Articles
Short pages for the moment you are in.
Written to be read in ten minutes, the night you need them. Each one points to the guide that goes deeper and ends at the free bid comparison.
Start where you are
Four moments
Bids in hand. Now what?
Two or three contractor bids that do not line up. How to compare roofing, siding, window and gutter bids on scope before price, and the questions to ask.
Read itAfter a storm. What to do, in order.
The first week after hail or wind, in order: what to photograph, who to let on the roof, how a claim moves, and the questions to ask any roofing contractor.
Read itHelping a parent hire a contractor
Helping a parent with a roof, siding or window project, even from far away: the questions to ask, how to slow the sale down, and the paperwork to collect.
Read itYour first big repair on your own
Your first roof, siding or window project on your own: where to start, the questions to ask, what a contract should say, and how payments should move.
Read itAfter the storm
The week after hail or wind
Four short pages for the first week, plus the free Do I Have Damage? sheet.
5 min read · updated 2026-09-26
What to do first after a hail storm
The first 48 hours after hail: what to photograph, who to call, and why nobody needs to be on your roof today.
Goes deeper in Guide 8: Storm Ready: Hail, Wind and Winter
6 min read · updated 2026-09-26
RCV versus ACV: why the first insurance check is smaller than the estimate
The two checks, depreciation, and the money homeowners leave on the table because nobody explained recoverable depreciation.
Goes deeper in Guide 3: The Insurance Claim Survival Guide
5 min read · updated 2026-09-26
How to read a roofing bid
Why a $3,000 cheaper bid is usually a shorter scope, and the seven lines to compare before you compare price.
Goes deeper in Guide 2: Bids, Estimates and Scopes of Work
4 min read · updated 2026-09-26
Local contractor or storm chaser: how to tell
How out-of-town contractors work after a storm, the five questions that sort them out, and the one that takes ten seconds.
Goes deeper in Guide 1: Before You Hire
Bids in hand? Compare them free.
Send two or three contractor bids. We read each one into the same seventeen lines, mark what it states and what it leaves out, and print the questions to ask. Free for one project.