It is a common belief that a roof replacement is one of the most expensive things you can buy for a house. But how much does a new roof actually cost?
Location
The cost of fitting a new roof depends on your location. If you live in West Texas where the cost of living is relatively low, then the average entry-level roof will cost between $3.00 and $4.00 per square foot. In parts of California and Hawaii, prices can be much higher, from $4.75 to $6 per square foot. Although this might sound expensive, especially if you have a 3,000 square foot roof, it is important to remember that these prices include the removal and disposal of the old roofing materials.
Roof Area
Roofing contractors charge per unit area. That means that the larger your roof, the more you’ll pay.
A typical home might have a roofed area of around 2,000 square feet. Remember that your home square footage will certainly be less because it may not include non-living spaces that are roofed like your garage, and also because the inclined surface (pitch) of your roof has more surface area than the flat surface of your home interior.
In the roofing industry, this square footage is broken up into “squares.” Squares are 10-foot by 10-foot areas of roofing (100 square feet). So, for instance, if you were having a new roof installed in Southern California, you might expect to pay $500 per square or $10,000 for the entire roof replacement.
Roofing Materials
The roof replacement cost also depends heavily on the materials used. Different materials command different price points. The most cost-effective roofs are those made from asphalt shingle. A typical new roof may cost as little as $6,700 using this material. At the high–end, such as natural slate, prices can rise to over $29,000 for that same house.
Roofing contractors also vary their prices depending on the material you already have on your roof. Contractors may charge anywhere from $900 to $2,000 to remove an average-sized old asphalt roof, depending on your location.
Pitch Or Slope
Another factor that can influence the price of a roof replacement is the pitch. Steeper pitched roofs usually result in a higher roof replacement estimate. Such roofs may have a larger surface area. But this isn’t the only reason you may find yourself paying more. The other concerns are time and safety. A roof with a pitch greater than 6:12 (more than 6 inches of vertical ascent for every foot of horizontal length), becomes difficult to work on. A 12:12 pitch roof cannot be walked on without the help of a harness and cable. As a result, roofing contractors may need to supply additional safety equipment like scaffolding to allow them to work effectively. This slows down the work and means that the roof estimate will rise significantly.
The Lifetime Of A Roof
A final consideration is the expected lifetime of the roof. Shingles at the lower end, like 3-tab shingles, are usually designed to last anywhere between 15 and 25 years, depending on the climate where they are installed. Typically, you’ll pay anywhere between $300 to $450 per square for this kind of roof, with approximately 40 percent of the total price going towards materials.
The next level up is entry-level architectural shingles. You’ll likely pay the same price or only up to $20 more per square for these compared to 3-tab shingles. Because of this negligible cost difference, many roofing contractors won’t even offer 3-tab shingles since they do not stand up to winds nearly as well as their architectural counterpart. Some contractors only use them for repairs on existing 3-tab roofs.
Metal roofs can set you back between $500 to $1,000 per square, depending on installation type: exposed fastener panels, hidden fastener panels or metal shingles; but metal roofing, along with slate and tile, can last over 50 years.
