Questions We Get Asked

Yes, along with the inspection, the photographs and the written report — and you keep all of it whether or not you hire us. The free inspection page has the form and what the visit involves; there is no trip charge anywhere in our sixteen-town service area, and no fee for meeting your adjuster later.

Almost always because something is not in it. The five usual omissions are the ice barrier at the eaves and valleys, new flashing rather than reused, decking priced per sheet up front rather than as an open-ended extra, the permit where your town requires one, and disposal. Ask every quote to price those five explicitly and the gap generally explains itself. Nine questions for the roofer at your door has the rest of the checklist.

It recovers about two thirds of its cost, not all of it: the same report puts resale value at 69.2% of job cost in this region. So it is not an investment that pays for itself — it is a repair that removes an objection a buyer would otherwise price into their offer, usually more harshly than you would.

No, but we will read a competitor’s quote with you and tell you honestly what it does and does not include. Sometimes the answer is that theirs is fine and cheaper, and we will say so. What we will not do is strip the ice barrier or the valley metal out of ours to hit a number — the replacement page lists what the state code requires and why it is in every quote we write.

In order: the insurance claim where a storm caused it, a payment plan across the job, then a lender with fixed monthly terms applied for at the estimate. The price is the same whichever you choose, and the deductible is never waived — the financing page explains each option and the Wisconsin statute behind that last point.

One day for most Watertown houses. Two if it is large, steep, cut up with valleys and dormers, or if there is significant decking to replace. You get a start date, not a two-week window, and if weather moves it we tell you the day before. The replacement page walks through what happens in that day.

No. It is loud, and if you work from home you will know we are there, but the house stays habitable throughout. Move cars out of the driveway, take pictures off the walls under the roof if they are precious — hammering travels — and keep pets inside. The remodeling pages cover the harder question of living through an interior job.

Tarps over the beds, plywood where we are dropping material, and a magnet run over the lawn and the driveway at the end of every day. Nails in tires are the most common complaint about roofers anywhere, so we take it seriously. If the dumpster has to sit in the street, the City of Watertown requires a right-of-way permit under § 457-7 of its code, and that is ours to pull.

Yes. We are not a sales office that brokers the labor out to whoever is cheapest that week. The people who quote the roof are the people on it, and the company on your contract is the one on the state license lookup. The about page has who they are; careers is how the crew grows.

We replace it, and you already know the per-sheet price because it is in the estimate. Nobody can see the wood through the old shingles, so pricing it in advance is the only honest way to handle it — and ATCP 110.05 requires the contract to name the materials and the price before the work starts. We photograph every sheet we replace and the photographs come with the invoice.

It depends where you live. The City of Watertown does not require a building permit for a straightforward residential tear-off and re-roof, though you do need a right-of-way permit if the dumpster sits in the street. Fort Atkinson, Madison, Sun Prairie, Cottage Grove and Wisconsin Dells require one; Beaver Dam, Waterloo and Columbus publish that they do not; several towns publish nothing and we call. The permit guide has all sixteen. Where one is needed, the contractor should pull it, not you.

If a storm caused the damage, often yes. If the roof simply wore out, no — no policy covers age. We inspect and tell you which one you have before you file anything, because a claim that comes back with nothing found still sits on your loss history. The insurance section explains the sequence, the statutes and the two-check settlement.

Wis. Stat. § 631.83(1)(a) gives you twelve months from the inception of the loss to bring an action on a property policy — and the courts read inception as the date of the storm, not the date you noticed. Your policy’s own deadline to report a claim is separate and usually shorter. Check it, and report before you do anything else. The deadline page has both clocks side by side.

No, and Wis. Stat. § 100.65(8) is why: a residential contractor may not represent you or negotiate your claim. What it allows is what we do — inspect, document, provide and submit an estimate, and discuss the damage with your adjuster on the roof. The conversation with the insurer is yours, and the adjuster meeting page explains how that hour goes.

Ask where their shop is, and check the credential. A storm brings crews in from out of the area, and some of them do good work — but a workmanship warranty is only worth the years the company is still around to honor it. Wisconsin gives you a way to check: the DSPS license lookup will tell you who holds a Dwelling Contractor Certification, and how long they have held it. Nine questions to ask covers the rest, and our reviews are there to be checked the same way.

Wisconsin Dwelling Contractor Certification, general liability and workers’ compensation. All of it in writing with your estimate, and the certification is checkable by anyone at the state license lookup. We are also a certified Owens Corning contractor and accredited with the Better Business Bureau.

A 5-year workmanship warranty on the installation, plus the manufacturer’s warranty on the materials. Exclusions are written into the contract before you sign it. The warranty page explains what each of the two covers, what voids them, and why the manufacturer’s depends on how many nails we used.

Out to roughly ninety miles from Watertown — across Jefferson, Dodge, Waukesha, Columbia, Walworth, Dane and Sauk counties, which takes in Madison and Wisconsin Dells at the far edges. Same-day emergency response is realistic in the core area around Watertown; further out we are honest about that and will point you to somebody closer if water is coming in tonight. The service areas each have a page.