Why Your Roofer Should See Your Roofing Estimate Papers

First, there are two types of roofers.  Roofers who know how to roof your house.  They use the same standard methods of roofing for every single house, and 99% of the time they do a decent job.  Then there are roofers, who know the roofing industry, they know the city codes, the manufacturers specifications for warranties, etc.  If you were to show your estimate to a roofer who knows the labor of roofing but not about for example, standard insurance prices, line items that need to be included in every estimate, etc, s/he will not be able to determine if the price being paid by the insurance company is correct.

Most adjusters are reasonable people.  They are not out to hurt anyone.  They are just doing their job.  However, no one can argue that checks and balances are a good thing.  Well roofers who are part of the roofing industry are good for checks and balances when it comes to seeing if any line item was missed, etc.  Here is a recent example, DFW Best Roofing had.  Here was the customer's estimate as provided by the adjuster.

As you can see the adjuster only saw two layers of shingles, but in actuality there were four.  Second, the adjuster missed out anything for flashing, particularly the flashing by the chimney where it was most damaged. Third, the adjuster is supposed to add a line item for waste, as shingles are cut to fit, on average its calculated at 10% of waste factor, also not added here.  Fourth, the adjuster miscalculated the valley metal. fifth, one vent is severely damaged, that needs to be replaced.  Sixth, if a roof has 4 layers of shingles, there is a good chance of decking issues.  

Now, mostly likely when I bring this the adjusters attention, he will make the necessary changes.  I may add a post on how much more we were able to recover at the end of this situation.  Homeowners think by hiding the estimate the roofing company won't know the price the insurance company is paying, that might be true for unseasoned roofers, but those who have experience can tell as soon as they see the house, how much the insurance company should be paying, so it is to the homeowners advantage to sit down with a professional roofer, and go over the estimate, and determine if anything needs to added, or increased. etc.

If you are not sure about want your insurance company is paying for a damage, contact us at 

DFW Best Roofing at 817 381 6855.