Lowes roofing / hvac install

[chrisasst]

I am having Lowes come out next week to quote me on getting my roof redone and installing a hvac system.(looking at either mini splits or forced air) Any one have any advice or anything to beware of going through lowes.
What questions should I be asking?

 

[festerw]

They just subcontract the work, make sure the contractor is a reputable one in your area..

 

[Badfish740]

Kind of unrelated but I had a great experience with a Lowes subcontractor who installed the carpeting in my basement. They did excellent work, were fast, courteous, and clean. They do use subcontractors, but from I've heard they try to go with the best of the best in the area and attract them with a steady volume of jobs. The jobs don't pay as much since Lowes in the middleman, but the work tends to be steady. Lowes also has the luxury of a low tolerance for customer complaints because they can simply find someone else to do the work.

 

[chrisasst]

Long shot question, I know it will vary, but what do you guys think a ball park estimate will be to redo about lets say 1400 sq foot roof?
my roof is at probably a 60 degree angle so it will probably cost more..

 

[ironpony]

Back in 2000, before winding up in the enviromental side of the business, I worked with Lowes to develop thier pricing for the central Ohio region. My background starts as a licensed general contractor and I was the first to install for Lowes in Ohio. My company continued to install for Lowes for many years. My take on thier program, you are guaranteed all the contractors are licensed, bonded, insured and trained in what they are installing. You are getting a very good contractor, but not the "custom" guy, at a fair price,. Lowes will always be there to stand behind the install and willl get it fixed by sending out another contractor if the first one can not satisfy you. So you ask Why would you give up such a lucrative contract?? I will tell you why, the same caliber of people working in the store are running the installed sales program and after 7 years of fixing thier screwups it was time to move on. Do I recomend using them ? yes you will get a good job at a fair price because the contractor cares about the customer, not because of knowledgable Lowes staffing.

 

[begreen]

Get competitive quotes and ask for references. I did the same for our heatpump system but with Home Depot. The rep came out, measured and chatted a lot. Real nice guy. Only one problem, his estimate. It ended up being the highest of 4 estimates we got and was 100% higher than the next highest bid! The final installation came in at $12,000 below his bid.

 

[tfdchief]

Get competitive quotes and ask for references. I did the same for our heatpump system but with Home Depot. The rep came out, measured and chatted a lot. Real nice guy. Only one problem, his estimate. It ended up being the highest of 4 estimates we got and was 100% higher than the next highest bid! The final installation came in at $12,000 below his bid.

Holy cow, that's a big difference! Any thoughts on why?

 

[chrisasst]

I have been reading that home depot is quite a bit higher than anyone else. About 5 years ago they came and quoted me about $10,000 to do my roof.

 

[tfdchief]

I have been reading that home depot is quite a bit higher than anyone else. About 5 years ago they came and quoted me about $10,000 to do my roof.

Wow, how many squares and what is the roof pitch, single or two story?

 

[Ncountry]

Price should come in between 4 and 6 thousand, depending on # of valleys,height to eves,etc... I have done at least 100 at $300 a square. Material and labor...

 

[begreen]

Holy cow, that's a big difference! Any thoughts on why?

Someone was looking to make a tidy profit or maybe there were too many middlemen involved? I could have put in a groundsource heat pump system for $22.5K bid he put in. Most of the bids were around 9-10K. The final install was for a better system than the middle quotes with me doing the duct insulation, came in at just under $9K. We ended up with a great American Std. 2 spd compressor, variable speed air handler system.

 

[begreen]

Wow, how many squares and what is the roof pitch, single or two story?

Our roof cost $9K in 2003. I got 5 estimates and all were within $1K of each other. This was for a tear off of a shake roof, new 1/2" plywood decking and 50yr high wind, architectural profile shingles.

 

[chrisasst]

Wow, how many squares and what is the roof pitch, single or two story?

Well, whole house is 1900 sq ft. we did the lower half a few years ago. So probably what I have left is lets say 1500 sq ft. The pitch is crazy, 60 degrees maybe. So they may need a boom to get up there. Also when home depot came, they said the shingles were asbestos. I had a guy come last year and he said they weren't, so I dont know.
I am going to guess I will need new vents as well. I am hoping they can just go over the existing shingles.
$5 or $6 thousand would be great....

 

[tfdchief]

Well, whole house is 1900 sq ft. we did the lower half a few years ago. So probably what I have left is lets say 1500 sq ft. The pitch is crazy, 60 degrees maybe. So they may need a boom to get up there. Also when home depot came, they said the shingles were asbestos. I had a guy come last year and he said they weren't, so I dont know.
I am going to guess I will need new vents as well. I am hoping they can just go over the existing shingles.
$5 or $6 thousand would be great....

Don't go over the old shingles!

 

[chrisasst]

Here is what part of the roof looks like from last april. It is in much worse space now. To the left of the photo is the long run of about 45 feet.

 

[Ncountry]

I agree. Do not go over the old shingles . Make sure there is a minimum of 6' of ice&water shield from the drip edge up and at least 1 roll rolled down the valley. This is a bare minimum in this northern climate. imho

 

[tfdchief]

Here is what part of the roof looks like from last april. It is in much worse space now. To the left of the photo is the long run of about 45 feet.


View attachment 94378

Well, that is a tough one for sure. Price probably isn't that bad.

 

[BrotherBart]

I am reading this with interest. I need a re-roof as well as a heat pump. My roof is gonna be rich seeing as how the roof on the garage and breezeway is as big as the one on the house. Low pitch and no valleys though. The heat pump is straight replacement. Ducts already there. But since they haven't been used in 14 years I don't even wanna see what happens when air blows through them.

 

[Pallet Pete]

I am having Lowes come out next week to quote me on getting my roof redone and installing a hvac system.(looking at either mini splits or forced air) Any one have any advice or anything to beware of going through lowes.
What questions should I be asking?

Be careful with who they send out if they don't look right ask for a different contractor. A few of my family and friends have used lowes installers and non of them ended well sadly.

Pete

 

[Ncountry]

Be careful with who they send out if they don't look right ask for a different contractor. A few of my family and friends have used lowers installers and non of them ended well sadly.

Pete

I currently am doing complete kitchen and bath remodels for Lowes. It is a new Lowes program ,at least in this region,implemented in the last year. They have tough requirements for ins etc... I have had an opportunity to be around many of there installers.or smaller contractors. There are some good ones mixed in with the rest..lol
Because of their stupid rules , bureaucratic bs, and mediocre comensation. There program attracts "lower level" contractors ,those just starting out, or those looking to do a higher volume with less profit per.. Having just started a smaller corp. again in the last few years we fall into the 2nd part. Definitely get some references.

 

[CTguy9230]

i had Lowes replace my roof this past fall , and so far its gone thru hurricane Sandy "the next day"actually and quite a few snowstorms
not to mention the blizzard a couple weeks ago and so far i couldnt be happier both with the job and the installer.

they got here around 7:30 in the morning and were cleaned up, and i do mean CLEANED up and gone by 4:30
tore off the old roof and had to replace most of the plywood

 

[chrisasst]

So lowes came today to look at my roof and hvac situation. The guys seem very smart, and very thorough. They said they will give me a quote in a couple days. This seems like it is going to cost me 10's of thousands instead of just thousands.
The guy also said he would recommend a new hot water boiler in for my heat and use propane for the fuel. I told the guy we were looking to sell the house in a year or so and as they were walking around, pointed out other things that I need to do in order to help a house sale.
The lowes guy suggested several times about the lowes credit card. Which is probably what I will have to do.

I have called a few other contractors for estimates and noone wants to return my call so, not sure about getting other estimates..

 

[heat seeker]

Watch the interest rates on the card! You might be a whole lot better off to get a home equity loan, or a personal loan. Those credit cards will eat you alive! Check out a local credit union, too, they're generally better to do business with.

 

[chrisasst]

Ok so lowes is quoting me $10,700 for the roof ( kinda of what I expected)
and $13,500 for the new furnace

 

[heat seeker]

Must be some fancy furnace, that sounds high to me. I was quoted about $6,000 a few years ago for a top of the line furnace, installed.