When You Decline an Add-On, Compare Each Roofer's Reply

You have two or three roof bids on the table, and one of them has a line the others don't. Maybe a roofer priced ice and water shield along the eaves, a ridge vent, or a second layer of underlayment on the low slope, and you said no to bring the number down. What the roofer does next tells you more than the first bid did. A declined add-on is a small test of how that company will handle every change that comes after you sign, from a rotten board on the deck to a crew that wants to skip a step you asked for.

Why a declined line is worth testing

A roof bid is a set of promises about work nobody can see yet. When you strike a line, the roofer has to decide what to do with the work it described. Some will simply remove the line and reprice the total. Others will keep the line in their file, note that you declined it, and write the decision into the contract. A few will press you to add it back, and some will say the work is required without naming a source. Each of those replies comes from a different company, and you can compare them on the same sheet as you compare prices.

St. Louis winters make some of these lines more than cosmetic. Freeze and thaw cycles push water back under the shingles at the eave, and ice damming is common enough on older houses that many homeowners ask about it first. A decision to skip an eave membrane is really a decision about what the roof will do in February. That is why the wording of the refusal matters as much as the price it saves.

Roofer comparison: the four replies to look for

Go back to each roofer after you decline a line, and write down the reply word for word. Most replies fall into a few groups, and the groups are easy to compare.

• Removed and recorded. The roofer takes the line off, shows the new total, and states in the revised proposal that the homeowner declined the item. This is the clearest reply.
• Removed, with the risk in writing. The roofer takes the line off but puts the risk in plain words, names the product or manufacturer instruction that calls for the item, and asks you to sign the note. This is also a sound reply, because the warning is on paper.
• Removed, with the risk only in conversation. The roofer takes the line off and describes the risk out loud, but nothing in the proposal reflects it. Ask for the warning in writing before you decide anything.
• Pressed or repriced. The roofer argues the line is required, or the total moves in a way that hides the removed item. Ask for the reason in writing, and ask the roofer to name the source.

A roofer who offers to write the warning down is not trying to scare you out of a decision. That company is giving you something you can check later. A roofer who turns vague after you decline a line is telling you how the rest of the job will be handled.

Keep the replies in one place. A short table with the company name, the declined line, the reply, and the date is enough. Compare the replies within the same week, because roofers' calendars change and a reply from three weeks ago may no longer match the proposal in front of you.

What it costs

The saving from a declined line is real, but it is not the whole number. A declined eave membrane may come back as a change order once the crew is on the roof and the deck is open. A declined ridge vent may show up later as a repair call. Ask each roofer for the price of every declined line on its own, in writing, so you can see exactly what each refusal saves you before you make the call.

Also ask whether the price for a declined line is held open. Some proposals list an item at a price good for a set period, and others list it at whatever the roofer will charge if the crew has to come back. Those two prices can be far apart. Write both numbers next to the declined line on your comparison sheet.

Missouri roofing rules do not set a price for these add-ons, so the number comes from each roofer's own proposal and from the materials it names. Compare add-on prices across roofers the same way you compare the base bid, with the same product named and the same area of coverage stated.

What to ask

When you decline a line, send each roofer the same short set of questions in writing, and time the reply. The answers are often what separate the bids.

1. What is the price of this line on its own, and how long is that price held?
2. If I decline it, will you note the decision in the proposal and in the contract?
3. What exactly is the risk if the line is left out, and where in the product instructions or the local permit requirements does that risk appear?
4. If the crew finds a problem under this line once the deck is open, who calls me, and before any work is done?
5. Will the price for that problem match the price on this proposal?

Ask each roofer to put the answers on paper and to sign them. A roofer who answers all five questions in writing within a day or two is giving you something you can hold them to. A roofer who answers by phone and never sends the answers has told you where the risk will sit.

Keys Roofing documents what it finds and puts a written scope with photos and measurements in the homeowner's hands. If you want to ask about a declined line on a Keys proposal, call the office at (314) 220-2333 and ask for the declined items to be listed on their own page of the scope, with the price and the reason next to each one.