If you are arranging a new roof and exterior painting for your Ladue house, settle the order before either crew receives a start date. The useful question is which parts of the house both crews will touch. A painter working on dormer siding may need access across the roof. A roofer replacing flashing may need access behind that same siding. Booking those jobs separately can leave you paying to finish a surface twice.
Start with photographs of the dormers, chimney, porch roof and any wall that rises above a lower roof. Give both contractors the same photographs. Ask each to mark where their work will disturb the other trade's finished work. That small exercise gives you a schedule based on your house rather than a general instruction to do everything from the top down.
Town roofing
A Ladue house with a simple roof and painted walls below the eaves presents a different scheduling problem from a house with several dormers and a second-story wall above a porch. The municipal address does not tell either contractor how those surfaces connect. Walk around your own house and identify the painted surfaces that someone can reach only by working above a roof.
Those are the places to discuss first. Include wood trim beside the shingles, siding at the bottom of a dormer, chimney trim and the underside of a projecting eave. You do not need to climb up to make the list. Photographs from the yard can identify the areas that need closer inspection by the contractors.
Separate preparation from finish painting
Exterior painting is several operations, and they do not all need the same place on the calendar. Washing, scraping, carpentry, priming and finish painting can create different access needs. Ask the painter to describe those stages separately. Ask the roofer which stages would interfere with tear-off, flashing replacement or installation of the new roof.
For example, scraping peeling dormer paint before roofing may keep some preparation debris off the finished shingles. But applying the final coat before the roofer removes adjacent trim could mean repainting the disturbed area. The workable sequence might be preparation first, roofing second and final painting afterward. It depends on the actual repairs and whether each contractor can leave the house protected between visits.
Do not treat an old roof as permission to let paint chips or wash water go wherever they fall. The painter still needs a containment and cleanup plan. Likewise, a newly installed roof needs a specific access and protection plan before another trade places equipment on it.
Resolve the wall connection before finishing the wall
At a dormer or another roof-to-wall intersection, ask whether the roofer expects to remove or loosen siding or trim to complete the flashing work. Get that answer before the painter prices the final preparation. A freshly painted board may still have to come off if it blocks the roofing work.
The important scheduling fact is that the wall cannot be considered finished while access behind it remains unresolved. Have the roofer identify the access needed, then have the carpenter or painter identify who removes, reinstalls and finishes the affected material. Do not assume that the person removing a board has also included its replacement and painting.
If damaged wood becomes visible during that work, someone needs authority to price the repair and someone needs responsibility for keeping the opening protected. Agree on that process before starting. A photograph and a written additional price are more useful than a message saying the crew found something and needs an immediate answer.
What it costs
The extra cost of coordinating painting and roofing usually comes from repeated work and additional visits. A painter may need to return after flashing is installed. A carpenter may need to replace trim before either trade can finish. Access equipment may remain on site longer if one job is delayed. Those costs depend on the house and the arrangement between contractors, so a single allowance for coordination tells you little.
Ask for the affected work to be priced in identifiable pieces. Removing and reinstalling dormer trim is one task. Replacing damaged trim is another. Preparing and repainting it is a third. Each should have an assigned contractor, even if one contractor performs all three. This lets you see whether a lower proposal omitted work that another proposal included.
Also distinguish planned finish painting from touch-up caused by damage. If the painter is already returning to finish the dormers, establish what that visit includes. If roofing work damages an unrelated painted surface, establish how that will be recorded and addressed. Neither arrangement should depend on everyone remembering a conversation several weeks later.
For a house with several roof levels, ask whether completing all the painting in one visit requires placing ladders or access equipment on newly installed roofing. Then ask what it costs to split the work into stages. The cheaper painting schedule may create additional roofing protection or inspection work. Compare the combined cost before choosing dates.
Give weather delays a place in the schedule
In the greater St. Louis area, a planned spring workweek can include rain, and a late-season schedule can run into cold conditions. Roofing and painting may have different weather limits. A day suitable for one operation does not automatically suit the other. Each contractor should follow the requirements for the materials being installed or applied.
Leave room between the jobs instead of assuming the painter can arrive the morning after the roof is scheduled to finish. Ask what happens if roofing slips by several days, or if the painted surfaces are not ready when the roofing crew becomes available. Put the rescheduling arrangement in writing, including any charge for another visit or extended equipment rental.
What to ask
Bring both proposals to the same conversation. You need agreement at the points where the work overlaps, even if the contractors keep separate contracts and separate schedules. These questions make those points visible:
- Which painted surfaces will the roofing work disturb?
- Does any siding or trim need to come off for access?
- Who replaces and finishes material removed during that work?
- Which painting preparation should happen before roofing begins?
- How will the painter reach the dormers after the new roof is installed?
- Who supplies protection for the finished roof, and who removes it?
- What happens to the schedule and price if weather delays either job?
Ask the roofer to photograph the completed roof areas that the painter will later use for access. Ask the painter to flag any damage or loose material noticed before work begins. This creates a record of the handoff and gives both contractors a chance to address a problem while it is visible.
Before final painting starts, confirm that the roofing work at those walls is complete and that no further trim removal is expected. Before painting equipment leaves, arrange a check of the roof areas used for access. Agree in advance on who performs that check and how any damage will be reported.
To discuss roofing at your Ladue home, call Keys Roofing at (314) 220-2333. Mention that exterior painting is also planned, and have photographs of the dormers and roof-to-wall connections ready. If you already have a painting proposal, point out the surfaces it includes and any dates you have committed to.