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Thanks to all of you who responed to my last roofing question.
Now I have a contract question.
At the end of the contract it states: Workmen’s compensation and public liability insurance on above work to be taken out by_________________.
I doubt if the roofer will take out insurance for replacing 6 squares of roll roofing for a private residence, but that is the excuse for charging $480.00. Any one care to offer an opinion. Should I request a copy of proof for workmen’s comp.?
Jon
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Jon,
Why on earth did you decide to go with rolled roofing? That's what you should be asking yourself.
John
*Yes, you will not let him work on your property with out insurance and will definetly want a copy of "Proof of Insurance" before starting work and call and verify that it is in place and current. Contractors do not typically take out insurance per job, but maintain a blanket coverage based on annual volume (rate of XX.XX dollars per thousand) modified by his experience factor etc.... Liability is the same and will be required also....Don't let these fly by night guys take you and the industry down.Otherwise they are hacks, and if they get hurt, you pay via your insurance or pocket. If they don't have insurance there is a reason and it should be the biggest red flag you'll ever see. Next thing they won't have a contactors license and, and, and....Point: It is now called workers compensation.
*Jon, yes you should.If it's in his contract ask to see proof.Vince P.S. ditto on rolled roofing ??
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Why are we using roll roofing? It's a long story. The short answer is:
we are dirt poor!
Jon
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Jon,
Have you considered doing this job yourself? I'm not trying to be a smart-aleck, but roll roofing is worthy of a DIY project, or better yet put down a Peel-and-Seal roof yourself. If you get 5 yrs. out of granulated roll roofing, you will be lucky indeed.
Finances are always a consideration in any home improvement project, but value is also. And in my opinion there is very little value in the roll roofing. It is easy to install, so if you do it yourself, you will have only about a hundred bucks, and one afternoon, invested.
John
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Your correct, I could do it myself if I was in good health. I have a heart condition.
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the proof is called a "Certificate of Insurance" if you sign the contract , he should call his agent and the agent will issue a Certificate with YOUR name on it... short of that he could show you a current Certificate thta he probably carries in his presentation book...
if you have the insurance most people advertise the fact , they pay enough for it , and they want to get the maximum yardage out it....
*$480 for workers comp,directly attributed to your job,implies he is intending payroll of approx.$1450 to install 6 sq. of roll roofing. This looks like the most expensive roll roofing job in history! Surely you can get seamless rubber for what he is charging you,or AT LEAST modified bitumen.Of course there remains the possibility that there is something about the job,or about you ,that you haven't mentioned here.I know that I have ,from time to time,given outrageously,absurdly, high estimates to effectively turn down a job I really did not want to do.Good Luck All,Stephen
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$480.00 is total for installing 6 squares.
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With that new information, I would say that your roofer will have most likely have insurance coverage for installing your 6 square. I doubt that he'll get a special policy just for your job but he'll have to continue to pay his premiums with the money he makes from your job. Your job just like all his jobs needs to pay all his costs.
Insurance is one of the many many reasons we have to charge more money than just the cost of our time. But, there's already about 30 discussions on that topic here.
If you would like proof of insurance, He can have his agent fax or mail you a copy of his certificate of insurance.
*I am gonna try to be polite here,but I thought there was something we were not being told here.If the contractor is charging $480 for the complete job ,he is hardly gouging you.When you say workers comp.,and liability insurance is the "excuse" he gives you for charging $480 you imply(at least the way I read it) that he is taking advantage of you or in some way over charging.In my opinion,it is likely that he is not charging enough(my price would certainly be higher).Given the choice of materials and its short life span,your questions about his insurance etc.,the fact that you are shopping his price on the internet,indicate that this job may potentially have a rather high P.I.T.A factor.For the record,I don't think I have ever been asked by a private homeowner to furnish workers comp or liability insurance.Banks and government organizations---yes,several times.I imagine if a homeowner asked for an insurance cert. for a whole house roof job I would be happy to supply it.I suspect if someone asked me for one on a $480 job I would rapidly conclude that the job would be more trouble than it was worth.If you are this uneasy about this particular contractor why not exercise your option as a homeowner to find someone else?Good Luck All,Stephen
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I love that PITA factor, anyone who uses roll roofing will spend more money in the long run.
*I am not trying to stiff anyone. You can mark my question up to my ignorance, I should be better informed, I know.My 98Dodge cost book states it should cost approx. $56.00 per square, so when he said 80.00 per square naturaly I thought he was trying tostiff me. And he is the one who brought up insurance, not the other way around.I have so little money every dollar must count.Also he wanted $2.50 per sq. ft. to replace any bad wood. This seams high. As far as finding any one else, I can't find anyone else.
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Jon, something else that comes into play here is economy of scale. It takes almost as much time to do six square as it does to do ten when you figure out the driving, going to the supplier, making the visit to give you the price, etc, etc, etc.
Cost books don't work on small jobs.
*Jon, ditto on Ryan. It cost just as much to do a 650 sq.ft. roof as 700 sq.ft. in labour and a little more materials. It takes the same amount of time to obtain the material, get to the jobsite and set up on the job.Once you start roofing it takes little more time to roof in an area 12 ft. long than 10 ft. long. Thats why the estimating guides are just that. Guides.As a commercial flat roofer, I run into this a lot of times. We can do a very large building for quite a bit less per sq.ft. than a small building.The $2.50 for wood replacement is not out of line, if you consider it could take 1/2 an hour to replace 1 sq.ft., translates to $5.00 / hour for wages and materials. I don't think anyone would possibly work for that amount. I always quote a per sq.ft. figure for rotted wood replacement to cover unforseen problems once the old roof comes off. This is to cover small areas that need to be fixed that cannot be seen with the existing roof in place. (by the way I quote $4.50, but thats way up in Canada eh)I don't know the size of your roof, existing roof, access to the area so cannot comment on his price as to being resonable or not but it does sound in line for this type of roofing. Think about the amount of time it will take him to do the job, materials he has to buy, cost of dumping the old materials, his overhead ( truck, gas, insurance etc.)His liability insurance and workmans comp. is paid for by the year, not per job. Any reputable contractor will carry liablity insurance and have comp. and will be more than happy to furnish proof when requested. I always state this fact when presenting a quotation to distinguish ourselves from fly by nighters.Also think twice about rolled roofing. 5 years you will be paying as much if not more to put another roof, on.
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Thanks to all of you who responed to my last roofing question.
Now I have a contract question.
At the end of the contract it states: Workmen's compensation and public liability insurance on above work to be taken out by_________________.
I doubt if the roofer will take out insurance for replacing 6 squares of roll roofing for a private residence, but that is the excuse for charging $480.00. Any one care to offer an opinion. Should I request a copy of proof for workmen's comp.?
Jon
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If money is the deciding factor, and rolled roofing is your decision, you could save yourself some more money and buy a couple blue tarps. One will last a year or so, then just throw a new one overtop. Put the saved money in a mutual fund and in a few years(when tarp #2 gives in) you'll have enough to put on a good roof.