Compare Who Answers the Phone While Your Roof Is Open

An open roof has no roof on it for a few hours or a few days, and that stretch is when a phone call matters most. A crew strips shingles in the morning, the sky turns green over the west county by mid-afternoon, and someone at the house needs to know whether tarps are going on, who is coming out, and what to move away from the ceiling. Most roofing quotes say very little about that. Two bids can list the same squares, the same underlayment and the same start date, and still leave the homeowner with very different answers when the rain begins.

Roofer comparison

Put the contact arrangements side by side the same way you would put the line items side by side. Each roofer should be able to tell you, in writing, three things: who is the one person at the house during the job, who answers the phone when that person is on the roof or off site, and who calls you back if the phone goes unanswered. A name and a direct number are the minimum. A general office line that rings to voicemail is a different arrangement, and it is worth knowing before the first shingle comes off rather than at half past four on a Thursday.

St. Louis weather makes this more than a courtesy question. Spring and early summer bring hail-producing storms that often build in the afternoon, and a tear-off that started at seven in the morning may be half open when the first cell arrives. Fall brings wind that lifts loose edges and pushes rain sideways under the eave. Winter brings freeze-thaw cycles that work on any exposed flashing or nail head. In each season the open roof stays exposed longer than a schedule suggests, and the homeowner is the one standing in the living room watching the ceiling.

When you compare two roofers, do not stop at whether each one answers. Ask how the answer is given. A crew lead who can reach the job site in a few minutes is a different arrangement from a office manager who will look into it the next business day. Neither is wrong, but the homeowner should know which one is in the proposal before the deck is exposed, because the decision cannot be made on the day it matters.

What a storm does to an open deck

An open deck can take water quickly. Underlayment that is down but not yet sealed at the laps, nails driven a little off the line, and a valley that has been cut but not yet flashed can all let water through within minutes of heavy rain. The crew's job is to cover the deck before they leave the site each day and to tarp any section they cannot finish. The homeowner's job is to know whether that covering has been done and who to call if a tarp lifts in the wind at night.

Ask each roofer what happens at the end of a normal working day. Some crews dry in the deck so the roof is weathertight before they leave. Others leave one section open overnight and rely on a tarp that has been secured with sandbags or batten strips. Both approaches can be reasonable on the right job, but they are not the same roof while it is open, and the proposal should say which one applies to yours.

If a storm does reach the house while the roof is open and water gets into a room, the homeowner deals with their own insurer on that loss. Keys documents the open condition with dated photos and a written note of the time the crew left the site, and attends as the contractor while the homeowner handles the claim with their insurer. Missouri law, RSMo 407.725, bars a roofing contractor from representing or negotiating a homeowner's insurance claim, so a roofer who offers to manage that conversation for you is offering something the statute forbids. What you want from the roofer is a clean record of what was on the roof and when, not someone speaking for you to the insurer.

What it costs

Answering the phone does not usually appear as a line item, but the cost of not answering it lands somewhere. A crew that has to make a second trip to tarp a section, or that finds water in the attic insulation and has no one to tell, adds cost that the homeowner ends up carrying in time, cleanup and repairs to finishes. Ask whether emergency tarping during the job is included in the contract price or billed separately, and at what rate. Ask whether a return visit to remove a tarp or check a leak after rain is part of the agreement. A written answer is worth more than a spoken one, because a spoken answer cannot be checked on a Sunday night when the wind picks up.

Price the arrangement the same way you price the materials. A roofer who includes emergency tarping and a return visit after rain has made a commitment that shows up in the bid, and a roofer who leaves those out has made a different commitment that shows up later as a separate invoice. Neither figure should be a surprise. Both should be on paper before the crew arrives with the dumpster.

Keys Roofing can be reached at (314) 220-2333 for questions about the schedule, the weather plan and any open section, and that is the number to save before the job starts. Ask each roofer to confirm, in writing, which number rings during working hours and which rings after the crew has left for the day. A number you have not tested is not yet a plan.

What to ask

Put these questions to every roofer on your list, in the same words, and write down each answer as it is given. Two roofers who answer the same question differently have already told you how the job will run.

• Who is the one person at the house during the job, and what is that person's direct number?
• Who answers the phone when that person is on the roof, and who answers after the crew leaves for the day?
• If a storm arrives mid-tear-off, what is protected at the house that evening, and who comes out to check it?
• Is emergency tarping included in the contract price, or billed separately, and at what rate?
• Will the crew leave the deck dried in each night, or will any section stay open overnight, and how is that section covered?
• Who calls the homeowner back after a rain check, and how soon is that call expected to happen?
• Will the phone contact and the after-hours arrangement be written into the proposal, with the names attached?

The answers to these questions belong in the contract, not in a text message sent the week before the crew arrives. A roofer who is willing to put the contact arrangement on paper has given you something you can check when the sky changes. A roofer who prefers to keep it loose has told you something too.