Pay for material separately or not

[Account Closed]

Hi, I currently have an out of state rental property that needs some major roofing work. And I know almost nothing about good roofing materials. I've been trying to read articles and watch videos to familiarize myself but lack practical knowledge for obvious reason. I have a manager who oversees the house. 

From small works I've done before, i.e installing an exhaust fan, I bought the fan online, got it delivered to the house. But the contractor still charged me for ad hoc things he had to buy during the work since I said I am paying for the material separately. He needed drywall panel, paint, caulk, caulk gun, screws and few other things and at the end it ended up being another $100 bill on top of what we agreed on. I just worry for a major work like installing new roof, those ad hoc stuff could accumulate to a much higher number.

But if I let them buy the material, I am not sure if they are gonna buy good materials given this roof needs to last long. I don't want them to charge me for good materials when they end up buying crappy ones. I have no way to verify what they bought since I won't be physically there. I am tempted to fly to that place but then that defeats having a manager and I am basically adding more to my expense. Plus how will I verify.. I don't know much about roofing either.

What would you do in this situation? Let them handle the material or buy separately? I can ask for their work warranty and get warranty info for the material.. but in reality not sure if they are gonna follow through all those protocol. Anything else I need to be aware of? Thanks so much in advance!

[James Wise]

Originally posted by @Matthew Paul:

@Account Closed I am a contractor .  I bid complete jobs , that includes all materials and labor , you get a warranty .I supply the material info . You DO NOT get a copy of what I paid for materials , what I pay for labor or anything else besides a bill . 

Sure you can hire  "chuck with a truck " and you will get what you pay for .  If you cant afford to do it right , how can you afford to do it over ?  Contracting businesses are not cheap . They dont care if you call yourself an investor or not , that doesnt change the price . There is no investor discount until you start spending over $100K a year with a contractor . 

 An actual pro is going to give you the total price of the job which is an all inclusive price for everything, top to bottom. If you ask them what type of roofing material they used I am sure they will tell you, but that's really about the extent of it. Can't go to Walmart and ask them what they paid for the TV. Who is out there giving customers their Home Depot receipts every time they buy supplies? That's absurd. Are they also providing you with gas receipts, employee uniform receipts, insurance receipts etc.? 

C'mon folks. If you deal with schmucks you're going to get burned. Find yourself one of the most well known contractors and go with them. If they've got a sophisticated business you'll get your job done every time. If they are well known they've got something to lose. Someone well known is going to laugh at you when you ask them for their receipts. If you try to Nickle and dime your way to this or that you're going to get screwed because you're only going to end up hiring from the bottom of the barrel.