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Inaccurate Measurement

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Guest User
6/22/2005
An estimate came in much lower than expected - almost half of the next lowest bid. Curiously, I asked how many sq. feet he came up with. While all other est. came in at 3700 sq. feet + 200 waste, this gentleman came in at only 2700 sq. feet. Knowing that my house is 1900+ sq. feet + 800 sq. feet for the carport with a <5 degree pitch, how could he come up with 2700 sq. feet by measuring the roof? Does this undermine his skills? How do I handle the extra expense once he finds out he is short 10 squares? Is there a way to limit my liability in the contract? Thank you very much.
Todd Miller
Isaiah Industries, Inc.
6/22/2005
First of all, I commend you for not just jumping on the lower price. I want to encourage you to check references, talk to past customers, go see past jobs, even talk to the manufacturers of the roofing products. Anyone can make a mistake on measuring. If you decide that you want to do business with the lower bid guy, before signing the contract, tell him that he has measured the roof as smaller than what others haver said. Give him the chance to re-measure and re-bid or to stand by his original bid, in which case he will be on the hook for it.
Guest User
6/23/2005
Todd - Thank you, sir. By the way, what do you mean by "he will be on the hook for it"? Should I work into the contract some verbiage regarding roofing the "whole house" instead of specific verbiage around the 27 squares (short 10 squares)? I don't mind paying him for the additional materials and some labor, but I do not want to leave it open-ended. I also would not want him to say that he roofed the 27 squares, and it is not his problem that he came up 10 squares short. I just know that 4 other roofing contractors measured the roof at 37 squares. Thank you for your time.
Todd Miller
Isaiah Industries, Inc.
6/23/2005
Yes, good point. Sorry about that. By all means, if you tell him of the difference with other quotes and you have him double check things and he still stands by his numbers, insist that he change the contract so that it states that it is for the entire roof, rather than for 27 squares.
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