subject: The "Allowance" Trap: Why Open-Ended Contracts are Dangerous [print this page]
You’re reading a quote and you see a line that says: "Wood replacement allowance: $500. Additional wood billed at time and materials." It looks innocent. It sounds fair. DISCOUNTED ROOFING LLC is here to tell you: this is the oldest trick in the book. It is a blank check you are signing over to the contractor. We challenge this practice and believe homeowners deserve fixed pricing, not open-ended liability.
The "Allowance" Trap works like this: The contractor gives you a low bid to win the job. They know the roof deck is likely in bad shape, but they hide that cost in the fine print. Once the old roof is torn off and your house is exposed, they "discover" extensive rot. Suddenly, that $500 allowance is gone in ten minutes. Now you are paying $85 per sheet of plywood plus labor, and you have no leverage because your roof is open. Your $10,000 project just became a $15,000 project.
The Best Roofing Companies Philadelphia residents trust do not play this game. We inspect the attic before providing a quote. We look for water stains on the underside of the deck to estimate potential rot. If we suspect bad wood, we include a realistic quantity in the base bid. More importantly, we provide a fixed "unit price" for wood replacement in the contract. For example: "If additional wood is needed, it will be replaced at $X per sheet, inclusive of labor and material." You know the worst-case scenario price before we start.
Another variation is the "Flashings to be inspected and reused if possible" clause. This is lazy quoting. Flashings (the metal around chimneys and walls) are the most critical part of the roof. They should almost always be replaced. Leaving it as a "maybe" allows the contractor to reuse old, rusty metal to save time, or charge you extra to do the job right.
We believe a quote should be a commitment, not a guess. We take the risk of estimation, not you. Don't sign a contract with a question mark at the bottom.
Get a clear, detailed estimate from DISCOUNTED ROOFING LLC. https://www.discountedroofingllc.com/
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