Roofing, explained
What a roof estimate should tell you.
A number on a page is not an estimate. Until two quotes name the same things, comparing them tells you nothing except which roofer wrote a smaller number.
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Why the number alone is useless
Two quotes can be the same price and different jobs.
One quote includes a tear-off and the other goes over the existing roof. One allows for replacing bad decking and the other treats it as an extra you will meet later. One re-flashes the chimney and the other re-uses what is there. Those are the same number and three different roofs.
The estimate lands as a full scope with real numbers, not a ballpark over the phone.
The honest version also says what is unknown. Nobody can price rotten decking before the old roof is off, so an estimate should say how that is handled rather than pretend it cannot happen.
What a scope names
Four things that must be on the page.
Tear-off or overlay
Whether the old covering comes off. This is the single biggest difference between two quotes that look alike.
What happens to bad decking
Not a price for it — a stated method for handling it when it is found.
Underlayment, and where the barrier goes
Valleys and eaves are where water gets in. An estimate should say what is going under the covering there.
Flashing and penetrations
New flashing, or re-used? Roofs leak at joints far more often than in the field, and this is where a cheap quote gets cheap.
Worth asking anyone
Three questions, and they are fair to ask any roofer.
Who will actually be on my roof?
A fair question for any contractor, and the answer belongs in writing. Ask it of every quote you are comparing, including ours.
What happens if you find something?
Rotten decking, a chimney that needs work, a vent that was never flashed. You want the method, not a promise it will not happen.
What happens to my house while you are here?
Where the old roof goes, what protects the planting and the gutters, and whether the site is cleaned as the job goes or at the end.
You might ask us
Straight answers.
Should I just take the cheapest quote?
Only once the quotes name the same work. A lower number for a smaller scope is not a saving, it is a different job.
Why will nobody give me a price over the phone?
Because the things that set the price — the deck, the flashing, the ventilation, the pitch — are not visible from a phone call. The walk is free and nobody signs anything on day one.
What if the estimate changes once you start?
It can, and the reason is almost always decking nobody could see. That is why the method for handling it belongs in the scope before the work starts.
Roofs we install
The roofs we install.
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Licensed Georgia general contractor · GA Lic. No. GCLT-CO000732
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