Here in the south roofing tends to fail long before the “thirty…fifty” year supposed lifespan of the shingles. Our house has developed some leaks, so it is time for a new roof. And, as roofing is expensive, and the house is big, I talked with some friends and family about the roof before calling the first roofer. Everyone we talked to said that prices vary widely, so we should get multiple quotes, and we settled on trying to get three. That has been difficult.

Last fall,  hubby asked around and one of his co-workers recommended a roofer who lives close by, and he offered to come by and take a look. This guy was a no-show, but the house isn’t in horrible shape, so we just let it go through the winter. In February, we noticed some new damage, and got a recommendation from a friend who works in construction, and that company did send a representative, who crawled on our roof and through our attic for over an hour. He was supposed to send in a quote via email, but we didn’t get it. Hubby emailed them, asking again for a quote and we got no response. I called a company with billboards all over the area, and they sent a sales rep who offered me an instant quote, but it was so high that I got the impression that we would be funding billboards as well as getting a new roof. So, I called another company who is highly ranked on Yelp, and they sent a representative who toured the attic and did a walk around, and he was supposed to send in an email quote, but we got nothing from him either. Meanwhile, I sent an email to a contractor who has helped us in the past, and he wasn’t happy that we asked for a written quote, but he did provide one.

So, despite contacting four actual roofing companies and one general contractor, we only have two quotes (at 27K and 14K.) That’s a big spread. Fortunately, the lower one is from the general contractor, who is a nice guy, and I believe he will do a good job. I would have liked a company that offered a transferable warranty for when we sell the house, which he does not offer, but the high price quote doesn’t offer that either….

Honestly, the most confusing aspect of this is why would two sales guys spend the time to come out to our home, walk the attic and the perimeter and then not even offer a quote. Weird, huh?