We have to have our roof re-shingled. Sixteen years ago Dear Husband and I went up the ladders after work and on weekends to shingle this roof. At that time, I emphatically announced that I would not be going up onto the roof again, when it was time to re-shingle.
\nThis has been an exceptionally dry, and HOT, summer. We waited for cooler weather to arrive before we began soliciting bids. I found three places, and DH found two more. Only one of his choices came through with a bid, so we had four to choose from.<\/p>\n
\nI wasn’t surprised at the top two bids. Both the companies have a lot of employees, and several places where you can walk in to talk to them. With overhead like that, I knew they would be expensive. What really surprised me was that the lowest bid, from the smallest company, is slightly more than half <\/b>the highest bids.
\nUsually, I’d be leery of that lowest bid. It’s been our experience that when a bid comes in that low, the bidder has missed something that will come back to be a problem in the future. But, this company actually gave us the clearest bid, enumerating what they would and wouldn’t be doing. Our only concern at this point, is whether we can get them to use the shingle of our choice, rather than what they used for the bid.
\nI spent an afternoon creating a spreadsheet to compare the bids. It gave me the areas where we need to ask questions, and also pointed up how much more the lowest bidder was willing to do. I called some of the people on his reference list, and they all seemed to be happy with the work. I have a copy of his roofer’s license. Once we grant the job, I’ll need to arrange for a permit, and have him add us to his insurance.
\nWe’ll be talking with him today, to iron out the last of the details, and then I hope we’ll get started. Depending on the availability of the shingle, we could have a new roof in the next two weeks or so.
\nSo, this is the first installment on “Buffy’s New Roof.” Hopefully there will be good news to follow, with pictures at ten. *G*<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
We have to have our roof re-shingled. Sixteen years ago Dear Husband and I went up the ladders after work and on weekends to shingle this roof. At that time, I emphatically announced that I would not be going up … Continue reading