Eight Stages, and You Know
Where You Are in Them
Most complaints about roofing contractors are not about the roof. They are about not knowing what is happening. This is the sequence every project follows, and what you should expect at each point.
What happens, in order
Stages one to three apply to every enquiry, including the ones that end with us telling you the roof is fine. Four onward apply once there is work to do.
Initial request
You tell us what you are seeing and where the property is. The request form asks about the roofing system, what the roof needs and how urgent it is, because a leak into a bedroom and a roof you are planning to replace next year get handled differently.
Most useful to include
- What you have noticed, in your own words
- When it started, and whether it is getting worse
- Whether water is coming in now
- Photographs if you have them
What happens next
- We confirm we have the request
- We arrange a time to come and look
- Urgent situations are prioritised over planning enquiries
Roof inspection
The full roof, not only the area you are worried about. The covering across every plane, then every place the roof is interrupted — flashings, valleys, ridges, penetrations, terminations — and the drainage that serves it. Inside and in the attic where access allows.
Covered every time
- Condition of the covering across all planes
- Wall, chimney and skylight flashings
- Valleys, ridges, hips and terminations
- Penetrations and anything mounted after the roof
- Gutters, outlets and downspouts
- Attic and deck underside where reachable
You do not need to
- Go on the roof, at any point
- Know roofing terminology
- Have decided anything in advance
Findings and recommendations
Photographs of everything we recommend acting on, and a written summary in plain language: what we found, what is causing it, what is urgent and what can wait. If a repair will not solve the problem, that is stated. If the roof is fine, that is stated too.
Written so you can
- See the evidence rather than take our word for it
- Get a second opinion on the same information
- Decide on your own timescale
Some enquiries stop here
- Roofs with years of life left
- Problems that are not roofing problems
- Second opinions on somebody else's quote
Scope and estimate
An itemised scope: what will be done, in what order, with which materials, and what it costs. Itemised so you can see what each part is for and question any of it — including the parts you would rather not pay for.
The scope states
- Exactly what work is included
- The specific products being used
- How deck repair is handled if it is needed
- A projected schedule
- Anything explicitly excluded
Worth asking about
- Which items you could defer
- What changes if we find damaged decking
- What is not included and why
Materials and scheduling
Profile, colour and finish get decided, along with the practical arrangements: start date, access, where material and debris will sit, and where your vehicles need to be. Permitting for the address is dealt with at this stage.
Decisions here
- Product, profile and colour
- Gutter colour where it is part of the job
- Start date and expected duration
- Access, staging and parking
Honest about timing
- Material availability can move dates
- Permitting timelines vary by municipality
- Weather moves roofing schedules, always
Installation or repair
Protection goes down before anything comes off. Then tear-off, deck inspection, underlayment and flashings, and the covering. On a replacement, the deck inspection is the point where a scope can genuinely change — and if it does, you hear about it that day with a photograph.
Protected before work starts
- Landscaping and planting beds
- Pool cages, screens and lanais
- Air conditioning units
- Driveways, walkways and walls below
You will hear from us if
- Decking needs replacing
- Something is found that changes the scope
- Weather moves the schedule
Cleanup and review
Debris hauled away, gutters cleared of the waste that installation generates, and a magnetic nail sweep across driveways, paths, lawn and beds. Then a walk of the property with you — outside and in — while the crew is still there rather than after they have gone.
Cleanup covers
- All roofing debris removed from site
- Gutters and downspouts cleared of waste
- Magnetic nail sweep across hard surfaces and lawn
- Protection removed and landscaping checked
The walkthrough is when to
- Raise anything that does not look right
- Check the areas you were most concerned about
- Ask about maintenance for your system
Final documentation
The project paperwork, photographs from the work, and any manufacturer documentation that comes with the products used. Keep it — it is what a future buyer, a future contractor or an insurer will want to see.
You receive
- Final project documentation
- Photographs from the work
- Manufacturer documentation for the products used
- Permitting records where applicable
What to do before the crew arrives
None of this takes long, and all of it makes the first day go better. We will remind you of the relevant items when the start date is set.
- Clear the driveway and the area around the house where you can, particularly on day one.
- Move vehicles out from under the work area, and tell us if a vehicle cannot be moved.
- Take down wall hangings and anything shelved that could shift — roofing work carries vibration through the structure.
- Move patio furniture, plant pots and anything fragile away from the perimeter of the building.
- Tell us about pets, and about anyone in the house who works nights or needs quiet hours.
- Point out anything in the yard you particularly care about, including irrigation heads and low-voltage lighting.
- Let neighbours know, especially in a townhome or on a narrow street where access matters.
What we handle
Protection of everything around the work area, material delivery and staging, debris containment and removal, permitting for the address, and coordinating any required inspection with the authority having jurisdiction.
If something on your property needs particular care — a mature planting, a pool cage, a generator, a satellite dish you actually use — tell us at the walkthrough rather than hoping we will notice.
What you should expect to hear, and when
The complaint we hear most often about other contractors is silence. These are the points where you should expect contact, and what to do if it does not happen.
| When | What you should hear | If you do not |
|---|---|---|
| After you send a request | Confirmation we have it, and a conversation about arranging the inspection. | Send it again or use the contact page. Requests do occasionally go astray. |
| After the inspection | The findings and photographs, and a clear answer on what the roof needs. | Ask. The findings are yours whether or not any work follows. |
| Before the start date | Confirmation of the date, access arrangements and what to prepare. | Call and confirm rather than assuming. Schedules move. |
| If the scope changes | A call the same day, with a photograph of what was found and what it means. | Stop the work and ask before any additional cost is incurred. |
| If weather moves the schedule | To be told, rather than finding out when nobody arrives. | Ask for a revised date in writing. |
| At completion | A walkthrough with you, then the documentation. | Do not treat the job as finished until the walkthrough has happened. |
What we will not promise
A guaranteed response time, a guaranteed start date before the roof has been seen, or a permit approval date. Those depend on workload, weather, material supply and a municipal process none of which we control. What we can commit to is telling you the truth about them as they stand.
Roofing is a demolition job before it is a construction job
Tearing an old roof off produces a large quantity of heavy, sharp material that has to come down past everything you own. How that is managed is the single biggest difference between a contractor who is careful with a property and one who is not.
Before anything comes off
- Landscaping and beds beneath the work area covered
- Pool cages, screens and lanai structures protected
- Air conditioning units and pool equipment covered
- Driveways, walkways and walls below shielded
- Debris route and material staging agreed with you
Before we leave
- All roofing debris removed from the property, not left for later
- Gutters and downspouts cleared of installation waste
- Magnetic nail sweep across drives, paths, lawn and beds
- Protection removed and planting checked
- Exterior walked with you before the crew stands down
The nail sweep matters more than it sounds. Roofing fasteners in a lawn find bare feet, dog paws and car tyres for months afterwards if they are not collected.
What people ask before committing to a project
It varies enough that a single number would be misleading. The inspection and findings usually happen quickly. Between scope and installation sit material availability, permitting and the current schedule, and any of those can be the long pole. We give you a projected timeline with the scope and tell you as soon as anything changes it. We do not commit to a date before we have seen the roof.
Not for the whole job. It is worth being there at the start of the first day so we can walk the property together, and at the final walkthrough at the end. In between, we will reach you if something on the roof changes the scope — that conversation happens by phone with photographs rather than waiting for you to get home.
Roofing work in Palm Beach County generally requires permitting and inspection by the local authority having jurisdiction. Requirements and timelines differ between municipalities. We handle the process as part of the project and tell you what it involves for your address — but no contractor can promise a specific approval date, and you should treat it as suspicious if one does.
This is the one genuine unknown in every replacement. Damaged decking is the usual example, and nobody can see it until the covering is off. When we find it, you get a photograph and a call the same day, with what it means for the scope and the cost, before the work continues.
Protection goes down before anything comes off the roof — landscaping, pool cages and screens, air conditioning units, driveways and walls beneath the work area. Where debris will fall and where material will be staged is agreed with you at the start so you can still use the property.
A final walkthrough with you, the project documentation, and photographs from the work. Where the products used carry manufacturer documentation, that comes with it. We are not publishing warranty terms on this website because they depend on the product and the agreement — they belong in your paperwork, where they can be accurate.
It starts with somebody looking at the roof
Stages one to three cost you nothing and commit you to nothing. At the end of them you will know what is on your roof, what condition it is in and what it needs — which is worth having even if the answer is that it needs nothing.