On Tue, 13 Mar 2018 18:33:25 -0400, Ralph Mowery wrote:

In article ,
says...


: get several detailed estimates and talk with the contractors about
everything - they can be a good resource - or their inability to
answer your questions can be a red flag. Sometimes the estimator is
more of a salesman - rather than a tradesman !
: don't just consider the shingles - eave starter; flashing;
ventilation, repairs - are all important too.
: beware of the contractor who can "start next week" .. the good
ones are usually busy & booked up .
You could visit your local building supply store in advance just to
compare and calculate the cost difference of the materials -
we were shown 3 grades of shingles - the lowest grade was quite
inferior - thin light flimsy - the contractor showed it as a warning
- not as an option.
John T.


Yes, get several estiments. I did not know any roofers several years
ago so went to Home Advisor and had 4 companies come out for estiments.
For about a 28 square roof, two were close at just under $ 9,000. A
third was about $ 12,000 and one was almost $ 20,000. I went with the
2nd highest one around $ 9,000. He seemed to have a quality product and
a good lone time warrenty when I bought the better quality of his
offerings.
While it has only been 3 years, they still look good and have weathered
several big wind storms. The singles had a certain numer of nails for
each one depending on the pitch of the roof. I noticed the roofers used
one more nail per shingle than recommended for my pitch of roof.

I saw a roof being replaced not far from my house while driving home from work.
Looked like a good crew so I stopped and got his business card.
Called him and had him do my house and garage roofs.
Tear-offs. 30 or 40 year "architectural." GAF Timberline.
Both roofs are square hip roofs (pyramid). About 28 squares worth of shingles.
This was in 2001. Cost $4200. They replaced a couple pieces of sheathing and the power
vent. Did a good cleanup job. Think I found only 2 or 3 nails in the grass.
Roofs still look like new.
BTW, he gave me references and some houses he had done in the neighborhood.
And he lived about a mile from me.
About 10 years after they did the roof the ridge caps started curling. Looked bad.
I got on the roof and found they not only curled, but looked worn, like they were old.
I called him twice but never got a response.
So I called around and got a few estimates. The guy I picked knew his stuff and told me
the ridge caps were - can't remember the name - a different manufacturer and known to fail.
In fact there was class action lawsuit that I checked out, but it had expired.
The original roofer didn't know they would fail, but he cut a corner.
Anyway I paid the guy $900 to replace them all. He used about $500 bucks worth of GAF
Timberline caps. I checked the prices.
That's why the roof still looks like new.