How to Compare Roofing Bids (and Find the $6,000 Difference)

You have two bids on your kitchen table. Same roof, same shingle brand, $6,000 apart. One contractor is either overcharging you or the other one has removed something you can’t see yet. Here’s how to find out which — usually in three questions.

Question 1: “Is full tear-off included — and what does decking repair cost per sheet?”

The oldest trick in the cheap bid is the layover: new shingles installed over old ones. It saves the contractor tear-off labor and disposal fees, and it costs you everything else — hidden rot stays hidden, most manufacturer warranties void, and the extra weight and heat shorten the new roof’s life.

The second-oldest trick is including tear-off but leaving decking repair as an open-ended “as needed, time and materials” line. That’s a blank check you sign in advance. A straight bid prints the per-sheet decking price before the job — ours do, because century-old decking always has opinions, and the surprise should be architectural, never financial.

Question 2: “Who is actually on my roof?”

Ask directly: employees or subcontractors? If subs — the same crew every time, or whoever answered a text this week? Then verify the license behind the answer: Washington’s L&I contractor lookup and Oregon’s CCB search are public, take ninety seconds, and show bond status, insurance, and complaint history. (Ours are printed here — check us first, then check everyone else.)

This question finds money because the cheapest labor available on any given week is exactly how a low bid stays low — and workmanship is where roofs actually fail. Installation errors, not material defects, drive the overwhelming majority of first-decade roof failures.

Question 3: “What does your warranty cover in year six?”

Read the workmanship warranty, not the shingle warranty — the manufacturer covers the materials either way. One-year workmanship coverage is a coupon, not a warranty; it expires before installation errors typically surface. Ask what happens when a flashing detail leaks in year six: with a one-year warranty the answer is an invoice. (Our answer for year six is a crew, at no charge, because five years leak-free plus ten more through Owens Corning is the actual product.)

Watch for “lifetime” warranties too — the word does heavy lifting. They’re frequently prorated, non-transferable, and void on ownership change. Transferable-in-writing beats lifetime-with-asterisks.

The line-by-line checklist

Beyond the big three, a complete bid names its parts. Compare each line — a missing line is a removed line:

• Underlayment — synthetic, named brand (not “felt as required”)
• Ice-and-water membrane — locations specified: valleys, eaves, penetrations
• Flashing — new step and counter flashing, never “reuse existing”
• Ventilation — intake and exhaust calculated, not just “ridge vent”
• Starter and ridge — manufacturer system components, not cut-up field shingles
• Permits — included and filed by the contractor
• Cleanup — daily magnetic sweep, disposal included
• Payment schedule — never large money up front; deposits should be modest and tied to material delivery

The honest conclusion

Sometimes the cheap bid survives all three questions and the checklist — a leaner company with lower overhead genuinely can charge less, and when that’s the case, take it seriously. But in our experience reviewing competitor bids that homeowners bring us, the $6,000 difference almost always lives in tear-off scope, labor sourcing, or warranty depth. The price was real; the roof wasn’t the same product.

Want a bid built to be compared? Book the free inspection — line-item, fixed, decking priced per sheet, and good for 30 days while you shop it against anyone.