Most roofing advice online is written to sell you a roof. This is written to help you avoid buying one you don't need — including from us.
Arizona has a public contractor database and almost nobody uses it. Before a single bid matters, go to roc.az.gov, search the licence number, and confirm three things: the licence is Active, the classification covers roofing, and the complaint history is clean.
An unlicensed contractor is not just a quality risk. If the work fails, you have no recourse through the Registrar, your homeowner's policy may decline the claim, and unpermitted work can surface at closing when you sell.
For the record, ours is ROC #366348, held by Sun & Shield Construction and Roofing. Check it. We would rather you did.
This is where most Phoenix homeowners overpay, and it comes down to one fact about desert roofing:
Tile lasts twice as long as the layer underneath it. Concrete and clay tile run 40 to 50 years. The underlayment beneath — the membrane doing the actual waterproofing — lasts about 20 to 25 years in Arizona heat.
So a twenty-year-old tile roof that looks perfect from the street usually needs its underlayment replaced and the same tile re-laid on top. That is a lift-and-relay, and it costs a fraction of a full replacement. A contractor who quotes you a complete new roof on sound tile without mentioning it is either not paying attention or counting on you not knowing.
Three bids on the same roof can differ by thousands and all be honest. Usually they are quoting different work. Line them up on these rows before you look at the totals.
| Compare on | What you are looking for |
|---|---|
| Scope | Lift-and-relay, full replacement, or sectional repair — these are three different jobs |
| Underlayment | Product name and weight. Synthetic vs felt, and the manufacturer's rated life |
| Tear-off | How many layers come off, and whether disposal is included |
| Decking | The agreed price per sheet if rot is found, written down before work starts |
| Flashing | New flashing at valleys, headwalls and penetrations, or reusing the old |
| Warranty | Years on labour, years on material, and who you call if something fails |
| Payment | Deposit amount and what milestones release each payment |
Go to roc.az.gov and use the contractor search. Enter the licence number they gave you, or the business name. You are looking for three things: that the licence is Active, that the classification actually covers roofing (CR-42 or a general class that includes it), and the complaint history. It takes two minutes and it is the single highest-value check you can run. If a contractor is reluctant to give you a number, that is the answer.
A real bid names the specific materials — underlayment type and weight, tile or shingle manufacturer and product line, fastener spec — along with the scope of tear-off, what happens if damaged decking is found, the warranty terms for both labour and material, and a payment schedule. A one-page number with no breakdown is not a bid, it is a guess, and it gives you nothing to compare against the next contractor.
Usually because they are not the same job. One may be a lift-and-relay reusing your tile, another a full replacement with new tile, a third a repair to one section. Underlayment grade alone can swing thousands. Before comparing prices, line the scopes up side by side — if two bids differ by 40%, nine times out of ten one of them includes work the other left out.
Be careful here. Arizona law limits what a residential contractor can collect up front on most jobs, and a contractor asking for a large percentage before any material is on site is a pattern worth questioning. A reasonable structure is a modest deposit, progress payments tied to actual milestones, and a final payment when the work passes inspection. Never pay the balance before the job is finished.
Wide ranges, because the variables are real. A tile lift-and-relay commonly runs about $5,000 to $12,000 and up; a full tile replacement is substantially more; an asphalt shingle re-roof on an average home typically lands somewhere between those. What actually drives the number is roof size, pitch, how many layers come off, and how much decking is rotten underneath — which nobody knows until the tile comes up. Treat any firm price given without an inspection as a sales tactic.
In Arizona the honest answer is often no. Concrete and clay tile last 40 to 50 years; the underlayment beneath lasts 20 to 25. An enormous share of Valley homes need the underlayment replaced and the same tile put back — a fraction of the cost of a new roof. If a contractor quotes full replacement on a tile roof without discussing lift-and-relay as an option, get another opinion.
Send it over. We will tell you whether it is fair, whether the scope makes sense, and whether you need the work at all — even if the answer means we don't get the job.
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