Never just sign your roofing contract without first clarifying whether the contract includes these three factors that can save you money in the long run.
- 1. Do they perform the roof work or is the work subcontracted out to another company?
Most homeowners are unaware that the company they signed their contract with to do their roof work is actually not the company that will be performing the job. There are quite a few well-marketed home improvement companies that have a knack for sales, and once they secure a contract with a homeowner, they outsource the work to an actual roofing company that is legally licensed to perform the job.
It’s important to know if an outside company other than the one you hired to do the job will be performing the work because the subcontracted company could be one of bad workmanship. So, once you find out if it is a subcontracted company you can do your research to know whether they’re a reputable company or not. Also, in some cases, keep in mind not all, hiring a licensed roofing company directly could be more affordable to you as the homeowner.
2. Is woodwork included in the contract or is it an additional fee outside of the contract price?
There are multiple components of a roof that deal with wood material as part of the overall roof structure. Two of these common roof components are the Fascia Wood and Deck Wood. Fascia Wood is the vertical wood trim that borders the perimeter of the whole roof. Deck Wood is the plywood that acts as the base foundation of the roof, it’s the part of the roof that supports all of the roof material and separates the inside of the roof from the outside of it.
Both Fascia Wood and Deck Wood can become rotten and get damaged over time, normally requiring it to be replaced during roof work. A good deal of roofing companies will charge you extra for these types of wood repairs. Usually, they’ll work in possibly a few at no cost but normally won’t include all of these types of repairs in the contract price. It’s important to know how much they’re including in the contract and what’s the extra cost for any additional repair because you don’t want to be surprised with an extra bill once the roof work has been completed.
If you’re asking why don’t they just include it in the contract price? The answer is because as mentioned previously the Deck Wood in under the roofing material so it isn’t until the roofing material is removed from the roof that they can determine how much rotten/damaged wood needs to be replaced. As for the Fascia Wood, although the wood is exposed and can be seen with the naked eye at a glance companies tend not to factor it into the equation until the roof is actually being worked on.
- 3. Are all the permit costs included in the contract price?
Most homeowners are unaware that there are two types of permit costs. 1st type of permit cost is the fee it cost your roofing company to full out all the roofing permit application work necessary to obtain a permit from any city throughout the state. Sometimes a roofing company will outsource that task to a company that specializes in permits, which in some cases might also handle submitting the permit to the city as well.
Other companies will perform the task in-house and deliver it to the city for submission themselves or just hire a permit company to submit it on their behalf as mentioned above. Either way, the paperwork is cumbersome and requires due diligence and time to make sure that the permit is approved by the city. As such, companies will charge their customers for the service by usually including it in the contract price.
However, when it comes to the 2nd type of permit cost some companies tend to pass that onto their customers. This permit cost is the fee the city charges to review, process, and approve the permit application. Depending on the job, it can be a small number in the low hundreds to over a few hundred dollars for larger homes. So make sure to ask whether there is a portion of the permit cost that you as the customer will have to pay out of pocket.
THE GOOD NEWS!
At D&B Roofing of South Florida, all the permit costs, wood repairs, and work are included in the contract as in all-inclusive package and the work is done in-house by the company. Homeowners need not worry about any additional cost associated with the permits nor to the wood repairs done on their roof.
Visit D&B Roofing’s website today at FloridaRoofingDoneRight.com to arrange an appointment for your free estimate. You can also call us at (954) 328-4279 or email us at hello@floridaroofingdoneright.com.
D&B Roofing services the tri-county area of Broward, Miami-Dade, and West Palm Beach.
D&B Roofing, where Florida Roofing is Done Right!