Ask Each Roofer Which Roofs They Turn Down

Most roofers will bid almost any roof you put in front of them. The ones who decline a job usually say so only when pressed, and the way they decline tells you more than a single bid total does. Before you read a number, ask each roofer which roofs they turn down, which they hand to someone else, and which they will bid only with conditions. Put the three answers side by side. A roofer who can name the limits of their own work is easier to hold to the rest of the scope.

Roofer comparison

A clean answer names specific roof types or conditions. Tile roofs are a common example, because the tiles, the underlayment beneath them and the way a crew walks the surface all differ from an asphalt shingle roof. A low-slope section that needs a membrane instead of shingles is another. Slate and cedar shake each need their own handling, and an older chimney with masonry that has to be repointed before flashing can go back on is often outside a shingle crew's usual work. Ask each roofer to name the roof types they do not install and the ones they bring in a subcontractor for.

Vague answers sound like we can do most things or it depends. Neither one is a refusal. Follow up with a question about your own roof. If your garage section is a lower slope, ask whether that section goes into the same bid or gets quoted separately. A roofer who has thought about the limits will answer without pausing. A roofer who has not will say they will figure it out once they are on the roof, and that is the point where a change order usually starts.

Compare the answers across roofers, not just within one. If one company says it will do everything and another names two exclusions, the second is not necessarily weaker. It may simply know where its crew stops. The first company may be promising work it plans to hand off later without telling you who will be on your roof.

What counts as a turn-down

There are three different things a roofer might mean when they say no. The first is a hard limit: a material they do not install, a roof type outside their crew's experience, or a pitch they will not walk. Keys Roofing installs Atlas and Malarkey shingles only, so a homeowner who wants a different shingle line will hear a no on that product, not a debate about its quality. Write that down in your comparison, because it changes which roofers can stay on the shortlist at all.

The second is a conditional yes. The roofer will bid the work, but only after a site visit, a scope review, or a written note that the price assumes sound decking. Steep pitches, older plank decking and sections that need a rebuilt valley often arrive this way. The third is a handoff, where the roofer keeps the shingle work and sends the masonry, metal or structural piece to a named subcontractor. A handoff is not a problem by itself. It becomes one when the bid hides it, so ask which subcontractor will do the work and whether their part is in your total.

Record which kind of answer each roofer gave. A hard limit that appears in writing is easy to check later. A conditional yes should show up in the bid as a condition, with the decking or flashing item named. A handoff should show up as a line with a trade name beside it.

How the question lands on a St. Louis roof

St. Louis roofs meet a few conditions that make this question more useful here than it might be elsewhere. Freeze and thaw cycles lift flashing and loosen old sealant at chimneys and walls, and repairs to those spots can be a different trade from the field shingles. Ice damming at the eave can show up as a roof that leaks only in January, and a roofer who does not take on eave and gutter work may send that part out. Hail season in the spring tends to leave dented metal and cracked vents, and a roofer who has replaced many storm-damaged sections will usually be specific about which parts they handle themselves.

Permits add another layer. Many municipal permit desks across St. Louis County want to know the roof type and the scope before work begins. A roofer who turns down a roof type may also be telling you that the permit paperwork for that type sits outside their routine. Ask whether the roofer pulls permits for the job and whether the desk will need a separate filing for any subcontracted piece. The answer should match the scope in writing.

What it costs

A refusal is not a price, and a bid that avoids the question can look lower only because the hard parts are missing. When a roofer declines a section or hands it off, you have to find a second contractor, schedule two crews, and make sure the two pieces meet properly at the flashing. That coordination cost is real even when neither bid shows it. Ask each roofer whether a handoff piece is priced into the total or left as a separate quote, and whether the roofer will coordinate the seam between the two trades.

Conditional yes answers carry their own cost. If a decking or flashing item is assumed to be sound, the bid should show a unit price for the repair in case the assumption fails. Otherwise the first surprise on the roof becomes a negotiation. Ask the roofer to write the unit price for decking replacement and for the flashing piece into the proposal, even if the amount is never used.

Do not treat the lowest bid as the one with the fewest limits. A bid that accepts every roof type without comment may be lower because it has not priced the hard sections yet. Read the total and the list of conditions together, and compare each roofer's stated limits with the work on your house.

What to ask

Ask each roofer these three questions, in writing if you can. Which roof types, pitches or materials do you decline or hand to someone else? For each conditional item on my roof, what is the assumption, and what is the unit price if it fails? Which subcontractor covers any piece you do not do, and is that piece in my total?

Keep the answers in one file next to the bids. When the proposals arrive, check each total against the limits each roofer named. A roofer who declined a section should not have a bid that includes it without a note. A roofer who handed off a piece should show that trade name on the line.

If you want to ask Keys Roofing directly, call the office at (314) 220-2333 and give the roof type, the approximate pitch and any section with a different material or a lower slope. Ask the same three questions. Then compare the answers with the next roofer's, line by line, before you choose a start date.