What is in the estimate (and what isn't)

When a contractor presents you with an estimate for your home remodeling project, your contractor's forthrightness (or lack thereof) will speak volumes to the work they will perform.  The devil is in the details when it comes to home repair.  What materials and even what brands will they be using and how much?  When will the work commence and be completed?  Who is responsible for clean-up and disposal of job-related debris?  All of these and more should be spelled out in detail in the estimate.

It is a sad truth, but many laws have been put in place to protect contractors from unforeseen issues.  While well intentioned, the laws have the unintended consequence of putting home owners in potentially severe jeopardy.  Did you know a contractor can shake your hand, agree on a price and then come back at you up to three times for more money once the project has begun?  How much money?  As much as 25% more each time.  

Knowing this, some contractors deliberately underbid their jobs to get the work, realizing all along that they can always raise the price once you are committed.  That is why it is so incredibly important that every detail of the job be spelled out in writing BEFORE you agree to use the contractor.

 I would hope most people would be smart enough not to accept a bid for roofing replacement that looks like this.  There are absolutely no details spelled out except a price and terms of "half down and half on completion".   What are you getting with this quote?  Are they roofing the house or garage or both?  Are they paying for removal of the old materials?  Are they removing the old shingles at all or just slapping another layer onto what is already there.  Are they paying for disposal fees?  Are they acquiring the permits?  Are they providing any insurance for accidental damage to your property, liability or Workers Compensation?  What type and brand of shingles are they using?  Are they using Ice & Water shield?  If so, how much and where?   What type of roofing felt are they using?  Are they replacing, adding to, re-using, or ignoring attic ventilation?  Are they flashing the chimney?  Are they providing additional flashing if needed?  Are they using a correct starter shingle and a proper hip and ridge shingle? 

I could go on and on.  The point is that if it is not in writing, you have no idea what they are going to do... and absolutely no recourse if they come back at you for all kinds of hidden charges.  You can not assume that they know what they are doing or are going to do things correctly. 

In this case, they at least spelled out that they are doing the roof on both the house and garage and that "someone" will remove the old shingles.  Again, way too many questions are not answered by this quote.  Again they are looking for half down up front.  That is a problem.

Intuit Small Business has found that over 31% of contractors fail within two years.  Within four years, that number leaps to over 56%.  Within seven years, 69% of contractors have gone out of business.  If some one tells you they need half the money up front,  what does that tell you?  It tells me they don't have the resources to purchase the materials and will likely NOT be there if/when you have problems.  Even if you do have problems and they are in business, your warranty claim may be all they need to close up "Dave's Roofing LLC" and open up "D Roofing LLC".   It only costs about $135 to open a new LLC and by closing the old, they no longer have any liability for your roofing installation. 

What about this quote?  Well it looks legitimate enough.  They spell out that they are in fact using Ice & Water shield, but is three feet up from the eaves enough to do any good?  Depending on the roof pitch, ice damming may occur beyond the protection that the three feet provides.  With a steeper pitched roof, the Ice & Water MAY HAVE TO EXTEND UP TWICE OR EVEN THREE TIMES AS FAR in order to adequately protect your home from water intrusion. 

They specify two brands of shingles "or comparable".  Who gets to decide which shingles they will use?  According to this estimate, they will essentially pick what ever shingles they feel like using, which more often than not will mean that they will pick the cheapest shingles they can find. 

What are the cheapest shingles?  Those that have a backing material manufactured from crushed rags, plant material and paper.  Known as "organic" shingles, they are cheap to produce because they are made of junk.  Unfortunately, three different manufacturers of these shingles are under class action lawsuits because the supposed 25 year, 30 year or lifetime warranted shingles curl, cup and deteriorate after anywhere from 2 to 7 years.  Why do they still sell them?  Because they make so much profit off of them because there is so little raw material cost and...they are banking on people selling their homes before the issue arises, leaving the new owners with no paperwork from-which to know what brand of shingles were used, who installed them or when. 

This estimate allows the contractor to substitute "comparable" shingles.  Are organic comparable to fiberglass backed shingles?  Perhaps in the mind of the contractor who is only comparing based on what gives him the highest profit margin on your job.

One other little detail about this quote.  Buried in the fine print is a line that reads "Any alteration or deviation from above specifications involving extra costs will be agreed upon in verbal or written form".  EXCUSE ME?  "Verbal"????   In other words, what this quote says is they can charge you anything they want to for this job and you have absolutely no proof that you did not agree to the added charges.

These are just a few examples I ran across.  Obviously,  you have to protect yourself.  You have to use common sense when it comes to estimates.  You cannot assume they will do it right.  If it is not in writing, it does not exist.  If it is in writing, particularly buried in the fine print, you can bet that it does exist and will come back to bite you in the butt.  The best advice I can give is to work with a reputable company, make sure they spell out the details of the agreement, and make sure you read the fine print.