What You Need to Know About Replacing Your Roof

Hi, I'm Ken Lillejord from Absolute Roof Solutions. I'm the roofing consultant for the residential division as well as commercial. I take care of big houses, little houses, medium houses, and stratas.

I've been in the roofing industry for 44 years. For most of that period of time, I was a roofing material supplier/owner. I owned multiple branches and I went around training roofers how to put on various roofing systems

For most of that period of time, I was a roofing material supplier/owner. I owned multiple branches and I went around training roofers how to put on various roofing systems. We would introduce them to new roofing materials like the Presidential TL, concrete roof tile, real slate, plastic slates, thin shingles, thick shingles.  I was highly involved in training roofers on that aspect. I was also involved in the manufacturing of metal roofing. I had machines where we roll formed the metal roofing. We bent up our own custom break shapes. But a little bit of experience behind me and a lot of knowledge. I've also built houses and renovated houses, done my own roofing, I've helped my friends do roofing. I've got hands-on experience in roofing and kind of know a few things about how to keep the water out here in Vancouver.

The first thing I do for you is, when you've decided you need a re-roof or possibly new construction, I'm gonna ask what your goals are. Do you just want a cheap roof? The first thing I'm going to remind you of is we live in Vancouver. So I want to build you a good roof. And that sounds like a sales line but that's really the truth. Doug Kerr, our owner, has a mission for me. He doesn't want any callbacks ["Callback" - Having to go back to fix something. We want it done right the first time.]. He wants us to build good roofs for the folks. He's been doing this for more than 20 years.

So my job as a roofing consultant in the residential division is to build you a scope of work based on your goals.

Do you want medium-price shingles? Do you want a low price shingle? Do you really want to make a statement to make your house look outstanding?  Again, with $2 million to $5 million real estate values here in the Vancouver area on average, if I make a change of $2,000 to $4,000 in the roofing material choice, I can make your house look a million dollars more. And that's not a line. Here in Vancouver, things move up and down $100,000, $200,000 if you're looking to go sell your real estate. So it is important what we put up on your roof.

Yes, we've got to start with waterproofing. We've got to keep the rain out of your house. You've probably got a $50,000 - $60,000 kitchen in your house. You might have a $12,000 Swarovski crystal fixture. You've got your family, your friends coming over, your $30,000 in other materials. Guess what's protecting it, it's the roof.

So if I'm going to make a little change-up from thin shingles to medium shingles or a little architectural difference, a lot of things remain the same when I'm doing the roof.

I've got to tear off your old roofing materials. We have to set up our safety for WorkSafe BC. Bring in a disposal bin. Tear off or remove the existing materials, possibly add plywood to the deck. Then we put in various types of underlayments and sheet metal flashings, a lot of roofing accessories and lots of vents.

So an average re-roof runs anywhere from the low end of $10,000 to the upper end of $50,000 or lots higher. Some of those will be a little bit lower but the median seems to be in the $20,000 to $30,000 range. I'm sorry to tell you that but that's what roofing materials cost nowadays.

But Doug Kerr has a mission.  He doesn't want callbacks. So I'm going to build a good roof system via a scope of work that I'll create for your house or your strata that will build a good roof system. Others can bid against us if they choose to. But let's build a good scope of work with the right materials in the architectural look that you would like to have happen.

My job is to make sure Doug doesn't have callbacks, but if we do, we fix them and we've got good ratings about that fact.

If you are thinking about replacing your roof, talk to Ken.  He is more than willing to share his vast experience with you.

To make an appointment with him, just fill out our form or give our office a call at (604) 263-0334.

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