The roof is one of the most important parts of your home. Whether you’re planning an extensive roof repair job or a full replacement, it shouldn’t be taken for granted. Careful planning and consideration are needed if you want your new residential roofing system to your expectations. To ensure this, you’ll need to start doing your research and find the contractor who can deliver.
Before You Get Your Estimate
As you plan out your roofing project, you’ll need to get estimates from trusted contractors. But before you do this, you should decide on what kind of materials you want for your new roof. It can be as simple as choosing between metal, asphalt shingle, slate, or tiles, as well as which type of color would be most appropriate for your home’s exteriors. As long as you choose a quality roofing material and a trusted professional to install your new roof, you can be confident that it will stand against the weather and keep your home dry.
What You Can Expect
After approaching several prospective residential and commercial roofing contractors for your roofing project, you’ll be given different estimates on how much it will cost. It can be a bit overwhelming since each estimate will be slightly different depending on how the contractor inspects your roof. But it also helps to know what should be included in a typical estimate so that you won’t be caught off-guard and spend beyond your budget.
Here’s what to expect in a typical roofing estimate:
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Full Work Description – Your roofing estimate should include a detailed description of how the work will be done. That means each step must be explained clearly from start to finish so that any concerns and inquiries are answered and that you and your hired contractor are on the same page. It should also include in the estimate how they’ll tear off your old roofing and how they’ll dispose of it. This is to ensure you won’t have your new roof installed over your old one and compromise its structure!
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Guarantees and Warranties – Along with the work description, guarantees and expectations should also be included. This is a section that details the workmanship guarantees, materials guarantees, and even clean-up expectations in your roofing project. The types of warranties included in the estimate must be detailed as well, right down to the conditions and requirements.
The warranties in your roof estimate will usually include a lifetime warranty that offers good protection throughout the roof’s lifespan. This usually lasts around half a century and will be subsequently pro-rated after a few years. Your roofing estimate should also include whether it’s transferable to a new owner in case you decide to sell your home. Make sure that this is included in your roof estimate as it can be a good selling point later on!
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Roofing Materials and Items – Each item must be listed in your estimate. Items can vary depending on the type of roof you’re planning to install, but your estimate should at least include the roofing material you chose, soffit components, type of flashing, type of underlayment, ventilation, gutter pieces, size of fasteners and nails, and so on. The estimate should be highly detailed on each material, right down to the brand or products used for the roofing project.
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Full Contact Information – It’s standard for all estimates to have the roof repair and replacement company’s contact information that includes the company’s name, business address, phone number, and email address. Their information is important especially if you have additional questions and concerns about the estimate.
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Payment Information – This is the part of your roof estimate that explains which parties are responsible for specific portions of your roofing project. It’s where you’ll know if specific aspects of the roofing project are going to be outsourced to other companies, so these parties and responsibilities should be identified in detail within your roofing estimate.
Each process of the payment terms should be explained in-depth. It should also include information about down payments, progress payments, end payment, and other available payment methods, if applicable. Your roofing estimate should include a provision that allows you to hold back the final payment until the project meets your expectations.
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License and Insurance – These must be visible on the estimate so that you know they are legitimate. It should show proof of the roofing company’s license, liability insurance, and workers’ compensation insurance. If the contractor doesn’t carry the right insurance or proper licenses required by the local state or city, don’t consider them for your roofing project.
A lien release should also be included in your residential roofing estimate to provide you with protection against certain liabilities during the roofing process, such as the likelihood that the roofer doesn’t pay the subcontractors or those who provide the roofing materials for your roofing project.
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Start/Completion Date – In a roof repair and replacement estimate, the start date is the day the contractor begins work on your roof. This can be adjusted according to your schedule, so make sure to discuss the scheduling with your hired contractor. The completion date may not be final, but it gives an idea of how fast the roofing process will be done. Keep in mind that the completion date is based on the assumption that there aren’t any unexpected damage or other issues underneath your current roof.
Your roofing estimate should also include the date when the quote for the whole project was provided. This is needed as it can help determine whether you were given the right price for the estimate. For instance, if you asked for a roofing estimate six months ago and decided to proceed with the project only recently, you may need a new one created because the previous one is considered outdated.
You can get an honest roof estimate from a contractor that’s locally trusted in the community. And when it comes to top-notch residential and commercial roofing services, De Palma Construction has got you covered! Call us at (717) 638-1131 or just fill out our convenient contact form.
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