Roofing checklists

The quote checklist: 14 lines that make two bids comparable

Most roofing quotes are not comparable because they describe different amounts of work. This is the list that fixes that.

The single most expensive mistake in a re-roof is comparing a $14,000 bid with an $18,000 bid as though they cover the same job. They usually do not. One includes tear-off of two layers, new flashing at every penetration and ventilation correction; the other assumes a layover, reuses the existing chimney flashing, and leaves the permit to you. The price difference is not a discount, it is a scope difference.

The fix is procedural. Send every bidder the same written scope, ask each to price the same list, and reject any quote that leaves a line blank. Verisk's data puts the average residential roof replacement at $17,631 in 2025 - that is enough money to justify an afternoon spent making the paperwork honest.

Work through the list below with each quote in front of you. Every item should appear as a line, with a number, a product name, or an explicit "not included". If a contractor resists putting the roof square count in writing, that alone is enough to walk. Our guide to what a roofing square is explains why that number governs everything else, and the roofing squares calculator lets you sanity-check the figure yourself before anyone quotes.

• 1. Roof square count. The measured area in squares (100 sq ft each), plus pitch. Everything else prices off this. Two bids with different square counts are describing different roofs.
• 2. Number of existing layers. How many are there, and how many are being removed? A layover over one existing layer is a different job from a full tear-off to deck.
• 3. Tear-off and disposal. Named as a line, including skip or dumpster and tipping fees. Omitting it can make a bid look materially cheaper while covering less work.
• 4. Deck inspection and repair allowance. A per-sheet price for replacing rotten decking, agreed in advance. Without it, deck rot becomes an open-ended change order mid-job.
• 5. Underlayment, by product. Felt weight or the specific synthetic. "Underlayment" alone is not a specification. See the underlayment guide.
• 6. Ice-and-water shield locations. Eaves, valleys, around penetrations - and how far up from the eave. In cold climates this is where leaks are bought or prevented.
• 7. Drip edge. Included, and at both eaves and rakes. It is cheap and it is routinely omitted.
• 8. New flashing at every penetration. Chimney, skylights, vent stacks, walls, valleys. Reusing old flashing is the most common hidden downgrade in a low bid.
• 9. Ventilation work. What intake and exhaust is being installed, with net free area figures. A new roof over an under-ventilated attic is a new roof that ages early.
• 10. Named shingle product and color. Manufacturer, product line, and color - not just "architectural shingle".
• 11. Starter strip and ridge cap. Manufactured components rather than cut-up field shingles. Many manufacturer system coverages depend on this.
• 12. Permit responsibility. Who pulls it, in whose name, and whether the fee is in the price. Requirements are local - ask your building department what applies to you.
• 13. Warranty terms, in writing. The manufacturer's material terms and the contractor's own workmanship period, stated separately. Read roofing warranties explained before you interpret either.
• 14. Payment schedule and completion terms. Milestone-based, with a final payment released only after the work is done and inspected.

The hiring checklist: verifying a roofer before you sign

Nine verifications, all of which you can complete in an afternoon, most of them for free.

Roofing attracts transient operators for a structural reason: the work follows storms, the demand is urgent, and the customer usually cannot inspect the finished product. The FTC's warning signs for home improvement scams read like a description of the post-storm doorstep pitch - claiming no licence is needed, offering a discount only if you sign immediately, asking you to sign over the insurance cheque, and demanding payment up front.

Verification is not adversarial and a good contractor expects it. What separates the two groups is how they react to being asked. A local firm with a real address sends you certificates without comment. An operator who has been in your area for six days finds reasons why the paperwork is coming later.

Two specifics carry more weight than the rest. First, insist that certificates of general liability and workers' compensation come to you directly from the insurer or broker, not as a PDF forwarded by the contractor - forged certificates are common and easy. Second, ask them to pull the permit in their own name where a permit is required. A contractor who wants the homeowner to pull it is moving the code liability onto you.

Full walkthrough in how to hire a roofer, and the fraud patterns in how to spot a roofing scam.

• 1. Licence. Verify it with your state or county directly, not by looking at a card. The FTC's guidance is explicit that you should check with the licensing authority yourself. Requirements vary by state - some do not licence roofers at all, which makes the remaining checks matter more.
• 2. Physical local address. A verifiable street address you can visit, not a mailbox service or a truck. Check it on a map before you call.
• 3. Insurance certificates, sent by the insurer. General liability and workers' compensation, current dates, your name as certificate holder. Request them from the broker directly.
• 4. Local references from the last 12 months. Ask for addresses in your area, then drive past. Recent local work is harder to fake than a review page.
• 5. Manufacturer certification, if a system warranty is being promised. Verify the credential on the manufacturer's own contractor lookup, not the contractor's website.
• 6. Written, itemized contract. Scope matching the quote checklist above, start and completion dates, change-order procedure, and cleanup and nail-sweep obligations.
• 7. Sane payment terms. A modest mobilization payment is normal. A large majority of the contract price up front is not. Pay by cheque or credit card - the FTC warns specifically against wire transfer, gift cards, payment apps, cryptocurrency and cash, because those are near-impossible to claw back.
• 8. Permit in the contractor's name. Ask directly. Reluctance here is a signal about licensing status.
• 9. No pressure. A same-day-only discount, an inspection you did not ask for, or an offer to "cover your deductible" are all reasons to end the conversation. The Texas Department of Insurance describes deductible-waiving as illegal and warns it can be fraud.

The pre-project checklist: the week before the crew arrives

A re-roof is a demolition job happening above your head. Twenty minutes of preparation prevents most of the annoyances.

Nobody warns homeowners how physical a tear-off is. Debris rains off the eaves, the noise is constant, and vibration travels through the structure into every room below. Most of the complaints that follow a re-roof are not about the roof at all - they are about a cracked patio slab, a picture that fell off a wall, or a car with a nail in the tyre.

Work through this the week before, not the morning of. Confirm the dates in writing, then confirm again two days out; weather moves roofing schedules constantly and crews sometimes arrive earlier than you expect. Our walkthrough of the roof replacement process covers what each day actually looks like.

• Confirm dates and hours in writing - including the weather-delay policy and how you will be told about a change.
• Agree the dumpster and materials location - and check what it will sit on. Driveways crack under loaded dumpsters; ask for plywood protection.
• Move vehicles well clear and keep them clear for the whole job, not just day one. Nails travel.
• Take before photos of the driveway, patio, landscaping, siding, gutters and interior ceilings. Dated photos settle damage disputes in minutes.
• Clear the attic of anything stored directly under the deck, and cover what stays. Tear-off drops decades of debris through the sheathing gaps.
• Take pictures and mirrors off the walls on the upper floor, and anything on open shelving. Vibration is severe.
• Cover items in the garage if it is attached and unfinished - dust falls through the ceiling framing.
• Plan for pets and small children to be elsewhere on tear-off day. It is loud, and there is falling material.
• Cut back or tie up shrubs at the drip line, and agree what protection the crew will lay over planting beds.
• Confirm power and water access for the crew, and where they will site the compressor.
• Agree the daily cleanup standard and a final magnetic nail sweep of the lawn and driveway, written into the contract.
• Ask about satellite dishes and solar - who removes and refits them, and who is responsible if the signal or system does not come back.

The twice-yearly inspection checklist you can run from the ground

Spring and fall, in that order of priority, all of it done safely from a lawn, a ladder edge and an attic.

The National Roofing Contractors Association recommends inspecting at least twice per year, spring and fall, plus after severe weather. That cadence exists because it brackets the two seasons that do the damage: freeze-thaw and wind in winter, heat and UV in summer.

The safety rule comes first and does not bend. Stay off the roof. A ladder at the eave, binoculars from the ground, and a torch in the attic will find nearly everything a homeowner needs to find, without the fall risk and without scuffing granules off warm shingles. Anything that needs a closer look is worth an inspection - Angi puts the national average at about $250, within a $75-$1,100 range depending on size, pitch and access.

Run it in the same order every time and write down what you find. The value of a maintenance log is comparison: "the same three lifted tabs as last spring" is a different situation from "three new lifted tabs". Keep the dated photos with the log. More detail in the roof maintenance guide and the maintenance checklist.

• Ground survey, each elevation. Missing, lifted, curled or cracked shingles. Dark patches where granules have gone. Any area that reads flatter or shinier than its neighbors.
• Roof line. Sight along the ridge and eaves. Any sag, dip or wave is structural and stops the checklist - call a professional.
• Ridge and hips. Cracked or displaced ridge caps; damaged ridge vent. Wind attacks the ridge first.
• Flashing at every penetration. Chimney, skylights, vent stacks, wall junctions, valleys. Look for rust, lifted metal, cracked or shrunken sealant, missing counterflashing.
• Valleys. Debris packed into the channel; any exposed or damaged valley metal.
• Gutters and downspouts. Clear of debris; no sagging spans or separated joints; outlets flowing; downspouts discharging away from the foundation.
• Granules. Check the gutter bottoms and downspout splash blocks. Heavy accumulation on a roof under ten years old warrants a professional opinion.
• Fascia, soffit and drip edge. Staining, softness, peeling paint, gaps. Blocked soffit vents.
• Trees. Branches touching or overhanging the roof plane. Abrasion and debris are both preventable here.
• Attic, lights off. Daylight through the deck; dark tide marks or staining on the sheathing; rusted nail shanks; damp, matted or discolored insulation; mold; any smell of damp.
• Attic ductwork. Every bathroom and kitchen exhaust fan terminating outside the building, not into the attic.
• Ceilings and upper walls indoors. New stains, bubbling paint, or a stain that has grown since last time.
• Log it. Date, findings, photos, actions taken, and who you called.

The post-storm checklist: documentation before repair

The order of operations matters more than the speed. Document first, mitigate second, decide third.

Roof damage is a large share of what property insurance pays for. Verisk found roofing line items make up roughly 30 percent of all line items in claims estimates, and in 2025 sixteen US states had 20 percent or more of their roofs impacted by severe hail. If you own a house in a hail or wind state, a post-storm claim conversation is a matter of when.

That conversation goes on the evidence you gathered in the first 48 hours. Photographs taken before any tarp goes up, receipts for every emergency expense, and a written timeline are worth more than any argument you make later. So is the boring detail: photograph the whole elevation for context as well as the close-ups, because an adjuster needs to place the damage on the building.

The second thing that matters is who you let onto the property. Post-storm neighborhoods fill with operators who did not live there the week before. The FTC's advice is direct - do not sign anything under pressure, do not sign over your insurance cheque, and verify the licence with your state or county before anyone starts. And the Texas Department of Insurance is clear that a contractor offering to waive or absorb your deductible is describing something illegal that can amount to fraud.

Then read storm damage: what to do and how to file a roof insurance claim before you make the call, so you know what your policy actually requires of you.

• 1. Stay off the roof. Storm-damaged decking can be unsound and wet. Nothing on this list requires you to be up there.
• 2. Check the interior first. Ceilings, upper walls, and the attic. Active water entry is the thing that needs mitigating today.
• 3. Photograph before you touch anything. Wide shots of every elevation for context, then close-ups of specific damage, then all interior damage. Video the whole exterior as one continuous walk-round.
• 4. Record the event. Date, time, and what the weather did - wind, hail size, duration. Save any local weather report or alert.
• 5. Look at the ground, gutters and soft metal. Shingle fragments in beds, granule piles at downspouts, and dents in gutters, vents, downspouts or air-conditioner fins. Soft metal is the standard hail evidence.
• 6. Mitigate reasonably, and only reasonably. Most policies require you to prevent further damage. A tarp and buckets qualify; a full repair before the adjuster has seen it does not.
• 7. Photograph the temporary repairs before and after, so nobody mistakes your tarp for pre-existing work.
• 8. Keep every receipt. Tarps, emergency labor, a hotel night if the house is unliveable. Put them in one folder with the photos.
• 9. Call your own insurer. Report it yourself, get a claim number, and write down the name of everyone you speak to and the date.
• 10. Choose your own contractor. Do not act on a stranger's unsolicited inspection, do not sign a contract to "hold your place in line", and never sign over the insurance payment.
• 11. Be present for the adjuster's visit and give them your photo set and timeline. Ask for a copy of their scope and estimate.
• 12. Get an independent quote against the same scope, and raise anything the adjuster's estimate has missed in writing rather than by phone.

The document pack: what to keep and for how long

Roof paperwork has three audiences - your insurer, your warranty provider, and the person who eventually buys your house.

This is the checklist people skip and later regret. A material warranty you cannot evidence is a warranty you do not have. An insurance claim on a roof whose age you cannot prove is a harder claim. A buyer's inspector who asks about the re-roof and gets a shrug is a buyer negotiating the price down.

Keep it as one folder, ideally digital and backed up somewhere that is not inside the house. The Insurance Information Institute makes the same point about home inventories generally: store a copy outside the property, because the event that triggers the claim can also destroy the records.

Registration deadlines are the trap worth flagging. Some manufacturer coverages require registration within a set window after installation, and the terms vary by manufacturer and product. Find yours and diarise it the week the job finishes rather than discovering the deadline years later.

Checklist red flags: eight moments to stop the conversation

Every item here is a reason to end a meeting, not to negotiate harder.

Checklists work by catching what you would otherwise talk yourself past. These eight are the ones that cost homeowners the most money, and they share a shape: each one asks you to give up either information, leverage, or money before the work exists.

None of them require you to be rude. "I don't sign anything the same day" is a complete sentence, and any legitimate contractor has heard it a hundred times. The operators who cannot survive that sentence are exactly the ones you are filtering for.

If a pitch fails on any of these, the correct response is to stop, and - if it looks like fraud rather than sloppiness - report it. The FTC takes reports at ReportFraud.ftc.gov, and your state insurance department handles the deductible and claim-related ones.

• An unsolicited inspection turns up damage you cannot see. Get a second opinion from a firm you contacted first. Uninvited damage findings are the classic post-storm opening.
• A discount that only exists today. Manufactured urgency exists to stop you comparing bids. The FTC lists sign-today discounts among its scam warning signs.
• An offer to waive, absorb or "work around" your deductible. The Texas Department of Insurance calls this illegal and warns it can be fraud. Walk, then report it.
• A request to sign over the insurance cheque, or an "assignment of benefits" you did not ask for and have not read. You are handing over control of your own claim.
• Payment demanded by wire, gift card, payment app, cryptocurrency or cash. The FTC names all five; they are chosen because the money cannot be recovered.
• Insurance certificates that come from the contractor rather than the insurer. Ask the broker to send them directly. Forged certificates are easy to produce.
• Reluctance to pull the permit in their own name, or a claim that no permit is needed without checking. Confirm with your building department yourself - rules are local.
• No written scope, no square count, no product names. A verbal quote is not a quote. If it will not go on paper, it will not be built.