Cheap Excuses Roofers Use to Get Money Up Front

Undoubtably, If you are shopping for a roof you will hear at least one of these excuses. In general, there’s hardly a time where money is NEEDED up front! I’ll go over a few of the most common ways contractors try to illicit money from homeowners.

“We need money to purchase your materials”

All reputable roofing contractors in the Knoxville area operate on a “net 30” payment schedule. This means that from the day the materials are delivered to the job site, the contractor has 30 days to pay his or her bill at the supply house.

“We need money to pay the crew”

They may in fact need to pay their crew, BUT not for YOUR job! A Homeowner shouldn’t have to finance payroll for their neighbor’s project.

“We need money to lock you in to our schedule”

This is a cheap way of instilling urgency, especially during peak roofing season. What they are actually trying to do is to have leverage with the homeowner should they decide to cancel the job.

Why do roofing contractors do this? It all boils down to CASH FLOW! If a contractor is using future revenue to fund today’s projects; they are falling behind! When a homeowner signs a roofing contract, they are hoping that said contractor will remain in business for the prolonged future. Most “Labor Warranties” are promissory notes between a contractor and homeowner that rely on the premise of the contractor remaining in business.

There are a few exceptions where money is required upfront:

Metal Roof Systems:

These systems are manufactured for that intended project and panels cut to length.

Special Order Shingles:

These products are ordered for your project and not kept in stock.

In either of these (2) examples, the roofing contractor agrees that the products that they order cannot be restocked or returned. If a homeowner were to back out of the agreement, the roofer would be stuck with products that they cannot use on other projects, that they would have to warehouse, and eventually have sell at a discount just to try and get rid of them.