It is one of the most confusing things about roof work: you ask for the same thing, and you get amounts back that are hundreds of euros apart. Then you start to doubt the highest one. Or, more often, yourself.
In almost every case I know of, the difference is not in the margin. It is in the amount of work included. And that is exactly the tricky part: the work that makes the difference is the work you can no longer see after completion.
Four places where the difference arises
The roof boarding. Under old tiles there is timber that can be soft in places after thirty years. One supplier includes replacement, the other assumes it will be fine. If it is not fine, you are left with an open roof and a conversation about extra work.
The underlay. Every quote says ‘membrane’. There is membrane that lasts thirty years and membrane that crumbles after eight. The price differs by a few hundred euros; the consequences differ by a roof's lifetime.
The lead and zinc work. Lead flashings around the chimney, valley gutters and wall junctions. Precision work, and the first thing to be skipped when the price has to be sharp. Reusing old lead is a day quicker and ten years shorter.
Who does the work. Some suppliers are intermediaries, not roofers. Your job is sold on and every link in the chain keeps something. The craftsman on your roof works with what is left.
“A low price is usually not a sharp price. It is a shorter list.”
Fouad, owner of Astrodak Service
What you cannot get from a quote
How carefully someone works is not written anywhere. Whether the ridge tiles are set out neatly, whether the membrane runs properly into the gutter, whether the lead is worked in with a decent overlap: that is craftsmanship and it cannot be costed. What you can do is ask who will come and whether they are the same people the company employs.
With us, that answer is always the same. I come to have a look with my colleagues and our own team does the work. That is why I dare to give a fixed price and a 100% guarantee.
The question that tells you the most
If you ask one question, ask this one:
what happens if the roof boarding turns out to be worse than you think now? A good answer states in advance what will happen then and what that means. A vague answer is an announcement of extra work. More on this in
avoiding extra work.
Want to know what your roof will cost?
A price per m² is a guideline, not a quote. I come round with my colleagues, we measure the roof, look at the structure and then send a quote with a fixed price. The inspection is free and puts you under no obligation.
Why the same roof can be two different jobs
Take two terraced houses from the same year of construction, in the same street in Vught. Same roof area, same tiles. On one, the roof boarding is bone dry and only the tiles and battens come off. On the other, water has run along a poor valley gutter for years and part of the roof boarding has gone soft. That second roof needs an extra day of work and new timber.
Anyone who does not have that difference in view beforehand gives the same price for both homes. For one it is right, for the other it is not, and then comes the conversation about extra work that nobody wants. That is exactly why I come and look first, and also tap the roof boarding in the attic before an amount goes on paper.
What belongs in a complete quote
Not as a checklist to score suppliers, but so that you know whether you are comparing like with like. These items should be named: the build-up of the roof from inside to outside, the lead and zinc work, the ridge finish, the scaffolding or access equipment, the disposal of the old material, the lead time and the guarantee. In
what a good roofing quote contains we go through it item by item.
And if something is not clear: just call. I would rather spend half an hour explaining how a roof is put together than have you make a choice based on an amount at the bottom of a PDF. Also have a look at
what we have completed before.
How to judge the lowest quote
If one supplier is far below the rest, the most useful question is not why they are so low but what they do less of. Put the descriptions side by side and look for the items named by one and not by the other. Lead work, roof boarding, scaffolding and disposal are the four where it almost always lies.
And if a quote is just a total amount without a description, it cannot be compared. That is not criticism of the supplier, it is a statement of fact: you cannot judge what you are buying. Ask for a breakdown, and if it does not come, that tells you something too.
Frequently asked questions about roofing quotes
