Roof Replacement Estimate Calculator
Explore our free roof replacement cost calculator and get ballpark price quotes on your next roofing or re-roofing project. We encourage our users to fiddle with different roofing materials and project requirements in order to better understand how each of these components affects the overall project pricing. Scroll below get a thorough breakdown of how our roof replacement cost calculator works and how it calculates the most accurate pricing in the industry.
Review By Bill G. - Site Editor
Page Sections
- Roof Cost Calculator Intro
- Calculator Basics
- Roof Pitch
- Removal Of Old Roof
- Type Of Project
- Replacement Material
- Size Of Roof
- Where You Live
- Company You Hire
- Time Of Year
- Labor Costs
- Additional Factors
- Roof Replacement Cost Calculator Q And A
Calculator Basics
Enter in your specifics details, including the approximate roof size, replacement materials, general budget requirements etc. We will provide you with an accurate price range. Here is a quick breakdown of each roof cost question.
Roof Pitch
Generally, the steeper the roof, the more expensive the project bid. Flat roofs require no safety equipment, while very steep roofs require additional equipment and safeguards. Also, steep sloped roofs take longer to install and the labor costs associated with them are often higher.
Our roof replacement cost calculator identifies the general roof pitch and estimates how this will affect the overall project cost using a simple multiplier. While flat roofs do not increase project bids, very steep roofs add roughly 20% to the overall project cost. Roof pitches in between these two “extremes” add 10% and 15% respectively.
Removal Of Old Roof
If your old roofing material needs to be removed before the new material can be applied, roof removal cost will add on average $2 per square foot to the project price. Play around with adding or subtracting this step to see how it affects the price (shingles can sometimes be applied over the old shingles without having to remove them).
Type Of Project
Select from one of the following: new construction, replacement roof or repair job. This helps the contractor to bid out the project and to anitcipate what type of estimate they will provide to a homeowner.
Replacement Material
The specific roofing material is one of the biggest cost factors of any new roof or reroofing project. Of course, this shouldn't come as any great surprise given the fact that it will be the main material on the roof. There are loads of options when it comes to roofing materials.
The most popular options include the following: tar torch down, composite shingles, read cedar shake, asphalt shingle roofs, tile, rubber or epdm, aluminum roofs, and natural slate. Even within these categories, there can be tremendous price fluctuations. For instance, tile can be synthetic and relatively cheap to buy or it can be custom, intricate, and quite pricey. Certainly, this is one area where our roof replacement cost calculator can't tackle ever variation within the roofing industry.
Select from one of the following: asphalt or composite shingles, cedar shakes, metal, natural slate, tar torch down or clay tiles. Each of these materials has a basic price range associated with it and will obviously be one of the most important factors in determining the cost of the bid.
Related Topic: Best Roofing Materials
Size Of Roof
Select the size of the project from 1000 sq ft to 8000 sq ft. Typically, projects will be bid out by the square - 1 square is equal to 100 square feet. Contractors will usually add 10% to the area to be reroofed to account for wasted materials, cuts etc. so a 1800 sq ft project would require 20 squares of materials.
Where You Live
Our second to last questions asks where you live. This is an important consideration as where you live affects the overall price you will pay for your roofing project. Generally speaking, the more rural the location the less the project cost. Conversely, if you live in a large city, the cost of living is almost certainly higher than in the suburbs. While this isn't always true, it does hold for 95% of the roofing project costs - and this is why we've included it in our roof replacement cost calculator.
Here are your choices: Rural Location, Small Town, Large Town, Small City, and Large City. Our pricing estimator adds a slight multiplier to the project cost for small town, then a bit more for large town, more for small city, and, finally, a bit more for a large city.
Company You Hire
Obviously, the company you hire will affect the overal project cost. Very basically, there are three company options that our roof replacement cost calculator offers that reflect your options in the marketplace. These include an independent roof installer, a roofing company, and a general contractor. (These were listed from least expensive to most expensive, fyi.)
Most times, you hire a roofing company that specializes in new roofs or reroofing. Obviously, within this category you have some pretty significant differences to how they price out their projects. The most significant factors include how large the company, their reputation, their marketing budget, and the overall cost of the area in which you live.
Select from one of the following; low end, mid range or high end. This reflects the expertise and type of roofer that you hire. High end contractors will usually charge a premium price, while a local independent roofer will usually be much less expensive.
Time Of Year
Summertime is the busiest time of the year for all roofing companies. Conversely, wintertime is the least busy time for roofing. Spring and fall lay somewhere in between. So, repairs and replacement costs are highest in the summer and lowest in the winter. Seasonal variations and their related price points might seem obvious, but let me quickly explain. Roofing projects take, on average, three weeks to complete. Meaning that inclement weather can be a significant drawback to how smoothly a project goes.
Fewer homeowners want the hassle of reroofing during the cold winter months. Our roof replacement cost calculator thereby adds 15% for any job scheduled in the summer and subtracts 15% from any project scheduled in the winter. Jobs during the Spring and Fall do not affect the price point.
Roof Replacement Cost Calculator: Addl Factors
Additional considerations to be aware of - while the following are not part of our roof replacement cost calculator, they may still factor into your price quotes.
Labor Costs
Typically, the labor portion of a new roof or reroofing job accounts for 55% to 65% of the project. So, as an example, if your roof project runs $20,000, about $10.5K to $13K is the cost of labor. Whether it falls in the 55% or the 65% range will depend on a number of factors. These include the complexity of the job, the pitch of the roof, the time of year, and size of the company, etc. Basically, your labor costs are tied into many of the questions that we are asking in order to price out your reroofing project.
As a rule of thumb, experienced roofers make $125 to $150 per hour, while roofing laborers make $30 to $40 an hour. The actual rate they charge will depend on seasonal demand, your location, the company you work for, etc.
Roof Replacement Cost Calculator Q And A
Below, you'll find consumer questions and our editor's answers to questions regarding our roofing cost calculator.
Related Topics: Slate Roof Calculator
* Spanish Tile Roof