Special Report: Roofing isn't so rough

Worms go viral as anal ooze

Getting roofing right means taking steps necessary to avoid scams and pitfalls, including waiting for the fall, getting good referrals and throughly checking out the contractor.

by Broderick Perkins
© 2008 DeadlineNews.Com

Unauthorized use of this story is a copyright violation -- a federal crime

Deadline Newsroom - Roofing doesn't have to be 'over your head.'

But a new one can help your home hold value through the recession.

Celia Kuperszmid Lehrman, deputy home editor for Consumer Reports, has more than 20 years of researching and writing about contractors, including roofers.

She offered to The Roofery the following list of suggestions to avoid scams and pitfalls.

• Beat the rush. Summer is the busiest season for roofers. Waiting until the fall may save money. Contractors also may have weeded out less experienced workers by the fall. That means you'll get a more experienced crew.

Roofing for less. Click here.

• Word of mouth. Get several referrals from family, friends, co-workers and others you trust who've had a recent satisfactory experience with a roofer.

• Ask questions. The National Association of the Remodeling Industry also offers these questions to ask any contractor.

• Get lots of information. Look at ratings and prices of different roofing products and know what the contractor is going to use so you can lock in a price upfront. Know the work they will do. Find out who will actually do the work, the person making the bid or a subcontractor.

• Check for insurance. Get the carrier and policy number, make sure it's current and that it covers the company and its workers.

• Check licenses, certifications and trade group affiliation. Make sure they are properly licensed and/or certified to do the work by the book according to either the National Roofing Contractors Association, the National Association of the Remodeling Industry, or any other state or local organization. Check the local Better Business Bureau for any complaints and how long they have been in the business.

• Get familiar with the work to be done. Understand what work is a matter of course and what work will require special skills or materials. Make sure they are not going to take any shortcuts such laying a third layer of roofing over two existent layers. Two is fine. Three can overloading the roof.

• Do your own inspection. Carefully get up on the roof or use binoculars to check for cracked, curled, or missing shingles and other signs the roof is nearing the end of its useful life. Check the chimney and skylights for cracks where water can seep. In the attic, look around the chimney and the boards you can see for any signs of water intrusion.

When is it time for a new roof? Click here.

• Get a detailed contract. Get as detailed a written contract as is possible and then build in some wiggle room to incorporate possible unanticipated costs by creating plausible what-if scenarios.

• Get a permit. It is best if the contractor holds the permits because most local jurisdictions consider the permit holder to be the party ultimately responsible for the work. If the contractor holds the permit, he is responsible for the work and the building inspector can in some cases act as something of an intermediary between the two of you.

• Get a lien release. This will protect you from a contractor who owes a supplier for supplies after you have already paid the contractor. Essentially, if the contractor has your money but hasn't paid for the supplies, you will be liable for what is unpaid.

• Inspect the work. Ask the contractor if they allow for or if it is standard practice for a manufacturer's rep or industry organization member to come after the work is finished to do an inspection to ensure the work is up to manufacturer and/or industry standards.

• Stick with it. "No matter what the project, changing your mind is always expensive," Lehrman says.

"Put it into the professional's hands to do everything from the tear up and shingling and clean up because these professionals know how to protect the property and how much to tear off to keep it water tight and so on. Better off not to be penny wise and pound foolish," Lehrman said.

• Click on the keywords below for more stories on this subject.

© 2008 DeadlineNews.Com

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You are reading a sample of "News that really hits home!", now available from several beats and published in a growing number of locations.

Broderick Perkins, an award-winning consumer journalist, parlayed 30 years of old-school journalism into a digital real estate news service, the San Jose, CA-based DeadlineNews Group, including DeadlineNews.Com, a real estate news and consulting service and Web site, and the Deadline Newsroom, DeadlineNews.Com's news back shop.

Perkins is also the first Examiner to cover three beats for the Examiner.com news service:
• National Offbeat News Examiner
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• National Real Estate Examiner

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Roof replacing signals over your head?

Don't just rely upon the calendar to tell you when it's time for a new roof. See what the neighbors are doing, what the market has wrought and what you can do in the name of "green."

by Broderick Perkins
© 2008 DeadlineNews.Com


Unauthorized use of this story is a copyright violation -- a federal crime

Deadline Newsroom - Red flags that signal it's time to replace your roof may be over your head.

Sunlight permitting holes and bucket brigade-sized leaks are obvious signs it's time for a new topper for your home.

There are however, additional indicators that may not be so obvious.

"Certainly if your roof is approaching the end of its life cycle -- usually 20 – 25 years for asphalt shingles -- it's time to think about a new roof," says Ray Rosewall, president and CEO of DaVinci Roofscapes in Kansas City, KS.

The National Association of Homebuilders says decorative slate, metal, masonry and newer synthetic roofs can have a life expectancy of 50 years or more.

"However, a calendar shouldn't be the only way you determine if it's time to replace your roof," said Rosewall.

Think about replacing your roof when:

• Your neighbors have new roofs and you want to maintain the value of your home. Also, given most homes in a neighborhood were built at the same time, your roof may reach the end of it's lifecycle at the time your neighbors' roofs are failing.

• Your neighbors have not added a new roof and you want to increase the resale value of your home. Hanley Wood's Cost vs. Value 2008-2009 report says a new roof can return an average 65.5 percent of the cost in the form of value added to the home. On a $18,825 roof, that's $12,336 added to the value of your home. That adds up to greater salability.

• Your geographic area has seen an increase in severe weather conditions, (including hail or tornados) that require a stronger roofing material to handle the dramatic weather changes.

"With the changing weather patterns in our country, combined with the need for homeowners to add value to their properties, consumers should be vigilant about looking for signs of wear along with upgrading their roofs," said Rosewall.

• Your existing roof is functional, but has staining that detracts from the look of your home. In a housing market laden with poorly-maintained foreclosed homes, it's a good idea to make yours standout from the eyesores.

• You want to shrink your carbon footprint and take advantage of more sustainable green roofing alternatives that are low maintenance and energy saving and can come with 50-year warranties.

© 2008 DeadlineNews.Com

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Broderick Perkins, an award-winning consumer journalist, parlayed 30 years of old-school journalism into a digital real estate news service, the San Jose, CA-based DeadlineNews Group, including DeadlineNews.Com, a real estate news and consulting service and Web site, and the Deadline Newsroom, DeadlineNews.Com's news back shop. Perkins is also a National Real Estate Examiner. All the news that really hits home from three locations -- that's location, location, location!

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Roofing For Less

Due diligence and a studied effort can save you thousands of dollars on the cost of a new roof, according to an independent analysis of the home topping home improvement.

by Broderick Perkins
© 2008 DeadlineNews.Com

Deadline Newsroom - You can save up to $5,000 on the cost of a new roof.

True.

Saving thousands of dollars on a new roof may sound like a come-on from some errant roofer operating out of the back of a pickup truck, but it's been well documented as part a survey of hundreds of roofers around the nation, including 105 roofers in the Washington D.C. Area and 105 roofers in California's San Francisco Bay Area.

Consumer Checkbook, an independent rating service affiliated with and somewhat like Consumer Reports -- except it rates services rather than goods in seven major metropolitan areas -- found the more bids home owners received from competent roofers the less they paid for the work.

Checkbook, in its detailed analysis of hundreds of roofers, was careful to point out that quality is Job 1. Solid business operations are also key. Don't hire a roofer without a proper license, workers' and liability insurance, bonding -- where necessary -- or other regulatory requirements. A bargain price for new roof that leaks or is otherwise incorrectly installed isn't a bargain.

"But once you have identified roofers that measure up on these factors, price becomes critical," the print and online publication reports.

Checkbook says to obtain the best price, have roofing done on a fixed-price basis, following an estimate.

That's what the company did working with several subscribers to get bids on roofing jobs for their homes. Each subscriber had all the roofers bid on the same specifications. The price differences were "striking," Checkbook reported.

Roof gutter cleaning robot!

"For one of the jobs, prices ranged from $2,900 to $8,36 -- a difference of more than $5,000. For another job, the roofers' price quotes ranged from $5,480 to $8,613 -- a difference of more than $3,000."

How's it done?

• Checkbook says to start with firms rated high for quality. Check Checkbook's ratings or get referrals from family, friends, co-workers, realty professionals or others you trust who recently had a new roof installed successfully, or do both.

"We can't give you a firm rule as to exactly how many bids you should get. There is no way to know in advance how much the next bid will gain you," Checkbook reported.

When assisting homeowners with bids, the homeowners each obtained five bids.

A chart shows the likely savings by increasing from two bids to three bids is smaller than the expected savings by increasing from one to two bids. Increasing from three bids to four bids can be expected to be even less productive.

"But for many jobs, the likely savings from getting three, four, or more bids will readily justify the time required," Checkbook found.

• Invite out more firms than you really care to see. Some won't show up. When you've seen enough, call the remaining firms and cancel.

• Use estimators as your consultants. At first, you may not know exactly what work is needed. Ask each firm for good reason-based suggestions, weigh the arguments and settle on a set of specifications.

• With a tight description of your specifications, call back the firms you've already seen, inviting them to adjust their bids. Give the specs to any additional firms you want to bid.

• The larger the job, the more bids you should get. A 20 percent saving on a $500 repair job is just $100, but 20 percent off $10,000 is a $2,000 savings.

• Get more bids if the difference between the first two bids is large.

• Get more bids on jobs where labor, rather than materials, is relatively important. Firms have to pay roughly the same amount for materials, but they may differ significantly in what they pay per hour for labor and in how much their workers can accomplish per hour.

Press for a strong contract that's specific about the work to be done on a written guarantee basis.

However, most firms will insist on a loophole in case they find damaged fascias, sheathing, or structural problems. Contracts should state that such work be done on a specific "per foot" or a "time and materials" basis. A charge per square foot, or per linear foot is typical.

Seek to pay for your work as late as you can, and indicate in the contract what the schedule of payments is to be. Never pay the full cost upfront or before the job is completed.

• Search the Deadline Newsroom for more roofing-related stories.

© 2008 DeadlineNews.Com

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Broderick Perkins, an award-winning consumer journalist of 30 years, is publisher and executive editor of San Jose, CA-based DeadlineNews.Com, a real estate news and consulting service, and the new Deadline Newsroom, DeadlineNews.Com's new backshop. In both cases, it's where all the news really hits home.

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