Roof Repair Estimate

[The Critic]

Parents' house has a Concrete Tile Roof that was installed in 2005. No maintenance has been done on it since install except for gutter cleanings every couple of years.

I just had a roofing contractor perform an inspection and they recommended the following work:

This is a single-story, 2500 sq ft house. 2/3 of the roof is fairly flat. High cost of living area, but I wouldn't say "very high."

Looking to get feedback on whether this quote is reasonable -- I don't have any recent data points to compare with.

Thanks.

 

[Ausfahrt]

Good luck getting more quotes on a small job like that. Fix it yourself or pay the man.

 

[Brian123]

$1500.00 is better than $15,000, get some other quotes and compare!

 

[JayhawkRoy]

I haven't had to pay for much work like this, but I think it is in the reasonable category. Might want to get one or two more estimates unless this roofer is one of your trusted craftsmen.

 

[Rand]

I'm not familiar with tile roof costs but that seems very reasonable for the area and amount of work.

I would consider getting additional estimate or 2.

 

[D1dad]

My son owns a roofing company and it’s amazing how out of control it’s gotten. Same way with tree work. He’s booked out as long as he wants to be. His motto is that he’s going to make money, just not all on one person. A job like that if able, I’d have my keister up on the roof and save what’s probably $1400

 

[zzyzzx]

This is a single-story, 2500 sq ft house. 2/3 of the roof is fairly flat.

Break out the ladder....

 

[Pablo]

What kind of paint for the vents? Are they rusty?

Usually the rubber seals get pretty rotted away on roof vents.

 

[Dave1027]

The estimate looks fair but you need to ask the question, what will be the fix for the clogged valleys? They need to do more than simply cleaning them out. They should fix the cause of the clogs.

I've seen these valleys clog from poor fitting of the tiles where they meet in the valley.

 

[JimPghPA]

Find someone who was happy with a job and get the same roofers they used.

Demand that the quote included a max price if additional things need to be done once the job is started.

I went through all of this recently. I was getting one story from the man who came to my home to look things over and generate the estimate, and a different story from the office. Literally went back and fourth for two months getting everything in writing in detail about what would be done, a quoted price, and also a maximum price if additional work needed to be done.

When the estimator gave me some pushback when I demanded a maximum price be included, I told him that I feal like im signing a blank check with your current contract that states a price but leaves things open for additional costs to be added if additional work is found to be required. He understood and put in a maximum price. We went back and fourth about a few other things also. By the time the contract had everything proper, it had taken a entire months.

When the person in charge of the crew doing the work told me of additional things that they found after tearing down what they had to, I had him get the estimator on the phone. The estimator said that additional work would still keep the cost below the max he quoted. I then said to that foreman, were OK here, a maximum is in this contract and the additional stays within that maximum. Get er done.

Having that maximum already in that contract made life easy for me and for that foreman, when that part of the job happened.

It was well worth the hassle of getting it into the contract.

I knew that roofing company had a honest reputation. But still I insisted that everything be in print.

 

[The Critic]

What kind of paint for the vents? Are they rusty?

Usually the rubber seals get pretty rotted away on roof vents.

Vents do not appear rusty - they're shiny metal. Is it typical to paint these vents, or is this the equivalent of a bogus upsell (e.g. fuel induction service)?

 

[Pablo]

Vents do not appear rusty - they're shiny metal. Is typical to paint these vents, or is this the equivalent of a bogus upsell (e.g. fuel induction service)?

Then I don't understand why they would paint them and with what.........

Do they really mean paint some roof tar around the seals which is a common hack.

Can you get on the roof? What is the pitch?

 

[JimPghPA]

Find someone who was happy with a job and get the same roofers they used.

Demand that the quote included a max price if additional things need to be done once the job is started.

I went through all of this recently. I was getting one story from the man who came to my home to look things over and generate the estimate, and a different story from the office. Literally went back and fourth for two months getting everything in writing in detail about what would be done, a quoted price, and also a maximum price if additional work needed to be done.

When the person in charge of the crew doing the work told me of additional things that they found after tearing down what they had to, I had him get the estimator on the phone. The estimator said that additional work would still keep the cost below the max he quoted. I then said to that foreman, were OK here, a maximum is in this contract and the additional stays within that maximum. Get er done.

Having that maximum already in that contract made life easy for me and for that foreman, when that part of the job happened.

It was well worth the hassle of getting it into the contract.

I knew that roofing company had a honest reputation. But still I insisted that everything be in print

 

[Brian123]

. Same way with tree work.

Always get a 2nd estimate, my parents house backs up to woods and we had a 90 foot maple tree that fell down that was probably 100 to 120 years old. After everything was done it also took out a 70 year old Mulberry Tree. I spent 8 hours cutting everything I could with my 16 inch Echo chainsaw. I dragged the rest of the brush to the woods and over the next few weeks I dragged the debris to the curb for our recycling guys to pick up. The cans I have are 33 gallon cans, I have 15 of them, I filled up 70 of them. I could only cut up about 60 feet of the wood, the other 30 feet had a diameter of about 24 inches.
My Dad wanted me to rent a chainsaw but the rest of the tree was wedged into the ground. 1 guy came out and wanted $1000.00, another saw pictures that I sent him and wanted $1500.00. We ended up finding a guy that cut everything up into 5 foot sections and he dumped it into the woods. His partner had a skid steer with claws that picked everything up, that was a good thing since when the other guy was cutting his chainsaw got stuck and the skid steer saved the day.

They were only there for 20 minutes and the charge was $400.00 and my Dad gave them a $100.00 tip.

 

[IndyIan]

Vents do not appear rusty - they're shiny metal. Is it typical to paint these vents, or is this the equivalent of a bogus upsell (e.g. fuel induction service)?

I guess you know the odds of them painting galvanized steel with the right paint is probably not high, and they likely won't prep it either. Do you see other vents rusting in the neighborhood? Probably lots with flaking paint?
I don't recall seeing a galvanized barn roof here painted here well enough not to flake off in a few years, but I doubt I've seen any done properly either.
I guess you could ask them what the steps are to paint the vents? See what they say.
I just get factory painted aluminum or steel in the best color available and it seems to last for decades?

 

[The Critic]

Here are some pictures I was provided:

The estimate looks fair but you need to ask the question, what will be the fix for the clogged valleys? They need to do more than simply cleaning them out. They should fix the cause of the clogs.

I've seen these valleys clog from poor fitting of the tiles where they meet in the valley.

Then I don't understand why they would paint them and with what.........

Do they really mean paint some roof tar around the seals which is a common hack.

Can you get on the roof? What is the pitch?

 

[zzyzzx]

The estimate looks fair but you need to ask the question, what will be the fix for the clogged valleys?

Clogged valleys are often the result of debris from nearby trees. This is the permanent fix:

 

[Nukeman7]

Why doesn't the repair estimate address anything about the most egregious problem: the three broken concrete tiles? Are they replacing the broken tiles or just resealing them with a tube of caulk? If the $1500 includes proper replacement of three broken tiles, it is a fair price. Otherwise, the other items you listed above amounts to about 2 hours of labor and ~$25 of material. Typically, painting of the plumbing and vent flashing is done with one can of Rustoleum/Krylon spray paint just for cosmetic reasons (i.e., to color match the tiles/shingles and/or hide unsightly rust).

 

[crashz]

I echo Nukeman's comment. And especially after seeing the photos.

 

[Leo99]

My son owns a roofing company and it’s amazing how out of control it’s gotten. Same way with tree work. He’s booked out as long as he wants to be. His motto is that he’s going to make money, just not all on one person. A job like that if able, I’d have my keister up on the roof and save what’s probably $1400

You can print money owning a roofing company. It's hard work and scary and critical. Three things people will gladly write a check for and have professionals take care of.