In my on-going search for a roofing contractor, I ran into a neighbor(who I know to be pretty anal about her house) and she told me whomshe had choosen. "He's not the cheapest, but he's not the mostexpensive." The price she told me seemed about right based on what shesaid she needed. (She's got leaks, rotten wood, etc.)Now, the three contractors that I already got estimates from said thatI'm looking at 2 - 4 weeks for them to get started.So I called this other guy today to set up an estimate and he asked mewhen I was looking to have the job done. I asked him what his schedulelooked like and he said that he was trying to fill a few days *nextweek*.Now, I know that there can be cancellations etc. but when someone isthat readily available, alarms go off. My gut tells me that I want mycontractor to be reasonably busy.Obviously, I'll put more weight towards what he says when he talks tome about what I need and how he'll do it, but the fact that he's readyto start climbing ladders next week has me a little concerned.Should I be?

I wouldn't worry too much about it. I got a squeak in a wheelbearing last week & my mechanic, a guy who usually makes appointmentsa week or two in advance, asked if I could bring it in right then. He's got a 3bay garage & his is usually empty- but 5 people hadcanceled [actually one canceled, 4 were no-shows] that morning. Heread me off the jobs-- none of them were likely to have curedthemselves.He said he's been busier than normal-- but with 5 times the number ofcancellations and no-shows. Sign of a bad economy? Who knows.I'd put the most stock in what a customer says about him. Next I'dtrust my gut when talking to the guy. Maybe you're just lucky like Iwas. I've been going to my mechanic for 25 years and this is thefirst time he said- bring it right in. [unless it was an emergency]Jim

How busy do you want your roofer to be?

Apr 20, 2012 42 Replies

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Doug 14 years ago

I guess you don't make mistakes ever????

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Home Guy 14 years ago

If by that comment you mean to say that you normally make an effort to trim the quoted material in your replies - then you can disregard my criticism.

Although I must say that after a quick review of your previous couple-dozen posts to this newsgroup, I don't see much evidence that you make a serious effort to do so.

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Doug 14 years ago

I do if in "my judgement" it gets too long and I have to scroll too much to get to the bottom. On a small occasion I will top post but that is seldom. Normally I don't like to edit posts I reply to as you noticed but I will on occasion as well.

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