To compare roofing bids fairly, line them up on the five parts of the roof, then on what each one leaves out, then on how each one bills for the things nobody can see until the old roof is off. The lowest number can be the right choice. You just want to know what each number buys, and how much room it has to grow once the job starts.
By Van Naik, owner · Updated September 24, 2026
You've had three or four roofers out. Now you're at the kitchen table with a folder of quotes, and none of them are laid out the same way. One is a single page. One is twelve. One has a price that's thousands lower than the rest, and you can't tell why.
Sometimes they don't even agree on what the roof needs. One says replace, one says you could patch it and wait. That's a comparison too, and it comes first.
Step 1: Do the bids agree on what your roof needs?
Before comparing prices, compare diagnoses. If one roofer says replace and another says repair or wait, ask each of them to show you why: photos of the shingle surface, the flashing, any soft spots, the attic. A roof with a few good years left doesn't need a replacement bid yet, and a good roofer will tell you so.
Step 2: Line them up on the five parts
A roof is five parts working together. A good bid names all five. If a bid only describes the shingle, ask about the rest.
| Part | What the bid should say |
|---|---|
| Deck | Full tear-off down to the wood, and how dry rot or new plywood will be billed |
| Underlayment | The product, matched to your roof's slope and your city's code |
| Metal | New drip edge, step flashing and pipe boots, and whether any metal is reused and repainted |
| Ventilation | How many exhaust vents, what type, and whether they're in the base price |
| Shingles | Manufacturer, full product line, color, and both warranties |
Two questions tell you a lot, fast:
- Is the metal new, or reused and repainted? Leaks almost always start at the metal. A coat of paint makes old flashing look new, but it's still bent and full of old nail holes.
- How are the valleys done? Metal valleys and California cut valleys are both manufacturer-approved. You just want to know which one you're getting.
Line item by line item
Start with the big three: crew, metal and vents. These are where bids differ most, and where a lower price often comes from. Ask who does the work, whether the metal is new, and whether vents are in the price.
| Line item | What to ask | Ours |
|---|---|---|
| Crew | Is the crew your own team, or a subcontractor? | Our own crew. If we ever bring in help on a tear-off, you'll know before the job starts. |
| Metal | Is all the metal new, or is the old metal reused and painted? That includes drip edge, flashing at walls and chimneys, and pipe boots. | All new, painted to match. |
| Vents | Are new exhaust vents included in the price? If not, what do they cost? | Included. O'Hagin low-profile vents, about one per 300 sq ft of attic. |
| Shingle source | Where do the shingles come from? Are they bought from an authorized distributor? | Bought through authorized Owens Corning and CertainTeed distributors. |
| Materials markup | Is there a markup on materials, including lumber for dry rot? | Lumber at cost, with no markup. Dry rot labor at $75 per person per hour. Extras can't go past $3,500 without your signature. |
| Tear-off | Is the old roof removed down to the deck, or is the new roof going over it? | Full tear-off on every job. |
| Underlayment | Which underlayment, and is it matched to your roof's slope? | Named in your proposal, matched to slope. |
| Permit | Who pulls the permit, and how is it billed? | We pull it and bill it at the city's cost. |
| Warranty | What's covered for materials and for labor, for how long, and what's excluded? | Lifetime limited material warranty, plus our 10-year workmanship warranty. |
Step 3: What's included, and what's extra?
This is where the numbers stop being comparable. For each bid, find out whether these are in the price, added on, or not mentioned:
- The permit, and how it's billed
- Dumpster and disposal
- Gutters, if they're being touched
- Skylights: reflashed, replaced or left alone
- Solar panel removal and reinstall
- Ridge vent, if you want one
For the record, here's how we handle the permit: we pull it, schedule the inspections, and bill it at exactly what the city charges. It's never marked up, and it's never hidden in the base price, because the fee changes by city and job size.
Step 4: What happens when they find something under the old roof?
No roofer knows what's under your shingles until they come off. We've been tearing off Bay Area roofs since 1989, and we expect most houses to have at least some dry rot. So the useful question is how each roofer bills for it, and who approves it.
Ask every roofer:
- What's your rate for dry rot and new plywood? A per-day or per-hour labor rate, plus lumber.
- What if there's a second old roof under this one? Is it priced per square?
- Who approves extra work, and at what dollar amount?
- Can I talk to a customer whose job had a change order? That answer tells you more than the price.
Here are ours, printed in the proposal before you sign:
- Dry rot and plywood: $75 per person per hour, with lumber at what we paid for it.
- Hidden extra layer: $75 per square.
- Approval: extras can't go past $3,500 without your signature. If they reach that point, the crew stops, shows you what they found, and needs your signed approval to keep going.
Step 5: Who owns the connected work?
Solar panels, skylights and gutters all touch the roof. For each one, find out who takes it off, who puts it back, and who you call if it leaks where their work meets the roof. If two companies are involved, you want that settled in writing before anyone starts.
Where another bid might be the better deal
Be fair to the other bids. Some of them will beat ours on something:
- A lower base price. If nothing turns up at tear-off, a lower bid is the lower bid, and that can decide it.
- More in the base scope. Some roofers include metal valleys or extra ice and water shield. Both are real, approved products. We install ice and water shield wherever your city requires it, and if you'd like metal valleys, we'll add them at a stated price.
- A sooner start date. If timing matters, it matters.
Here's where we think ours holds up. If nothing comes up at tear-off, the other bid may be the lower number. Ours is the number with less room to grow if something does, because we bill extras at our actual cost and can't go past $3,500 without your signature.
One pressure tactic worth recognizing
"If you sign today, I can take 10% off." A fair price today is still a fair price next week. If a price expires before you've had time to compare, that tells you something about the price.
The business side
- License. Look it up on the Contractors State License Board site. Ours is CSLB #1145218 (C-39).
- Insurance. Ask for proof of liability insurance and workers' comp. Workers' comp matters because the crew is working on your property.
- Reviews. Read the recent ones, and the owner's replies to the bad ones.
Take it to the kitchen table
If someone else is part of this decision, like a spouse, a co-owner or a parent, print our one-page comparison checklist and fill it in for each bid. It's easier to talk through a page than a folder.
Next step: send us the other bid
Send us the other bids, and we'll put them next to ours line by line: scope, materials, what's included, and how extras are billed. If theirs is the better fit for your house, we'll say so.
Call (925) 381-9162 or email hello@affordableroofingbayarea.com.
About the author. Van Naik owns Affordable Roofing Systems, a family-owned roofer based in Contra Costa County and serving the Bay Area since 1989. If you've read older reviews that mention Kelly, Kelly is the previous owner. The crew in those reviews still does the work. CSLB #1145218 (C-39). Owens Corning Preferred Contractor and CertainTeed Master Craftsman.