Compare Each Roofer's Material Lead Time Before You Pick a Date

A roofer can quote a start date that looks firm and still be waiting on shingles. The bundles, the drip edge, the underlayment and the metal flashing all come from a supplier, and the supplier has its own truck schedule. Before you pick a day for the tear-off, ask each roofer how long materials take to reach your driveway from the day you sign. The answers will differ, and the difference can decide which bid gives you a realistic date.

Why lead time changes the comparison

Two roofers can quote the same scope, the same shingle line and the same price, then give you start dates a week or more apart. The gap usually comes from stock. One company keeps a common color on hand or has a standing order with a yard that restocks weekly. Another orders after the contract is signed and waits for a delivery slot. Neither approach is dishonest, but the second company's schedule depends on a truck that nobody on your street controls.

Lead time also matters for your own calendar. If you have booked time off, arranged for a neighbor to watch the dog, or planned to move a car out of the driveway, a date that slips by a week costs you something real. A bid that says the crew starts the first available Monday tells you less than a bid that names the order date, the expected delivery date and the first day the crew can work after the material lands.

Questions to put to each roofer

Ask these three things in the same words to every company, and write the answers next to each bid. The wording matters because roofers tend to answer the question they were asked, and a loose question gets a loose answer.

1. When do you place the shingle and material order, measured from the day I sign?
2. Is the color and product line in stock at your yard, or does it come from a supplier on order?
3. If the delivery is late, does the start date move, and who tells me in writing?

A clear answer to the first question names a number of days or a specific date. An answer like soon after signing is not a lead time. For the second, if the material is on order, ask for the supplier's name so you know which yard a delay would come from. For the third, the answer should say whether the schedule moves by the number of days late, or whether the crew simply waits. Both can be fair terms, but you should know which one you agreed to before you sign.

What St. Louis seasons do to delivery

Lead time in this metro is not constant across the year. Spring after a hail season brings a backlog of reroofs, and a yard that was well stocked in February can run short of a popular shingle color by April. Summer heat slows the work itself, so a crew that could deliver a roof in June may still schedule the tear-off for late August. Late September and October bring a rush before the first hard freeze, when homeowners who put off the job all at once fill the calendar.

The freeze and thaw cycle also matters once a roof is open. If the tear-off starts in the last week of November and the materials arrive late, the crew may be left with a deck exposed through a cold front. That is why a short lead time is not always the better offer. The real question is whether the delivery, the tear-off and the dry-in can all finish inside one dry window. Ask each roofer whether the schedule assumes a weather hold, and what happens to the open roof if one comes.

Reading the schedule in a written bid

A written scope should show the order date, the expected delivery date and the first day of work as separate lines. If the bid shows only one start date, ask the roofer how that date was reached. A single date can hide a lot of assumptions, especially if the crew is also committed to another job that week.

Check the material line too. Atlas and Malarkey shingles each come in a range of colors, and the product line you choose at the estimate stage has to match what the yard can actually deliver. Keys installs Atlas and Malarkey only, so the question for any roofer you compare is whether the color and spec on the proposal are in stock or on order. A proposal that names a color but says nothing about its source has skipped the step that sets the date.

If a roofer says the schedule can change after you sign, ask what triggers the change and whether the change has to be written down. A start date that moves because the supplier shipped late is a different event from one that moves because the crew took another job. The contract should say which one is which, and it should say who notifies you and how.

What to do before you book time off

Once you have the three answers from each roofer, hold off on booking time away from work or home until the order date and the delivery date are both in writing. Call the office at (314) 220-2333 if a bid leaves either date out. Keys can tell you how its material orders and crew dates are set for a St. Louis job, so you can line them up against the other bids on your sheet before you commit to one.