When a roof crew walks your property for a bid, it looks at the house first. The gutters, valleys, pitch and chimney get measured. The poles at the edge of the lot usually get a glance at most. A street light, a utility pole, a guy wire anchor or a fire hydrant can sit within a few feet of your driveway apron, and each one limits where the crew can stand a dumpster, stack shingle bundles or back a truck. Ask about them before the date is set, not on the morning the truck pulls up.
Town roofing
Poles in the public right-of-way are usually not yours to move. Depending on the street, a pole may belong to the city, to the electric utility, to a telephone or cable company, or to a street light service. Your own records or the city public works office can tell you who owns a given pole. That answer decides who gets called if a truck mirror clips a pole, a dumpster strap rubs a street light base or a pallet tips against a hydrant. A roofer should not lean a ladder, tie off a hoist line or park a trailer against a pole or utility box without a written yes from whoever owns it.
Creve Coeur has a mix of house styles and lot shapes. Some streets have deep front yards with the poles set well back from the curb. Others have narrow side yards where the drive runs close to the pole and the crew has only a few feet of clearance. The lot on your street is what counts. Walk the drive and the curb with a phone, and note every pole, box, meter and hydrant within twenty feet of where the crew would stand.
Overhead wires need their own line on that walk. The service drop that runs from the pole to your house carries power, and a crew working a lift, a hoist or a long ladder near the eave has to keep its equipment clear of it. Ask the roofer how the crew will keep its ladders and hoist away from the service wire, and whether the utility needs to be called before a lift crosses the line. If the answer is vague, the bid is not ready to sign.
The tear-off adds to the problem. Debris and nails fall downhill, and the lower side of the house is often the side nearest the drive. A roofer who wants the dumpster close to the house will want it closer to the street, and that puts it closer to the pole. Ask the roofer to mark the dumpster spot on your sketch, with each pole and hydrant shown, before anyone signs.
Freeze and thaw matter here too. St. Louis winters push the ground up and down, so a pole base, a utility box or a curb edge can settle a little over time. A pallet of bundles set on soft ground near the curb can sink and tilt. Clay soil holds water for days after a heavy rain, and a truck that backs onto a wet shoulder can leave ruts that show for a season. The staging spot should be firm, level and clear of any strip where utility lines run. In late fall, ask whether the crew has a plan for a wet day, because a delivery on saturated ground is a different job than one on dry ground.
Before the work starts, photograph any existing damage to a pole, box, meter or hydrant near the drive. Hail, wind and old wear all leave marks on this hardware, and a dated set of photos keeps the record clear. Keep the photos with your other house records. A roofer should document the same spots in the scope so both sets of pictures show the same starting condition.
What it costs
A pole conflict usually costs nothing if it is caught early and a little money if it is caught on the day. The cheap fixes are a different staging spot, a smaller dumpster, a shorter bundle drop or a sheet of plywood under a pallet. The expensive fixes are a crane pick over the drive, a second truck, a moved meter or a utility visit. A bid that says nothing about poles is not a bid with no pole costs. It is a bid where those costs have not been named yet.
When you compare quotes, look for a line or note that covers staging and access. A bid that includes a dumpster, a magnet sweep and a protection plan for the drive, but says nothing about the staging spot, may still change once the crew reaches the curb. Ask the roofer to write the staging spot into the scope with its distance from the nearest pole, and to say whether any extra handling is priced separately.
If the utility or the city asks for a visit, or wants a pole or box moved, that arrangement is between you and the owner. Roofers do not arrange utility work on your behalf. A good roofer will tell you when the area needs to be clear, what the crew needs from the owner to start, and how many days the work will tie up the drive. Get those dates in writing so the utility and the roofer are not working from two different calendars.
What to ask
- Who owns the street light, utility pole, hydrant and any guy wire within twenty feet of the drive?
- Where will the dumpster sit, and how far is it from each pole and hydrant?
- Where will the bundles be staged, and does that spot hold a pallet on soft or wet ground?
- Will any crew member lean a ladder, hoist line or trailer against a pole or box?
- How will the crew keep its equipment clear of the overhead service wire?
- Does the written scope show the staging spot and any extra handling charge?
- Who do you call if a pole, box or hydrant is touched during the work?
Get the answers in writing, and keep the marked sketch with the bid. A roofer who answers all seven in one reply is showing you a plan. A roofer who says it will be fine is showing you a guess. Either way, you learn something about how the crew will treat the rest of your property.
Keys Roofing works from the Creve Coeur office line at (314) 220-2333. Call before the bid is signed if your drive runs close to a pole, a meter or a hydrant, and bring the sketch with you. Keys documents the existing condition of the work area, puts a written scope with photos and measurements in your hands, and attends the job as the contractor while the rest of the arrangements stay with you and the owners of the street fixtures.