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Did I get ripped off? $175 to replace three shingles?

6K views 49 replies 24 participants last post by  clpalerm 
#1 ·
I know prices vary by area but I had three shingles blow off my roof during a recent storm... I bought three asphalt shingles but I chickened out when I tried to climb up on the roof. A woman I work with has a husband who owns a roofing company less than a mile from my house, so I called the guy and he agreed to fix the shingles using the shingles I bought.

I didn't ask for an estimate because I worked with the guys wife. Anyway, he left an invoice in my mailbox... $175!!!!! The guy was here for less than 10 minutes. That's about 3x more than I expected to pay.

Kevin
 
#8 ·
Reminds me of a story.....

A factory had this big machine the produced most of the product. One day it broke down and the only guy who knew how to fix it was retired. So they called him up and asked him if he could come in and fix it. Just send them the bill afterwards.

He shows up....walks around the machine for about 10 minutes, then puts an X on one of the components and says "Replace that part"

A week later they get a bill for $2000. A bit shocked they wrote back requesting an itemized breakdown of the bill.

He responded.

$1 for the X
$1999 for knowing where to put the X.
 
#45 ·
AMEN! Sidebar: When I first came to MD I worked for an engineering firm called A-Tec. We had the contract with Dow to inspect all of their inverted roofs. My Name is Jim Agans.

A Roofer from NJ was installing a new inverted roof on the FAA building in DC.

The ground man called the foreman on the roof and said "Theres a Jim Agans here says he has to do an inspection on the roof"

A couple seconds later comes back the response " What the hell does a JAMAICAN want with my roof"

Im still laughing after 25 years.
 
#38 ·
I had a homeowner who kept having blow offs.Every storm we had I knew he was for sure to call.It was one here after a storm,,2 there after a storm,.,3 there after a storm,,So I averaged $350 per call.I soon lowered my price for the simple fact he was a repeat customer.I even went so far as to leave a square of shingles and got the combination to his out building security system where the shingles are.That makes it simple for me to perform the repair while he is at work since he works very long hours and has a very busy schedule.

So up the ladder I would go with my sponges in tow because it was a 10/12,,,10 minutes later I was done.And wouldn't you know it,.,the next severe storm my shingles were still fastened as I left them,.,but more were missing.

I said "Ray" when are you gonna let me put a roof on this house.,he said Jim you are,.,its just taking a while.:whistling2:
 
#2 ·
That is less than many contractors would have charged.

Most will have minimums to get on a roof.

While the shingles may have only cost "X", insurance, access, equipment, etc., etc. all add to the cost of a project.

That is more than reasonable and bordering on cheap in my opinion.
 
#7 ·
I agree, you did not mention how high the roof is, or how steep.
http://www.amazon.com/Werner-D6240-...d=1357397972&sr=8-107&keywords=ladders+werner

Some has to pay for this stuff.

I love it when I'd show up with a $400.00 and a $200.00 ladder, a $1600.00 brake, a $20,000 truck, 2, pair of $58.00 snips and seamers, $80.00 roll of coil stock, $368.00 cutter for the coil stock, $268.00 reel to hold the the coil stock, two people just to replace one piece of coil stock at the peak of a roof and have them complain behind my back that there $200.00 bill was robbery.
 
#11 ·
AS others have mentioned, his cost of doing business includes all the things that have to be spread out over the cost of every job he does. The fixed costs if you will.

$175:

$75 to Uncle Sam
$10 for gas in the truck
$20 for labor being there
$20 for depreciation on ladders and tools
$20 for truck payment
$20 for insurance, business licenses, workers comp

$10 profit. If he's lucky. I'm guessing he probably lost money doing the job as a favor
 
#12 ·
Well what would it have cost if you fell off the roof, broke your back and ended up in the hospital for three or four months? It has nothing to do with the cost of the damn materials for gods sake.

You got a hell of a deal. I would have charged you $450.00 at least, but then I would have been there about an hour, because there is no way to do that right in ten minutes. you have to take off about 6 shingles to replace 1, then put them back and bib the holes.
 
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#34 ·
You got a hell of a deal. I would have charged you $450.00 at least, but then I would have been there about an hour, because there is no way to do that right in ten minutes. you have to take off about 6 shingles to replace 1, then put them back and bib the holes.
In their haste to come to the support of the roofer, this is the key piece that everyone is overlooking. $175 is not a problem at all. 10 minutes is the problem. (Although the OP might be exaggerating here.) To replace 3 shingles takes a good bit of removing, replacing, caulking, etc. Depending on the 3, you might have to remove 10 and put it all back together
 
#15 ·
Out here insurance has gotten so high most guys will not even go on your roof for less than 150 dollars. For any type of repair you are looking at 300 bucks. There is the liability of him falling, as well as your roof ever leaking. As a policy, when people ask me if they paid to much I never will answer because I do not know the details of the deal. The fact that you did not want to do it yourself tells a lot right there. He did you a favor, he was only covering his costs. You honestly expect someone to even come over your house for 60 dollars. You are clueless as to the cost of things in the world, not even a local handyman would work that cheap.
 
#17 · (Edited)
3 shingles

5/12-8/12 = $250

10/12-12/12= $350

12/12 or more could be an additional $150 or more depending on stories.

I do think he should have provided the materials though.

I roofed my brothers house and he was crying about the roof top delivery charge.I told him fine,,,ground drop them and you load that roof and save a couple bucks.He said o.k no problem.

He loaded 1 bundle and fell out.So I charged him $250 to load it.He didn't care what I charged just so he didn't have to load the roof.He thought I was going to have my guys hand load it.Nope I have a ladder-vadder,,,it took me about 20 minutes to load the roof.He was not really happy about it.

But after he looked at the other side of him having to load it he realized something.I knew roofing and I had the equipment to perform the task.

He also learned a valuable lesson that day,,,pay the $70 roof top delivery or big brother is going to make you pay.

But I would like to know where you bought 3 single shingles ?
 
#18 ·
I would like to know where you bought 3 single shingles ?
That was my first thought.

Nice story RM, rooftop delivery doesn’t exist in NCK. Since moving here I’ve seriously thought about starting that service, I’m sure there would be plenty of takers. I have the right truck, just need the conveyor to mount to it. :whistling2:
 
#29 ·
She is a wizard,I can say that about her.She provides a top notch no nonsense service.But yes,every holiday we go to San Diego or whenever she calls to talk to my wife we go around and around.(In a very fun way)She has a stellar reputation in the San Diego,Ramona and occasionally L.A.

And in those areas the competition is fierce and to stand out means your doing something right. :thumbsup:
 
#37 ·
I am starting to see the shift happening. For a long time people looked at a blue collar worker as a second class citizen. Someone that was not up to par with the real world. Somehow a blue collar worker had failed on some level. That is a big generalization and i hope no body takes offense here. People are starting to look at the blue collar worker as someone that is working and making money. A successful person with useful skills. It is about time tradesmen get the respect for the difficult jobs they do.
 
#42 ·
Ya, it's truly a shame that people see "blue collar" workers this way. It's funny though, because many "blue collar" workers make more $ than the 9-5 wage slaves. When I took a basic home DIY electrical class given by the county during my college days, the electrician teaching the class was telling me I could be a promising electrician.. Looking back maybe I should've gone that route.. :001_tongue: In all seriousness though, given today's job environment, if my kids are unsure about college, going into a trade is a great alternative (something that's overlooked these days).
 
#50 ·
To some this might sound like a lot but like other have pointed out with all that goes into the project( service call) in this case things can add up.

All in all I like to look at it like this....was $175 worth it to you for them to be replaced? if it was than thats all that matters. :thumbsup:
 
#5 ·
Until you own your own business it's hard to understand why things cost what they do. I don't think that is out of line especially when you figure in his health insurance, workman's comp, vehicle insurance, business insurance, fuel, risk of getting up on a roof, etc. And, let me add, small jobs still require a roofer to bring all his tools to the site, and maybe it took him an hour to load up from another job to get to your job. $175 was a small price to pay when you consider that you could have done the repair wrong and had a leak, or, you could have been laid up for months after a fall from the roof.
 
#6 ·
A few years ago:
I worked for a roofing/siding/window/door/gutter company.
I was a repairman/estimator/supervisor (one of them).
The going rate for me was -
$125 for the first hour -
$75/hour after that (not including materials)
(After 5 or 6 in the evening - You can't afford it!) :)
That was 15 to 20 years ago.
Most of the roofs we dealt with were 8/12 to 12/12 pitch - or steeper.

You want me to go up there??!??
Now?!?
How much money you got?!? :)

rossfingal
 
#10 ·
How many times have we shown up and can see someone has tryed to do it thereself to "save money" and seen things like roofing nails used to reattach a loose facia, the top of the shingle has been cut off, tar all over it to hold it in place.
The best one is when someone just lays the shingle right over what's there and uses a gal of tar to seal it.
 
#14 ·
$175 isn't bad if it was fixed

Whenever you have any professional look at your home, they need to be paid.

If people offer free estimates, their prices will be higher because they have to recoup the money paid out in time and gas for those estimates that turn out to be nothing.

I don't want to pay some plumber 100 bucks to look at my toilet and not fix it. So I would say 175 for three shingles isn't bad. $300 would be. But I think anything around $150/first hour, and $25 for three shingles isn't a bad price.

Always be cautious but don't undervalue someone's time and efforts as long as the fix really does fix the problem.
 
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