belljam

Wed Aug 31, 2005 2:31 pm

Hi. I am going through the process of obtaining quotes for my roof. Some roofing company's show me some paperwork saying that they have received certification from certain shingle manufactures to install their shingles. They show my a certificate to this effect. Other (smaller) roofing companies, do not have these manufacturer installation certificates. My question is of course, should I be impressed or concerned about the roofing company I choose being a "certified" IKO, ELK, Certainteed GAF, installer? Is it important? I thought a shingle, was a shingle and if you knew how to hang one, you could do them all. Thank you for your advice.

PS. My roof is a 5/12, and the guy is recommending a Certainteed XT 25yr. (my roof is a gable and basically invisable to the street so he said "don't waste your money on a designer shingle like the Landmark series. Is the XT any good? (I live in Toronto). He also recommended 72" of Baycor ice/water shield and above that, "Roofers Select" enhanced fiberglass felt. Drip edge as well (even along the gable). He's also putting in 5 new Lomanco Slant back roof vents and 1 new Lomanco exhaust vent. My roof is pretty staightforward (no valleys, etc.) and I live in a small bungalow (main floor space about 1200 sq. ft). He's quoted me $5,000 USD for the job. Is this a reasonable price?

QRFL

Wed Aug 31, 2005 3:16 pm

certified contractors can give you better guarantee for example:

GAF shingles if installed by a regular contractor after the 5th year your roof starts devaluating and your shingle value gets pro-rated loosing value...also the installation warranty is only 5 years..

GAF certified contractors can give you from 10-50 years 100% material warranty depending on shingle and 25 years to lifetime installation labor...

GAF master elites can give you a 100% material and contractor workmanship warranty from GAF..depending on shingles

so definetly the contractor certification means that the higher status of the certificate the better manufacturer warranty he can give you..

about the 5000... i cant really comment on that unless you specify if it has good access , is he tearing the old roof off??? how many layers???

as far as shingles ive heard that on you r neck of the woods ceirtanteed and GAF are very good choices.

good luck and god bless

ps.. check our ventilation post...if your roof is not well ventilated you will loose your manufacturer warranty click below

http://roofing.com/about2333.html

belljam

Wed Aug 31, 2005 3:42 pm

Thats very much for the quick response QRFL! Great info.

[quote="QRFL"]
about the 5000... i cant really comment on that unless you specify if it has good access , is he tearing the old roof off??? how many layers???

Sorry for the lack of info in previous post....well let's see: He is tearing off the exisiting roof completely and starting fresh (one layer of shingles currently plus underlay). Roof has excellent access as well. I've had one other, smaller company quote me at $3,000 USD but they were using IKO Cambridge 30 instead of the bigger company's Certainteed XT 25. Seems like a pretty big difference in price, especially considering the IKO shingle is a designer 30 (assume more expensive). The smaller company were including 4 Duraflo vents at no extra charge as well. Seems like a pretty good price but maybe too good? Any comments on price would be greatly appreciated. If you need more info on my roof, etc. to comment please let me know. Thank you again.

QRFL

Wed Aug 31, 2005 4:25 pm

for a 1400-1600 square tear-off and install 30yr GAF Timberline i would be between 4000-5000 if the 5,000 qoute is certified that makes sence...just tell him to show you the warranties and read them well...
that 3000 quote sounds cheap and iko have a bad reputation in this forum... i havent even heard of them...

5,000 should be for a well performed roof... the money is in there now you must make sure the contractor performs..materials sound good..

outta iko bid vs. certainteed i take certainteed..hey if you go for the certainteed guy tell him to mail me my comission....

just kidding

Shane@RRSroofing

Wed Aug 31, 2005 5:20 pm

IKO = cheap. $5000 is not bad if all the variables like Q asked about plus your location. The shingle manufacturer will stand behind their certified installers.

Master

Wed Aug 31, 2005 10:04 pm

I am with q and shane, but after thousands of roofing posts, i wait until someone says something I agree with or disagree with to say something so as to save on the typing.

G-Tape

Wed Aug 31, 2005 10:27 pm

I agree with Master.

QRFL

Wed Aug 31, 2005 11:12 pm

looks like G-tape is the smart one..... .. he waited until Master posted that remark also to say i agree..lol

Master

Wed Aug 31, 2005 11:13 pm

He IS older and supposedly wiser. LOL

SYS

Thu Sep 01, 2005 4:51 am

Certainteed indeed.

lil joke around my area roofer IKO is an acronym for I Kurl Often.
yes Kurl!

ace911

Sat Sep 03, 2005 12:47 pm

I have been roofing for 20 years and now have a small time bizz,,,, as far as all of these companys warrantying there work for 10- 20 years and so on,,, thats a bunch of crap! how do you know if the contracter will even be in bizness ? I say be realistic and a two year warrenty on workmenship is fine,,, If you know what you are doing the home owner should be able to pick up on that and not be bullshited into thinking that he or she is really getting a 20 year gaurranty? I mean the roof is either instauled correctly,, or it isent.. And most of the time it isent even the boss doing the hands on work , it is guys like me ..It also does depen on where the sun is and venaulation ..so just because someone is certified, that doesent mean the ones that arent dont know what they are doing.. yes I am getting certs but just do what feels right and the high bid isent always the one to go with....I have too much time !! need to work more .......

Master

Sat Sep 03, 2005 2:08 pm

ace, if you want to make real money doing the installs yourself, build your reputation to the highest you can acheive, and sell on your quality rather than low price. You will turn out high quality roofing at a better rate because good roofing is infinitely more valuable than faulty roofing.

Read a book called "How to Sell at Prices Higher Than Your Competitors" by Lawrence L. Steinmetz, PhD. This has a lot to do with mfg direct sales, retail, etc., but the principles and the numbers game are all the same. It will show you how a 10% decreasse in sales price will require you to prduce nearly double the end product to make the same dollar amount in profit.

This is why I focus on quality over quantity. The run of the mill shinglers in my area do not charge enough to install a high-quality complete system, not to mention lacking the skills. It is not their fault totally, since they were probably brought up through the ranks under this mindset.

G-Tape

Sat Sep 03, 2005 2:22 pm

I haven't actually answered the original question yet....so....

I have been "certified" by a manufacturer before, I let the "certification" run out. I see absolutely no difference in my business. My quality is still the same and I never recieved any perks from being "certified". To me being certified by a shingle manufacturer means nothing.

Master

Sat Sep 03, 2005 2:40 pm

It means they will let you use their "certified" status to sell more of their product.

G-Tape

Sat Sep 03, 2005 3:31 pm

I can honestly say that I have never needed that status to sell a roof. I guess if I did, it would come in handy.

I did get a nice hat though.

Home Depot customer

Wed Sep 20, 2006 6:54 am

I can't under stand how a company as large as Home Depot can treat customers so poorly. I signed my roofing contract on 9-14-05, Home Depot has now installed three roofs on my house and are getting ready to install the fourth one. They pay their contractors as little as possible and that is why they get poor quality contractors. Home Depot does not return phone calls, emails or letters for weeks or never. When you see my web page you can see the distruction they do to peoples lives and property. When you search the internet for "poor customer service from home depot" you can read for days, how do they get away with this?

http://www.freewebs.com/myroof

Thank you,
Don Wenzel
Oxford, Michigan