Every page on this site

Everything published on The Takeoff, newest first. This site covers St. Louis and the greater St. Louis area, and every page on it is written to be useful on its own rather than to lead somewhere. Keys Roofing is the contractor behind it and the phone number on every page reaches the Keys office directly.

A homeowner reading any one of these is usually part way through a decision and short of one specific fact. The list below says what each page answers, so you can go to the one you need instead of reading the site.

• A Card Fee Can Turn Your Roof Quote Into a Different Number Before you pick a payment method, check whether the roof price assumes check or cash, and whether a card fee gets added on top.
• A Minimum Charge Can Make a Small Roof Cost More A minimum job charge sets a floor under a small roof price, and you can ask each roofer what that floor pays for before you compare totals.
• A Roof Price Range Needs a Scope at Each End A roof estimate given as a range hides what moves it, so ask what puts the bid at the low end and at the high end.
• Check the square count before you look at the price Roofing is priced in squares of roof surface, not the floor area of your house. What a square is, where waste really comes from, and how to check the square count on the quote in your hand.
• Two identical roofs, two different numbers, and the reason is your driveway Where the dumpster goes, how far bundles are carried, what the tip charges by the ton, and whether the people on your roof are employees or a subcontracted crew. The variables that never show up in a price.
• Allowance Lines in a Roof Quote: A Number That Is Not Yet a Price An allowance line in a roofing quote is a guess written as a price. Here is how to see what it covers and what it can cost you later.
• Ask for the Roof Price Without the Bundle Does adding gutters actually save money? Compare the roof-only price, the added work and the discount before approving a roofing package.
• Ask What a Roof Discount Is Taken Off Before You Count It A discount on a roof quote is a subtraction, so find the number it comes off and the conditions attached to it before you count the saving.
• Buying Your Own Shingles Changes the Roofing Bill Will buying shingles yourself lower the installed price? Find out which costs and responsibilities must move with the purchase.
• Class 4 costs more. Get it named in writing before you decide. Impact resistant Class 4 material costs more and may earn a premium credit from some carriers. That is a question for your own insurance company, and here is how to get the product named so you can ask it.
• Drywall Patch and Paint Belong in Your Roof Bid, Not the Final Bill A roof crew can open a ceiling, so ask who patches the drywall, paints it, and what each piece costs before the tear-off starts.
• Fuel, Delivery and Trip Charges Can Sit Outside the Roof Price Ask whether fuel, delivery and trip charges sit inside the roof total or come after the signature, and get the answer in writing.
• Ice and Water Shield Is a Line Item, Not a Free Extra What the eave membrane line should state, how to ask for its length and location, and why it belongs in the price you compare.
• Is Your Roof Estimate Visit Credited to the Job? Some roofers charge for the bid visit and some do not, so ask whether any fee comes off the price before the ladder goes up.
• Is Your Roof Quote a Fixed Price, a Unit Price, or Time and Materials? A roof quote can be fixed, per-unit, or billed by time and materials, and each structure moves the risk of surprises to a different place.
• How many layers are on your roof, and who actually counted them One layer or two changes the labour, the tonnage and the tip charge. How the layer count is read at the rake edge in five minutes, and why a guessed count grows on the first morning.
• Log Each Dollar That Moves From Estimate to Final Bill Keep a dated record of every estimate, change order and invoice so a roof bill that grew can be traced to a line, a unit and a stated reason.
• Compare assemblies, not brochures Three tab against architectural, impact resistant material, and the underlayment and ice barrier underneath. The list of assembly items to demand in writing so two quotes are actually comparable.
• Overlay or Tear-Off: Ask What Each Quote Leaves Out An overlay can look like the cheaper roof, but its price depends on the layers under it, the condition of the deck, and what the permit desk allows.
• Count the chimneys, valleys and vents before you compare prices Every hole in a roof has to be made watertight by hand. Why the penetration count drives the labour and the next leak, and why a count on your estimate beats the phrase all necessary flashing.
• If your quote came off a screen, your pitch was guessed Exact slope multipliers from 3:12 to 12:12, where the walkable threshold sits at roughly 7:12, and why an aerial quote gets your pitch wrong. Get the slope measured on the roof instead.
• Read the roofing quote in your hand in ninety seconds The lines a real roofing estimate contains, in the order they should appear, the four usually missing, and the phrases that mean a quantity has not been decided yet. Check yours in ninety seconds.
• Ridge Vent Is Its Own Line in a St. Louis Roof Quote A ridge vent is usually priced by the foot, and a quote that omits the footage hides the cost. Here is what to check.
• Rotten Fascia Found Mid-Tear-Off: Get the Unit Price in Writing First Rotten fascia and rim board found after tear-off is a price question, so get the per-foot rate in writing before the crew starts.
• Get the decking rate in writing, or pay for it on the day Decking is the most common reason a roofing number moves after work starts. What soft sheathing looks like, why the per sheet rate must be agreed in writing first, and the county rule at a quarter of the deck.
• Missouri stops issuing this credit on 15 October 2026 RSMo 135.445 gives a Missouri tax credit equal to a homestead insurance deductible incurred in calendar 2025, capped at 5,000 dollars and transferable, with no new credits authorised after 15 October 2026.
• The Monthly Roof Payment Is Not the Price Here is how to compare a financed roofing estimate with a cash estimate without letting the monthly payment hide the total cost.
• The Repair Is Small. The Trip to Your Roof Is Not. Here is what a roofing minimum covers and how to decide whether a small St. Louis repair estimate is reasonable.
• The Roof Repair Price May Stop Above Your Ceiling Find out whether your roofing estimate includes interior repairs, and how to budget for the ceiling work before you accept the price.
• Tie Each Roofing Payment to a Finished Step, Not a Calendar Date A roofing payment schedule should follow steps you can see on the roof. Here is how to name those steps before you sign.
• What Waiting Adds to a St. Louis Roof Bill, Season by Season A roof that waits a season rarely costs the same to fix. Here is what grows while you decide, and what to ask a roofer to price now.
• Where the Overhead Hides in a Roof Bid Overhead and profit often sit inside your unit prices, so ask for them as separate lines before you compare two St. Louis roof bids.
• The average you just read was not a roof like yours Published averages for a St. Louis roof replacement differ by a factor of four. How that happens, what an online calculator is really measuring, and the seven inputs to have measured on your own roof instead.
• Your Roof Quote Should Say What Happens to the Gutters Find out whether your gutters can stay, must be reset, or should be replaced before you compare roof estimates.

Nothing on this site is advice about an insurance claim. Under RSMo 407.725 a roofing contractor in Missouri may not represent or negotiate a homeowner's claim, and may not offer anything about a deductible. What Keys does is document the damage, put a written scope with photographs and measurements in your hands, and attend as the contractor. You deal with your own insurer.