Compare Each Roofer's Gas Cans and Compressor on Your Lot

A roof crew shows up with more than shingles and nail guns. A typical tear-off brings an air compressor for the nailers, a few gas cans for the saws and generator, sometimes a small generator, and a toolbox that gets left wherever the truck stopped. Each of those items has a place on your lot, and each place can cost you something if nobody chose it ahead of time. Gas spilled on a driveway stays there until it rains, a compressor hose across a walkway trips the next person up the path, and a generator set near a window can push exhaust toward a room where the air conditioner is running.

This page is for the homeowner comparing two or three written roof proposals who wants to know one thing most proposals skip: where the fuel, the compressor and the generator will sit while the roof is open. Put the same question to each roofer in the same words, and compare the answers the way you would compare the shingle line or the flashing notes.

Why the storage spot matters more than it looks

Fuel storage is a fire question as well as a spill question. Gasoline vapor is heavier than air and settles low, so a can sitting against a foundation wall or beside a basement window well can put fumes where a water heater pilot or a furnace burner is waiting. A roofer who keeps the cans at the curb, away from the house and away from any storm drain, has thought about the question. A roofer who says "wherever" has not.

The compressor is a noise and trip question. A roofing compressor runs in bursts all day, and it sits on the ground or on a small cart that rolls. Its hose has to reach the work, which means it crosses something: the sprinkler line, the walk to the back door, a flower bed, a children's play area. Every crossing is a place where a hose gets stepped on, kinked or pulled loose. Ask where the compressor sits, then ask which path the hose takes from there to the ladder.

The generator question matters most in a St. Louis summer and a St. Louis winter. Many crews run a small generator for lights, a charger or a radio when the job runs past daylight. Carbon monoxide does not care how large the generator is. It needs to sit well away from every window, door and air intake, and on a sloped lot it can drift toward the lower side of the house if nobody considers the grade.

What to ask each roofer, word for word

Ask the same three questions of every roofer, in writing if you can, so the answers sit side by side when you compare them.

1. Where will the fuel cans be kept overnight and during the day, and how far is that spot from the house, the basement windows and any storm drain?
2. Where will the compressor sit, and which route will its hose take from there to the work?
3. Will a generator run on the property at any point, and if so, where will it sit and how far is it from every window, door and air intake?

A useful answer names a spot. "We keep it near the truck" is an answer, but it is not a spot. Ask the roofer to point to the place on your lot, or to mark it on a sketch of your property, and to say which way the hose will run. If the answer changes when you ask a second time, write down both answers and treat the difference as a question still open.

What the written proposal should say

Most roof proposals describe the shingles, the underlayment, the flashing and the cleanup in some detail. They rarely mention where the gas goes. Ask for a single line that covers site storage, and make sure it names the fuel, the compressor and any generator. The line can be short. A sentence such as "Fuel and generator stored at the curb, 20 feet from the house, compressor on the driveway apron with hose routed along the side gate" tells you more than a page of general promises.

If the proposal says nothing, you have two options. You can ask the roofer to add the line before you sign, or you can accept that the question is open and plan to watch the staging area yourself on the first morning. Either way, the proposal is where the answer should live, not a conversation in the driveway.

Walk the spot before the first day

Once the crew has named a spot, walk it yourself. Stand where the cans would sit and check the distance to your basement windows, your dryer vent, your outdoor air conditioner and any door that stays open in warm weather. Check the grade. A spot that looks flat from the street can slope toward the foundation. Check whether it sits over a storm drain, a clean-out or a buried line. If the spot is near a fence or gate, check whether that gate has to stay clear for a trailer or a delivery.

Take a dated photo of the chosen spot and keep it in the same folder as your roof photos. If the crew moves the cans or the compressor somewhere you did not agree to, the photo shows where it started and makes the next conversation shorter.

What a careful crew does on the first morning

On the first morning the crew should unload the compressor and the fuel at the spot named in the proposal, not at the nearest open space. The hose should run along the agreed route, and it should be taped or covered where it crosses a walk. Fuel cans should be closed and set on level ground. Any generator should be started at its spot and not moved closer to the house once it is running. If something moves, ask why before the crew goes back up the ladder.

At the end of each day the compressor should be shut down and the hose coiled out of the walk. Fuel should be returned to the truck or the agreed spot, and the generator should be switched off. A crew that does this every day is not doing anything unusual. A crew that only does it when you are watching is telling you how the rest of the job will run.

How this fits the rest of your comparison

Storage is one line in a longer comparison. It sits next to the start date, the crew size, the photos taken during the job and the cleanup at the end. Roofers with a clear answer here usually have clear answers on those points too, because the same planning produces all of them. Roofers who cannot name a spot for their fuel have often not walked your lot at all.

If you want to talk through these questions before you call, the Keys office can be reached at (314) 220-2333. Ask for the storage line in writing, and compare the answers the way you would compare any other line in the proposal.