Your whole roof project, on one page.
Stage, photos, estimate, contract, invoices, warranty — plus every step explained before it happens. If something isn’t here, we say so rather than pretend.
Every stage, explained before it happens
1 The free inspection — about 20 to 30 minutes, on your roof
What actually happens
A GAF-certified United Developers inspector arrives in a marked vehicle. We ladder up and walk the roof: field shingles, ridge, hips, valleys, step and counter flashing, pipe boots, vents, chimney and skylight details, gutters, fascia and soffit. Where hail or wind damage is found we chalk it, measure it and photograph it. If your attic hatch is clear we look at the deck from underneath too — that is where an active leak shows itself first.
How long it takes
About 20–30 minutes on a typical single-family roof, longer on a large or cut-up one. You never need to go up the ladder, and you don’t have to be outside with us.
What we need from you
- An adult on the property at the start and the finish.
- Driveway or side-yard access so the ladder can be set safely.
- Dogs indoors — ladders and dogs are the two things that end an inspection early.
- Attic hatch clear if you want the deck checked from below (optional).
2 Estimate & options — real numbers on one sheet
What actually happens
We turn the measurements into a line-item estimate: squares of roof, tear-off layers, decking allowance, underlayment, ice-and-water shield, drip edge, starter, the shingle by manufacturer and product name, ridge vent, flashing and boots, permit where the jurisdiction requires one, dumpster and haul-away. One sheet, with every payment route on it — cash/check, financing, or an insurance claim — so you can see all three side by side.
When you get it
Before the inspector leaves your driveway you get a date for your estimate. If that date passes and nothing has arrived, that is on us: call (240) 880-2108 and we will own it. A commitment without a date isn’t a commitment.
What every architectural shingle estimate includes
- Full tear-off to the deck. We do not quote a layover to look cheaper — and if a layover genuinely is the right call for your roof, we say so and explain why.
- Replacement of any rotten or delaminated sheathing we find, priced per sheet and shown to you in a photo before it is covered up.
- Synthetic underlayment across the field, ice-and-water shield in valleys and at the eaves.
- New drip edge, starter course, pipe boots, and ridge ventilation sized for the attic.
- Magnet sweep of drive and lawn, and haul-away of every piece of the old roof.
What it costs
Architectural shingle replacement starts at $600 per square (a square is 100 square feet of roof) installed, and goes up with pitch, layers, access and detail work. A quote materially below that floor is somebody planning to leave something out. If a repair is the honest answer instead of a replacement, we will say so and price that instead.
3 The insurance claim — and exactly where our job stops
What actually happens
If a storm caused the damage, the sequence is: we document the damage and the date of loss → you open the claim with your carrier → the carrier assigns an adjuster and gives you an appointment → we meet that adjuster on your roof and walk the same damage with the same photos → the carrier issues a scope and a payment schedule → if their scope misses something legitimate, we submit a documented supplement with photographs and code references.
What the adjuster meeting is (and isn’t)
It is a site visit, usually under an hour, where an insurance adjuster inspects your roof to decide what the carrier will pay for. It is not an inspection to decide whether you have damage — the adjuster is measuring the carrier’s liability. We attend so the person writing the cheque and the person doing the work looked at the same roof on the same day. You are welcome to stand with us the whole time.
What we need from you
- Your carrier name and policy number, and the claim number once you have it.
- The adjuster’s appointment time as soon as they give it to you — adjusters book tight and we need to be on your roof at that hour.
- A copy of the carrier’s scope/estimate letter when it arrives, so we can check it line by line against what is actually on your roof.
4 Approved & scheduled — how your date gets locked
What actually happens
Scope agreed in writing → contract signed (you sign it from a link, on your phone, and you get the executed copy plus your state’s cancellation notice by email the moment you do) → colour confirmed → material ordered to your address → permit pulled where your county requires it → install date locked and put in writing.
What we need from you
- Shingle colour confirmed. A colour change after the order is placed moves your date.
- HOA approval, if your community requires it. This one is yours to get and it is the single most common delay we cannot fix for you. Start it the day you pick a colour.
- A driveway plan: where the dump trailer sits and where the crew parks.
- Anyone else who has to sign — both names on the deed, if that is your situation.
About weather
Weather moves roofs. It does not move offices. The weather call gets made in the early morning, and you hear it from us by text and by call as soon as it is made — not at 11am after you took the day off and nobody arrived.
5 Install day — hour by hour
Most single-family roofs are one day. Here is what that day looks like, so nothing about it is a surprise. Times shift with size, pitch and weather, and the crew lead will tell you the real schedule at the start.
- 6:30 – 7:00 — Arrival Crew and material arrive. Dump trailer positioned where you agreed. The crew lead introduces himself and walks the plan with you. He is your single point of contact all day.
- 7:00 – 7:30 — Protection goes down first Tarps over shrubs and flower beds, plywood over AC condensers and any low windows, drop cloths on decks and patios. Nothing comes off the roof until this is done.
- 7:30 – 11:00 — Tear-off Section by section, never the whole roof at once. This is the loud part, and you will feel it inside the house. Take pictures and mirrors off walls the night before.
- 11:00 – 12:00 — Deck inspection With the old roof off we can finally see the sheathing. Any rotten or delaminated sheets get replaced. You see a photo of every sheet and the added cost before it is covered up — not as a line item on the final invoice.
- 12:00 – 14:00 — Dry-in Ice-and-water shield in the valleys and along the eaves, synthetic underlayment across the field, new drip edge, starter course. From this point your house is watertight again even if the sky opens.
- 14:00 – 16:00 — Shingles and details Field shingles up the slopes, new pipe boots, step and counter flashing, ridge vent cut and installed, ridge cap last.
- 16:00 – 17:00 — Cleanup Magnet sweep of the driveway, walkways and lawn. Gutters cleared of nails and granules. Every piece of the old roof leaves with the trailer.
- Before the crew leaves — the walkthrough You and the crew lead walk the property together. You sign off that the property was left clean and the work is complete as described. Photos of the finished roof go into your file the same day.
What we need from you on the day
- Cars off the driveway by 6:30am, including anything parked where the trailer goes.
- Pets inside and away from doors that will be opening. Ladders, nail guns and dogs do not mix.
- Patio furniture, grills, planters and kids’ toys moved clear of the walls.
- Pictures, mirrors and anything shelf-mounted taken down on the interior walls under the roof.
- One working exterior outlet available for compressors, and unlocked access to it.
- Attic access if we are replacing a bath-fan boot or investigating a stain from inside.
Do you have to be home?
No — but you or another adult should be there for the 7am start and for the final walkthrough. If you work from home, tell the crew lead in the morning and he will tell you which two hours are loudest so you can move your calls.
6 Warranty & the years after — what you can actually call about
What actually happens
Your GAF limited lifetime material warranty is registered in your name after installation, and the paperwork is issued to you — keep it with your closing documents. Our own workmanship warranty on the installation (flashing, penetrations, valleys, fastening, sealing) runs for the period stated in your contract, two years standard on a full replacement. Metal, TPO and other systems carry their own manufacturer terms, itemized in your contract. Your final invoice and the finished-roof photo set land in your file.
How to make a warranty call
One number: (240) 880-2108, or office@udroofing.com with your name and job address. We open a service ticket the same day and schedule the visit. Because the photo documentation from your original job is in the file, we already know your roof before we arrive.
What the warranty does not cover
- New storm damage — hail, wind, a fallen limb. That is an insurance event, not a defect, and we document it for your claim free of charge.
- Alterations by others: satellite dishes, solar mounts, pressure washing, or repairs by another contractor.
- Structures and materials we did not install.
Insured storm work follows all six stages. A cash replacement skips stage 3 entirely — you go straight from estimate to scheduling, and no insurance company is involved in your roof at all.
What United Developers does not do
Most contractors publish what they promise. This is the other list — the one that tells you what we will refuse to say to you. Hold us to it.
- We do not file your insurance claim for you, and we cannot adjust it. You open the claim; we document the damage and meet your adjuster. Acting as a public adjuster requires a licence we do not hold.
- We cannot waive, rebate, discount or absorb your deductible. It is illegal in Maryland. Anybody who offers to is showing you how they do business.
- We do not guarantee a claim outcome. Not the approval, not the amount, not the timeline. We guarantee the documentation.
- We do not sell roof repairs at all. United Developers does full roof replacements. We diagnose leaks and storm damage and we document them — and when a repair is the honest answer instead of a replacement, we tell you so in writing, free of charge, and we do not take the job.
- We do not run crews around the clock. Calls are answered 24/7 and inspections get booked at any hour. The actual work happens in daylight, in safe weather, by people who slept.
- We do not work in Virginia, DC or Pennsylvania. Maryland only right now, because that is the licence we hold: MHIC #111971. Look it up.
- We do not hold your photo report hostage. It is yours from the moment it exists, whether you hire us or not.
- We do not put your price on a countdown clock. No expiring discount, no “today only”, no sitting at your kitchen table until you sign.
- We do not tell you something arrived when it didn’t. Every form on this page shows you a reference number on success and an honest failure — with the phone number — when it fails.
Do it yourself — no phone call needed
Send it to the office
Filed against your project and answered by a person within one business day. We show you the reference number the moment it lands — and tell you plainly if it didn’t.
Photos: this form sends text only. Photographs of a new problem go to (240) 880-2108 by text or to office@udroofing.com — both land in your job file. We would rather tell you that than show you an upload button that goes nowhere.
Change orders: nothing about your scope or your price changes until you approve it in writing. If we have proposed a change, it appears under Documents to sign above and you approve it with your signature — on your phone, from a link. No approval, no change, no charge.
The United Developers journey
Free inspection
Your roof documented up close, with a full photo report inside 24 hours. What it involves
Estimate & options
Real numbers and every payment route on one sheet. What’s on it
Insurance claim (storm only)
We document the damage and meet your adjuster on the roof. Where our job stops
Approved & scheduled
Scope in writing, material ordered, date locked. What can move it
Installed
Most roofs in a single day. On an approved claim, your deductible is typically your out-of-pocket cost. Hour by hour
Warranty & follow-up
GAF material warranty registered in your name, workmanship warranty per your contract. What you can call about