Need help from roofers or homeowners experienced w/ repairs

[L]

I'm in Chicago and all of my friends own condos, so its hard for me to get a good idea of how much home repairs should cost. I could use some help ballparking what the following repairs to my poorly-built garage should cost. I know this is type of stuff varies widely, but any sort of help is appreciated.

1.Cut out rotted wood in 3 corners and 2 other spots along the wall and then patch it all up
2.Tear back shingles and install ice and water shield, replace shingles
3. 40 ft of seamless gutters and 2 8 ft downspouts + installation
4. New flashing all around.

I'm looking at getting this done by the type of companies that guarantee their work for 10 or so years, not by Joe Handyman down the block.

Thanks!

[fett]

Has anyone that you noticed had roofing done in your hood recently? There's a place to start. You are going where people get ripped off all the time. What you need to do is get up there and inspect the damage yourself and take pictures. Then when you get someone out there to give you an estimate, don't tell him what you know. Let him tell you what you "need". I will guarantee you, you will "need" a lot more than you need. And don't give up on handi-guys. If you can find a good one, you can save a lot of money. Remember, the materials will all last 10 years. The labor is what will kill you if you don't know beforehand what really needs to be done. I owned a house for 25 years and the ripoffs I saw happen to neighbors would stun you into doing it yourself with friends and lots of beer.

[fett]

Here's an example. I lived in a house that had a slab floor. All the pipes were under the slab. My drain for the utilitity sink and kitchen sink broke 15 feet into the slab. All the rest of the plumbing was fine. I saw a neighbor replacing the same pipe. I asked him how much it would cost for him to do it. He said $3,500. Well, I did it myself. 80 feet of ditch; pipes; and vent. It wasn't fun, but the total cost was $400. I just skirted the slab. The point is, you can save a ton of money. The job you are talking about sounds like a couple of weekends and tarp.

[atomic charvel guy]

hire someone else, and go out instead. Weekends are for action, ending with sunday meditation becoming one with the t.v. and couch while you flip frantically through the direct t.v. football package.

[Stinkbug]

I just had my patio cover redone. They replaced the drip edge, some nailers, ~25 feet of 2 x 10 fascia and flashing. They put on a new roof up there. It was the large rolls of stuff (I forgot what its called). They fixed a few loose tiles on the main roof too. It costs ~$1200 to do all that. They didn't paint any thing. Since my friend and I recently built an add-on arbor we had primer and paint sitting around. The company that did it is local and was recommended by a friend who is a contractor. He said he usually charges about 3 times what they do.

It sounds like you might need a bit more work than that, but prices vary drastically and often you get what you pay for. These people were very good even though they were less expensive than others. The whole crew were legal american citizens. That may not be a problem in Chicago, but many companies around here hire illegals from mexico and they have a different standard of quality that I do. Some are good, but some just get the job done no matter what it looks like. I do my best to avoid paying people who support / take advantage of illegal aliens.