Who Supplies the Power on Roof Day

A roof crew on a tear-off day runs more tools than most homeowners expect. Pneumatic nailers need an air compressor, the compressor needs power or fuel, and the crew usually has a saw, work lights and a shop vacuum running from the same source. None of this appears as a separate line on a roof quote, and many bids say nothing about where the electricity comes from. That silence matters because whatever supplies the power will sit on your property, often along the walk or the side yard, for most of a working day.

Roofer comparison

In practice there are three ways a crew gets power on a residential job. The first is a long cord from an exterior outlet on your house. It is the easiest arrangement for the crew, but it puts a load on one circuit, and an older outlet with no ground fault protection can trip the moment a compressor starts. The second is a cord from an interior outlet, usually in a garage or basement, run out through a door or a window. That keeps the cord off the grass but adds a trip hazard at the threshold and can leave a window or door propped open for a day. The third is a gasoline generator carried on the trailer and set down in the yard.

Each option carries a different risk. A generator produces exhaust, so it has to sit well away from windows, doors, and any air intake, including the attic vent and the air conditioner condenser. It also runs loud for hours. A cord from the house draws on your own electrical panel, which is why a homeowner should know which outlet is in use. When you compare two roofers, do not ask whether they have power. Ask which of the three sources they plan to use, and whether the bid says so in writing. A bid that names the source is easier to check than one that assumes it.

The comparison also shows how a crew works. A roofer who plans a generator will usually park the trailer on one side of the house, which affects where the dumpster and the material drop can go. A roofer who plans to use your outlet will want the cord route and the outlet location agreed before the first morning. Neither answer is wrong. The difference is whether you learn about it before the crew arrives or while they are standing in your driveway.

What it costs

Power is almost never billed to you as its own item. Labor, overhead and equipment rates absorb the cost of compressors, generators and fuel, so the price of the roof is the price of the roof. What you do pay for, in a practical sense, is your own electricity for the hours the crew draws on your outlet, which is usually modest but is not zero, and the cost of anything that goes wrong on your side of the meter. A tripped ground fault breaker that takes out the sump pump, a sprinkler controller on the same circuit that reboots, or a freezer that warms because the outlet was overloaded are all real losses that a bid does not cover unless someone wrote it in.

Generator fuel and any rental charge for a generator should also be settled in the bid. If the roofer owns the generator, ask whether fuel is included or billed separately, and whether the bid describes the unit. If your outlet will carry the load, ask whether there is any charge for it. Some contractors include all of this quietly, and some add it to a change order on the day, which is the kind of surprise a written scope is meant to prevent. Keys Roofing can answer for its own crew at (314) 220-2333, and the answer should appear in the written scope either way.

What to ask

Put these questions to each roofer before you sign, and write the answers into the bid itself. An answer given on the phone is not a term of the contract.

• Which power source will the nailers, compressor and saw use on tear-off day, and does the written bid name it?
• If the crew uses an outlet on the house, which outlet is it, and does that circuit also run the refrigerator, freezer or sump pump?
• If there is a generator, where will it sit, how far is it from the windows, doors, dryer vent and air conditioner, and who refuels it during the day?
• Where does the cord cross the walk, the driveway or the gate, and who covers it with a ramp or tape so nobody trips?
• If a breaker trips or a ground fault outlet shuts off mid-morning, who resets it, and how long does the crew wait?
• Does the cord or outlet get inspected before the crew leaves each day, and what happens to a damaged cord?
• Is there any charge to you for power, fuel or generator rental, and is that charge in the bid or on a separate line?

Two of these matter more than the rest. The first is which outlet and which circuit. A homeowner who knows the outlet shares a circuit with the sump pump can move the pump's plug or ask for a different outlet before anything trips. The second is generator placement. Exhaust from a generator that sits beside an open window can reach the rooms inside the house, and carbon monoxide is not something a homeowner can smell. If a roofer cannot say where the generator will sit, the answer is not yet a plan.

Ask the roofer to walk the power route with you the day before the crew arrives. Stand at the outlet or the generator spot, look at the cord path, and photograph both. A dated photo of the outlet and the cord route is useful evidence if something goes wrong later, and it costs nothing to take. The same walk can show whether the cord will cross a sprinkler line, a low gutter or a wet spot near a downspout, which is common in a St. Louis spring when the ground stays soft.