El Monte, CA
Roof replacement in El Monte
A re-roof is the second-largest cheque most homeowners write on their house, and the one they have the least information about.
Describe the replacement job
Three questions, then the address. Up to three El Monte contractors who do this work.
You are on the list.
No provider in El Monte is taking requests through this service yet. We are lining them up, and yours is kept until one can.
- Nobody gets your details yet. Your request stays with us and is not passed to any company.
- One email when someone can help. When a provider covering your area can take it on, we email you once and ask whether you want that company, by name, to contact you.
- Deleted after 90 days. If nobody can take it on, or you do not say yes, your contact details are deleted 90 days after your request.
- You decide, or you do not. There is nothing to cancel and nothing to pay us.
Nobody will call you about this request unless you say yes to a company by name.
Before you let anybody on the roof
The things worth pinning down on a replacement job. A contractor who has not raised them has not looked properly.
- Which underlayment, and whether ice-and-water goes on the eaves and valleys
- How the site is protected, and who cleans up the nails
- Ventilation: what is there now, what it should be
- Who pulls the permit, and what the inspection schedule looks like
- A written per-sheet price for replacing bad decking
Ask how long the crew has been together. Roofing is a trade where the same company name can mean an entirely different set of hands from one season to the next.
Two quotes at the same price can be very different roofs. Compare the layers, not the brand name on the shingle.
Insist on knowing what happens to decking that turns out to be rotten. The good answer is a per-sheet price agreed in writing before the job starts.
Locally
Then, less dramatically: ember intrusion through vents and open eaves. Most houses lost to wildfire are lost to embers arriving ahead of the fire, not to the fire itself.
About replacement here
What time of year is best to re-roof in El Monte?
Practically, the long dry run from May to October. Crews are busiest right after the weather turns — November through March — so booking outside that stretch usually buys you a better date and a keener number.
Why three quotes and not one?
Because one price tells you nothing. Three tells you where the middle is, and the outliers are informative in both directions — the very cheapest is usually leaving something out, and the most expensive should be able to say what you are getting for it.
Can I just put a new roof over the old one?
Often you legally can, and it is usually a poor idea. Overlaying hides the condition of the decking, adds weight, shortens the life of the new shingles by trapping heat, and doubles the cost of the next tear-off.
How many contractors will contact me?
No more than three. We picked that number because two quotes is not enough to spot an outlier and five is an ordeal.
What is it going to cost?
Free, no obligation, and your details go to no company until you say yes.