Roofings Costs and Choosing a Contractor

At some point, the roof has to get redone. The shingles cracking, and the granules falling off are all signs that the roof is near or past it's life expectancy. You may notice if you have received a few quotes from roofing companies, that the prices differ wildly. How do you know what is a fair price? How do you choose the right contractor?

Measuring the Roof Area

Roofing is estimated by dividing the surface area into squares (10' x10' sections). This is because many roofing material are purchased in squares. Let's use an example to illustrate this point:

Example

You measure the roof surface on one side of the house. It is 40 feet long and 28 feet wide. This is 1,120 square feet (40 x 28 = 1,120). To get the number of square of this side of the roof, divide 1,120 by 100 and 100 square feet equals 1 square. This means that there are 11.2 square on this portion of the roof (1,120/100 = 11.2)

Repeat the above method for all portions of the roof and add the square sections together for the total square sections of the roof.

Materials and Estimated Costs

Depending if you are going over existing shingles are tearing the shingles and underlayment completely off, there will be specific materials needed to complete the roofing project. Shingles, felt underlayment, nails, staples, gutter apron, and D edge, are all materials that one may need to complete the project. You can spend a great deal of time figuring out how much all of this material costs, or you can go by the standard of general roof estimating. Calling a few contractors and asking what the general price per square is will give you a good indication of the average price per square of roofing. Using another example, let's say that the entire roof surface is 25 square and after some inquiry, you find that the average price for a re-roof is $150.00 per square. This means it would roughly cost you $4,200 to have your roof redone.

Deciphering the Project Quotes

Using the general costs you gathered and comparing it to the quotes your received, you will find that some of the companies are above this average and some are below but most of the details are in the agreement of work to be performed. This is a description of the work that the contractor will do. This needs to outline exactly what the contractor will do. Anything that is not on this portion of the estimate, the contractor is not going to do. Also, the terms are important to not. Any contractor that asks for 100% of the payment upfront is probably a scam artist and should be discarded. Normal payment arrangements are 0-20% up front, the rest upon completion.