Should I get a roof inspection when I get a roof estimate?
A price to replace a roof without a roof inspection should be scary for any homeowner and I’ll explain why in this post.
I believe that a roof inspection is essential to an estimate for roof replacement!
One of the first things looked at when preforming a roof inspection is how are the gutters mounted. Unless you’re 20 feet tall, you need to climb on a ladder at minimum to inspect the gutter mounting. The gutters alone have a mounting system, drip edge, flashing that are all relevant to replacing your roof, properly.
Roofing contractors should know what can stay and what must be removed in order to preform the job. Removing gutters or not can be a difference of $100’s of dollars’ worth of labor and material need. Checking the sealant, boots, quality of the boards and more are all significant to being able to provide a detailed and accurate estimate of replacement. Without this minimum information, a comprehensive estimate would be impossible. When providing an accurate estimate, every detail should matter.
Now let’s consider what can happen when an estimate is provided without a proper inspection.
My only question is “how do they know?”
Seriously, how can they know anything? What material can be reused or salvaged, what must be replaced? How can they be sure to charge for the right work and material needs?
The answer is obviously that they can not do that. Which means they need to inflate cost to hopefully cover any unforeseen repairs. A new roof is only as good and reliable as the crew that installed it. If a company can’t spare 15 minutes for a simple inspection, what other time saving corners are they willing to cut?
Maybe the lazy practice is provided by an ethical company? So how do the adjust for unforeseen damage and repairs?
Well, a change order is what it’s called. A surprise price hike is what it feels like. A change order isn’t always due to incompetency, often there really is hidden damage that can’t be seen until the tear off is started. The likelihood of that happening is much greater when no inspection was preformed in advance to the work being started.
These change orders are also known to delay completion dates, it’s just an unforgiving practice to cut corners and usually causes homeowners a headache.
The most important effect of skipping an inspection is that the homeowner is left in the dark. As the owner you deserve to be well informed and educated on your project. How can you, as the homeowner receive a detailed breakdown of the scope of work to be preformed or have any expectations without a detailed estimate laying out all the work to be performed?
Just get the roof inspection!
Our roofs are complex structures, cut into pieces with many variables like skylights, boots, ventilation and more. If your contractor can’t spend 15 minutes to inspect your roof before providing a price, I must wonder where else they save time.
A roof is important, the details matter. As a homeowner, you deserve to be well informed of what work will be or will not be preformed for you.
If you ever need a trusted opinion from a qualified and trusted roofing contractor, Eagle Home Renovation is locally owned and operated, eager to serve our customers.