SE Michigan Roof Estimate Questions & Recommendation Request

Hello Roofers,
I am looking to have my house roof redone in the SE Mi area. I am in the process of getting a bunch of estimates…Hansons, Mr Roof, Sherriff-Goslin, Roof Depot, RAM…and just have some general questions. This purchase is a big one and somewhat frustrating as it is seemingly impossible to compare the different products offered by the different companies. I have helped install a new roof in the past so I have a general idea of what needs to be done. I would just do it myself to save some money but the pitch is too steep for me to want to try it. Current roof is single layer of 3 tabs, about 15 years old. I would guess I would be selling in the next 5-7 years to get into a better school district if I have kids.

  1. Is 15lb felt sufficient or is it worth the synthetic underlay/full ice/water shield that some offer? Seems like you never hear of a roof going bad because something went wrong with the felt underlay. 3ft of ice/water shield vs 6ft?

  2. Shingles - how do you compare between the various 30 yr vs 50 year, sbs/polymers, brand name etc? What about the brands offered by lowes/home depot for price comparison purposes?

  3. I haven’t measured it myself yet but one of the estimates was for 25 squares. My quotes have been in the $7500 to $12000 range. A quick estimate at lowes (owens corning laminate) puts me at about $4000 -$4500 in material including disposal. The $7500 was from Mr Roof and was their cheaper options, felt with a 50 year shingle. Do these seem like reasonable prices?

  4. Any other companies I should contact for estimates in the SE Mi area?

thanks so much for any help!

[quote=“jimmy p”]Hello Roofers,
I am looking to have my house roof redone in the SE Mi area. I am in the process of getting a bunch of estimates…Hansons, Mr Roof, Sherriff-Goslin, Roof Depot, RAM…and just have some general questions. This purchase is a big one and somewhat frustrating as it is seemingly impossible to compare the different products offered by the different companies. I have helped install a new roof in the past so I have a general idea of what needs to be done. I would just do it myself to save some money but the pitch is too steep for me to want to try it. Current roof is single layer of 3 tabs, about 15 years old. I would guess I would be selling in the next 5-7 years to get into a better school district if I have kids.

  1. Is 15lb felt sufficient or is it worth the synthetic underlay/full ice/water shield that some offer? Seems like you never hear of a roof going bad because something went wrong with the felt underlay. 3ft of ice/water shield vs 6ft?

  2. Shingles - how do you compare between the various 30 yr vs 50 year, sbs/polymers, brand name etc? What about the brands offered by lowes/home depot for price comparison purposes?

  3. I haven’t measured it myself yet but one of the estimates was for 25 squares. My quotes have been in the $7500 to $12000 range. A quick estimate at lowes (owens corning laminate) puts me at about $4000 -$4500 in material including disposal. The $7500 was from Mr Roof and was their cheaper options, felt with a 50 year shingle. Do these seem like reasonable prices?

  4. Any other companies I should contact for estimates in the SE Mi area?

thanks so much for any help![/quote]

Look at some smaller roofing companies, at least 2 on your list don’t have very good reputations and very likely use subs.

IMO Certainteed Landmarks are the best shingle in their class on the market by a wide margin.
Owens Corning makes a decent shingle also, the rest are also rans at best.
Avoid house brands of shingles, they tend to be rebranded shingles that aren’t very good to begin with.

In a large market like yours it will be difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff so to speak.

  1. If I were planning on selling then I would just get a good roof installed. Good roofs don’t require bells and whistles. It sounds like your not really interested in fancy underlayment anyways.

  2. A 30 yr. Dimensional shingle makes for a good roof and will be a nice upgrade from your existing 3-tab shingles. Again, selling in 5-7 yrs. No need for a mercedes. Coke, Pepsi, Dr. Pepper, Mtn. Dew. Whatever you like brand wise.

  3. Get 10 different quotes and you will end up with 10 different prices for 10 different scopes of work, materials to be used, etc. Collecting so many quotes is only adding to your confusion. Three quotes is sufficient.

  4. Even a blind drunk monkey with the cash can purchase ANY of the roofing products. It takes a true professional however to install a high quality roof. Because the owner or salesman seems professional does not mean the crew will be. Find out WHO will be “On the Job” Supervising the installation of the roof as this is of much more importance than what brand to use, etc…

[quote=“-Axiom-”]

[quote=“jimmy p”]Hello Roofers,
I …[/quote]

Look at some smaller roofing companies, at least 2 on your list don’t have very good reputations and very likely use subs.

IMO Certainteed Landmarks are the best shingle in their class on the market by a wide margin.
Owens Corning makes a decent shingle also, the rest are also rans at best.
Avoid house brands of shingles, they tend to be rebranded shingles that aren’t very good to begin with.

In a large market like yours it will be difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff so to speak.[/quote]

Thanks I will try getting a couple quotes from local mom&pop companies as well. Everyone so far claims to have their own brand of shingle (for various salesperson reasons) and everyone claims to do it themselves (they stress that everyone else contracts it out and the subcontractors will sue you).

[quote=“LuckyChucky”]1) If I were planning on selling then I would just get a good roof installed. Good roofs don’t require bells and whistles. It sounds like your not really interested in fancy underlayment anyways.

  1. A 30 yr. Dimensional shingle makes for a good roof and will be a nice upgrade from your existing 3-tab shingles. Again, selling in 5-7 yrs. No need for a mercedes. Coke, Pepsi, Dr. Pepper, Mtn. Dew. Whatever you like brand wise.

  2. Get 10 different quotes and you will end up with 10 different prices for 10 different scopes of work, materials to be used, etc. Collecting so many quotes is only adding to your confusion. Three quotes is sufficient.

  3. Even a blind drunk monkey with the cash can purchase ANY of the roofing products. It takes a true professional however to install a high quality roof. Because the owner or salesman seems professional does not mean the crew will be. Find out WHO will be “On the Job” Supervising the installation of the roof as this is of much more importance than what brand to use, etc…[/quote]

Good info thank you. Is there some standard that qualifies a 30 year shingle as a 30 year shingle? Just trying to understand what would cause a 10-20% price difference between two companies, is one companies 30 year shingle worth 20% more than another?

Good info thank you. Is there some standard that qualifies a 30 year shingle as a 30 year shingle?

Here’s a true story. Back around the year 2000 all dimensional shingle warranties began at 25 yrs. One manufacturer changed that 25 yr. warranty to a 30 yr. warranty. They did NOT change anything about the way the shingle was made. Only added an extra 5 yrs. to the warranty. The other brands followed suit to compete.

Just trying to understand what would cause a 10-20% price difference between two companies, is one companies 30 year shingle worth 20% more than another?

I wouldn’t say that one brand of shingle is worth 10-20% more than any other brand but if your talking about that being the price difference from one roofing company to another, the installation is of much more importance than the brand so one roofing company could be worth much more than another one.

I am a roofer in Grand Rapids area, you are out of our service area but i know roofing In Michigan. First install at least 6 feet of ice & water shield on all the eaves. Code in Michigan is from eave edge to 2 feet past the interior wall edge. I would use synthetic felt, but it shouldnt cost you much more if any. I use 15# synthetic Rhino roofing on all our roofing unless customer requests diffrent. My cost is less then $6 a square, but i do buy in bulk.
I would use certainteed landmarks “lifetime” shingles, but OC duration are ok too. Most if not all the companies you mentioned actually use sub-contractors. You might ask if they are 1099 employees or if they recieve W-2 s. 1099 is just another name for sub-contractor.If this is important to you tell them to put that Actual employees are used on your project in the contract.
Good luck