer who offers three prices on one page is often offering three different roofs, and the price is only the first thing to check. Tiered proposals usually change the shingle line, the underlayment, the ventilation, the flashing metal or the warranty paperwork from one column to the next. If those rows move without a note explaining why, the gap between the columns tells you very little about how the roofers actually compare. Before you pick a column, read the lines that moved.

Roofer comparison

Lay the three columns side by side and find every row that differs. Most tiered bids change at least one of these: the shingle line, the square count, the underlayment at the eave and in the valleys, the number of attic vents and ridge vent feet, the drip edge, the starter course, and who hauls away the old material. A top tier that upgrades the underlayment is a different roof from the middle tier, even when the photo at the top of the page shows the same house.

The eave matters more than most homeowners expect in St. Louis. Freeze and thaw cycles through the winter push meltwater back up under the shingles at the eave, where ice forms a dam. A tier that drops the membrane at the eaves to save money is making a change in the rows you cannot see from the ground, and the leak it causes will show up in the ceiling of a bedroom two winters later. Ask each roofer to point to the eave detail on the proposal, not just to the shingle name.

Keys Roofing installs Atlas and Malarkey shingles only. When a tier names a shingle, check that the name is one of those lines, and that the same line appears in the writing for every other tier. If a column says just premium or upgraded and names no product line, the name is missing from the proposal. Ask for it in writing before you compare the columns, because a comparison built on an unnamed shingle is not a comparison.

Confirm that every column uses the same measurement. Two tiers that quote different square counts are pricing different roofs before anyone reaches the shingle, and the difference often hides in a small gable, a dormer cheek or a porch roof that one roofer counted and the other did not. The same measured total should sit under every column, and any difference should be listed as a line with a reason beside it.

What it costs

The price gap between tiers should match a list of added or removed items. If the higher tier costs more and adds a heavier underlayment, a wider band of ice and water protection at the eave, and a better ridge cap, you can see what you are paying for and decide whether it matters on your house. If the gap is large and the list of added items is short, ask what else moved. A tier can change the labor line, the cleanup line or an allowance, and the difference never shows up in the shingle row where you were looking.

Watch the allowance lines closely. A tier that says decking as needed or ventilation allowance is not a fixed number yet, even though it sits in the total. Ask for the rate per sheet of decking or per vent written next to that allowance, and ask who approves the work before it is done. That way the bottom-line price does not move after the crew is already on the roof. The same applies to any column that prices an item by the hour instead of by a fixed quantity.

Do not compare the monthly payment on one tier to the cash price on another. Financing changes the number you see without changing the roof underneath it, so put the cash figure for each tier on the same line before you decide. Then compare the rows that moved between columns, not just the totals at the bottom.

Also check whether any tier leaves out a line that the others include. A proposal that omits the pipe boots, the flashing at a wall or the disposal of old material is not cheaper for doing less work. It is cheaper because the item is missing, and the item will come back as a change order once the old roof is off and the crew finds what it needs.

What to ask

Ask each roofer these questions, and ask for the answers in writing on the proposal itself:

• Which shingle line is in each tier, by its full product name?
• Which underlayment goes on the deck, and does it change from one tier to the next?
• How many attic vents and how many feet of ridge vent are in each column, and how was that count made?
• What does the drip edge and the starter course look like in each column?
• Is the square count the same in every column? If it is not, what is the reason for each difference?
• What is the rate on each allowance line, and who signs off before any allowance is used?
• Which warranty paperwork comes with each tier, and who issues it?

The last question deserves close attention. A tier with a longer-sounding warranty may cover a different set of materials and workmanship from the tier below it, so read the terms and not just the number printed at the top. Ask what has to happen for the warranty to stay valid, such as the attic ventilation being installed as written and the work being inspected at completion.

Missouri law forbids a roofing contractor from representing or negotiating a homeowner's insurance claim, so any column that offers to handle the insurer is offering something the statute does not allow. 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. Keep that line in mind when a sales conversation drifts toward the claim, because the proposal should describe the roof work and nothing else.

Once the tiers are on one sheet with the same square count, the same named shingle and the same eave detail in every column, the choice is about which roof you want, not which price looks lower. Ask each roofer to confirm the shingle name and the eave detail again on the signed copy, so the version you approve is the version that gets built.