Two crews can nail on the exact same shingle and hand you two completely different roofs — one that leaks in five years and one that outlives its warranty. Here's exactly what separates a bare-minimum job from how we do it, and from the strictest Malarkey-certified system.
Price range in 60 seconds · firm quote within a week · installed inside two weeks, weather and permits allowing.
When you collect roofing bids, the shingle brand is usually the same. What you can't see on the quote is how it gets installed — and that's where the cheapest bids quietly cut cost. This is the part that decides whether your roof lasts.
| Install step | Typical rooferThe code-minimum bid | Zenith standardValue, done right | Malarkey-certifiedStrictest system |
|---|---|---|---|
| Old roof removal | Roof over the old layer where allowed, to save labor | Full tear-off down to the wood deck, every time | Full tear-off + documented deck inspection |
| Decking / sheathing | Re-cover the existing deck as-is | Replace any rotten or soft sheathing we find | Replace rot + re-secure sheathing to spec |
| Underlayment | Cheapest felt or bargain synthetic | Quality synthetic across the whole deck | Premium Secure Choice® synthetic — a warranty component |
| Ice & water shield | Skipped or code-minimum only | Valleys and every penetration protected | Eaves, valleys, penetrations and wall lines |
| Starter strip | Cut-up field shingles used as starter | Factory starter strip along the eaves | Matched Malarkey starter with rated wind seal |
| Drip edge | Often omitted to save metal | New metal drip edge at eaves and rakes | New drip edge, correct overlap and fastening |
| Flashing | Re-use old flashing, seal it with caulk | New step & pipe flashing where needed | All flashings replaced — no reliance on caulk |
| Nailing | 4 nails, driven fast — overdriven & high nails common | Hand-checked nailing, correct placement | 6-nail pattern to spec for the enhanced wind rating |
| Ventilation | Left as-is, whatever was there | Balanced intake + ridge-vent exhaust | Engineered balanced ventilation system |
| Penetrations / boots | Re-used or caulked over | New boot on every pipe and penetration | Premium long-life boots |
| Hip & ridge | Cut-up field shingles | Manufactured hip & ridge cap | Matched Malarkey hip & ridge (system component) |
| Cleanup | A quick once-over | Full magnetic nail sweep, landscaping tarped | Full sweep + documented property protection |
| Wind performance | Whatever the base rating happens to be | Improved by correct nailing & real starter | Up to 130–140 mph enhanced (system + certified install) |
| Warranty you end up with | Basic material only — no workmanship, prorated | Material + Zenith workmanship warranty | Enhanced Malarkey warranty incl. workmanship |
A roof-over instead of a tear-off hides rotten decking you'll pay for later. Re-used flashing sealed with caulk is a leak on a timer — caulk fails in a few Northwest winters. Overdriven nails cut through the shingle and void wind coverage. None of it shows up on the day the crew leaves; all of it shows up in years three through eight.
Our standard install already does the things a code-minimum bid skips — full tear-off, quality underlayment, ice & water in the valleys, new flashing, real starter and ridge, balanced ventilation, and a workmanship warranty. That's the value tier: not the cheapest bid, but the roof that actually lasts, at a fair price.
Step up to a full Malarkey Secure Choice® system installed to certification standards and you get the strictest install we offer — premium components at every layer, the enhanced wind rating, and a warranty that covers the workmanship itself, not just the shingle. It's the best roof money can buy in our lineup.
Certified-install and enhanced-warranty details reflect Malarkey Roofing Products' published Secure Choice® / certified-contractor program. "Typical roofer" describes common lowest-bid practices, not any specific company.
Left is the deck on this house once the old roof came off — sheathing gone soft, framing exposed. Right is the same deck the next morning, rebuilt and ready to dry in.
Deck condition is the one thing satellite imagery cannot see, and the only exception to our fixed price. You see photos like these on your project page before anything is covered up.
Deck opened up
Rebuilt
Three stages of the same process, photographed on two different jobs — the tear-off and deck rebuild at Port Orchard, the finished field at Driftwood Point. Each frame is captioned with where it was taken.
Zenith projects · Pierce & south King County
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