How to Compare Roofing Bids

I have run into a number of people recently who are using a spreadsheet to compare and contrast their various roofing bids. While I can see some benefits to this approach, I would add a few words of caution as well. The benefits may include stacking up each companies’ scope of work or “specs” against each other in an effort to determine who is doing what. Since there is no “standard” way of installing a roof, it seems pretty natural to want to find out who is doing more for less.

Here is the caution part: Roofing is a service. The quality of the roof you have installed depends more on the skill and integrity of the members of the company you choose than any product. A few months ago I bid on a job for an engineer in Sammamish. After many hours on his spreadsheet he chose another roofing company. I thanked him for his time as he was more than fair and honest with me throughout the process. A couple of weeks ago I received a call from the engineer’s neighbor. I was told that the engineer had recommended my company to do the work for her. I learned that despite his spreadsheet analysis he wasn’t pleased with the quality of work he received from the company he chose. This really got me thinking about how difficult it is to quantify things like workmanship, skill level, integrity and job process when choosing a roofing company.

Comparing “apples to apples” as they say, can only be done to a certain extent as the most important factors in choosing the right roofing company cannot be quantified. My advice: choose a roofing company that you feel comfortable with and that is really invested in your roofing project.