Need a roof (Maybe, Hate dealing with contractors)

Had a small stain appear on the 3rd floor ceiling below a roof vent in the last storm a couple weeks ago that has not spread since. We've been able to get in touch with two recommended roofers out of probably 8-10 calls I put out. Shingle Roof is still covered in some snow and ICE from the snow that came within a few days of the rain and after these appointments were made, which I let each company know before they came out. In both cases the roofers still said they'd stop by to talk about it.


Had one roofer come out yesterday and quote flat rates based on a vent being the likely cause for half day vs whole day repair and also another quote to do a full replacement. Strongly recommended replacement based on age. (Likely 20 years old.) But without seeing most of the roof up close. One Other roofer was also out briefly last week and is coming back Wednesday after the snow melts. Said he was glad to stop by and see the house and get my take on the vent being the likely cause, but didn't want to say one way or another until the snow was melted and he could either go up or get his drone up and properly inspect.

Roofer one gives me quotes, I tell him I'll get back to him by the end of the week. Me and the wife need to talk and we're also consulting one other roofer. He asks if I want to take a second to talk to her right then and there and I told her she's in the shower, we'll talk later, consult one other roofer, then get back to him. I figured there was no point holding that back as he'd probably figure it's what I was doing anyway. He immediately whips out paperwork from another customer he dealt with in the past after his main competitor in the area served her and starts trashing the competitor, who just so happened to be the other guy coming back out. Weird story where he didn't really even establish the competitor did anything wrong. Just that he fixed a leak diagnosed as having a specific cause on this woman's house. Then this guy showing me all this came out after the leak continued and found a nearby window might have been the issue so who knows, maybe his competitor fixed something that wasn't the real problem. Just a weird, weird line of reasoning where he insinuated his competitor took over 2k from this woman without fixing her problem, but stopped short of coming right out and claiming it.

I thanked him for his information and told him I would still have to reach back out by the end of the week.

He just so happened to "accidentally" pick his written estimate back up on his way out so I had to run out to his truck and ask for it back. And then I came right out and said I'm not putting anybody against each other on price, nobody will see anybody else's estimate. I want information and input from a couple contractors to mull over before deciding a course of action, that's it. HE left, making sure to call me as he hit the road to let me know they do financing, which I told him we probably won't use for the amount he quoted. Had to tell him again I got no sticker shock from his price and had no interest in trying to nickel and dime any contractors and I'd let him know by week's end.

Roofer #2 on his way out tomorrow morning to assess whether a repair should hold me for a couple years or replacement is needed. So far he seems more laid back. Most he would give on the first visit is a price for re flashing both roof vents if he gets up and inspects and establishes for sure that's the issue and the rest of the roof doesn't urgently need replacement.

My wife hates these conversations and avoids being there for them whenever possible which pisses off because I'd rather she hear all info first hand. But at the same time I get where she's coming from and am a bit jealous that she can play the woman card here and duck out on this stuff.

 

You're not alone. My wife does the same thing. The only thing she got involved in was picking the color for our metal roof.

 

Yep ducks out on the conversations whenever she can then comes up with questions I didn't think to ask or hot takes on the price and the plan after.

Then she thinks I'm going to let her go back and fourth with the contractor vicariously through me about one thing or the other until she's satisfied.

 

Mine doesn't even ask questions. You should see her get pissed when the solar sales people keep coming around lol. She only got involved with the roof when we were looking at stuff to keep the house cooler.

 

We once had a roof replaced that started leaking within warranty period. A guy came and fixed it. Then he came again and fixed it for sure. Third time he spent like 2 hours on the roof fixing in once and forever. When there was a leak fourth time at the same spot I climbed there myself, saw the problem immediately and fixed it in 10 minutes.

I hate contractors.

 

20 year old roof, depending on where you are at, might even disqualify you for a home insurance or jack up the price as they see it being a claim very soon down the road.

I personally, hate sales/companies that wants to trash talk other companies. If A company does bad, I am sure I will hear it before you open your mouth about it, but it is just bad rep to do that.
Things happen, and sometimes, thing/company/karma just don't line up for you. That still doesn't make you "good" on trashing other people.

I recently just had my roof replaced (Houston, TX for the record) and had two roofers came out. Both arrived within 2 mins of each other (one was early the other was 5 mins late, traffic).
Price was similar, within $1K difference, but the first guy left and called me from around the corner that if I don't take the 2nd guy on, he can drop his price by X (can't remember how much, but was quite a bit)
He didn't trash talk the 2nd guy, but made his point that he thinks he's better....

I ended up using the 2nd guy. Why? If the first guy can drop his price like that by a huge margin, something's gotta give, either quality or quantity.
Since insurance is picking up the tab, minus the deductible, I was more comfortable with the 2nd guy, he focused on what he can and will provide, with sample shingles for me to check out on the spot, went on the roof and looked around, drone and person and show me all the documented stuff to tell me what is wrong and all that. The 1st guy? Walked around a bit and then give me a price, only to drop it later and basically, scared me cause I am not sure what I am suffering for that price drop.

I know the old saying: you get what you pay for. Sometimes it is ok to cheap out and get that cheaper stuff, but roof? Nah.
So now I have a level/grade 4 hail resistant roof that will last me for the next 15-20 years, fingers crossed.

 

generalizing is lazy. There are many skilled and honest contractors out there.

 

Yeah if I go with tomorrow's guy, the first one trashing the competitor with a word salad smear he keeps in his back pocket that proved nothing will probably be a major deciding factor. We were actually pleasantly surprised by the first quote and he should have just left on that good note. Based on a neighbor with a similar home telling me his price from a decade worth of inflation ago I thought this first roofer would quote 2 to 2.5 times as much as he did. About the only thing that bothered me was worst case scenarios on wood replacement, he didn't include any number of sheets in his quote so it could have added a few thousand if more than a few sheets were trashed. But I guess if it's that bad a few sheets won't help me much

 

This is so rare around here.

Some examples are truly bad, like groundless newly installed electrical outlets with a bare hot wire touching the box. I luckily had a cold beer in hand when I touched the front plate bolt scraped to bare metal and got electrocuted a bit, not anyone of my children. Of course I could call and get it fixed, or even file a claim, but man, what a shitty attitude that guy has. I opened up all his work and added ground everywhere myself.

I have lot more examples of that. Recently finished renovating the house, mostly DIY, but for some things we had to hire contractors. 90% of them were lazy or incompetent or both.

 

Are you going through insurance or out of pocket?
Sorry if I am asking too much details, but in my case, insurance would "mostly" award the job more than it is actually worth, error on the side of needing additional materials, in my case, my insurance payout (I filed the claim myself, roofer was just the "worker in question" so I get the check not them) was about $2K higher than the roofer's highest level offering, so I was able to get all of it done with some nice small things and making sure everything is done right and well.
If out of pocket, I would ask them to give you a quote in writing/email, so that later they can't argue that they didn't say that or wouldn't do that because.....

 

Roofer I'm waiting to see tomorrow said when the roof is clear he'll examine for evidence of damage. If he finds it he'll advise me to file a claim and be here to advocate with the adjuster. Said I may not have a claim and not to assume I have extensive act of God damage until he can confirm. Could be an inexpensive leak fix, could just be an old roof, could be dirt around a vent or a one time event of water making its way through a vent in insane wind.

Basically, the first leak happening after a storm might mean storm damage that gets me a roof replacement or it might not. I know it also means he'd be more likely to get the job if it is. But OTOH I brought up
The consideration before he did and he managed expectations in an insurance payout. He did not eagerly jump on it.

People who referred me said they felt he did not try to push more than what was needed on them.

 

The roofer I prefer showed up again with his drone, examined the roof, showed me pics, said I'll need a new roof in a few years and it's up to me whether I want to pay to reflash my vents and plumbing stack and pay for some of the same work again when the roof needs to be done or do it all now. All Now in front of my wife and awaiting her decision. This is the dude the other roofer trashed to me. The two prices are pretty much the same.

 

Were you able to ask him/her if there was a chance of claiming it under hail/natural damage?
Usually if there are instances, it might be possible