Compare roofing quotes on what they do about the wet

Many houses here carry shingle over an original cedar shake roof, or two courses of shingle over each other. Stripping two layers is close to twice the labor and twice the disposal of one, and stripping shake is its own job. A quote priced for a single layer on a roof that has more will not stay at that price.

Under moss and a decade of held water the sheathing along the eaves and in the valleys is often soft, and nobody sees it until the roof is off. A stated price per sheet and the count the estimate assumes turns that into a bounded figure. Silence turns it into a negotiation on a wet roof.

Felt and synthetic are different products at different prices, and in a place where the deck may sit open through a week of drizzle only one of them tolerates it. "Underlayment included" does not tell you which. Ask for the product by name.

Hard freezes are rare here, but a self-sealing membrane still earns its place in the valleys, at the eaves under the moss line, and around every penetration where the rain never quite stops. Where it runs is a different roll count on every roof, and the quote should say rather than assume.

Where a dormer meets the slope or a lower roof meets the wall, the step flashing can be replaced or sealed and left. Sealing is quicker, and under nine months of rain it is the first thing to fail, usually behind the siding where it is not seen for years.

A chimney on a slope that stays damp from October to May grows moss on its shaded side and holds water against its flashing all winter. Counterflashing cut into the mortar, a sound crown and a cricket on the uphill side are separate work, and they are regularly absent from a headline number.

Damp air condensing on the underside of a cold deck is what rots a roof from inside here, and reinstalling the vents that were there does nothing about it. Adding intake at the soffit and exhaust at the ridge is real work, and the quote should say whether it is doing that or merely putting back what was found.

The metal at the eave and the starter course under the first row are where water runs off a mossy roof and where the fascia goes soft. Both are cheap, both are easy to leave off a quote, and both are where rot starts when they are missing.

Gutters under fir and maple fill every fall and hold wet needles until spring. Whether they come down and go back, get replaced, get guards, or get worked around is a line the quote should state. If the fascia behind them is soft, that belongs on the quote too.

Every city and county around the Sound issues its own permit and inspects on its own schedule. Whether the contractor pulls it, bills it separately, or leaves it to you are three different arrangements, and only one puts a license on the file.

The manufacturer stands behind the shingle. Somebody has to stand behind the installation, and in a climate where a roof is wet for most of the year it is the installation that decides. A material warranty with no written labor warranty covers the part that rarely fails.

A dumpster on a driveway that will be wet the whole job, old shake or two layers of shingle coming down through the trees, a magnet sweep of ground covered in needles. Small lines, and most of what people complain about after the crew is gone.