Roofing costs ridiculous?

[andyvh1959]

My sister told me yesterday they had to reroof their house. Its a full hip with a small hip over the front door, all 4/12 pitch on a 1200 sq ft Ranch style rectangle built in 1961, no bump outs, no dormers. The original roof structure was all good so it didn't need any new sheeting. And it was not the original roof on the house. My estimate to do a roof like that with 30 year shingles would be about $1300 to $1500 in materials for 14 to 15 square. I could easily do that roof myself, as I just did my shop garage, 24x28 5/12 pitch, full hip. To buy the materials through a roofing contractor doing the work on the house I'd estimate at most $2500 for the materials, the rest is labor, haul out old roofing, clean up, etc.

I was in disbelief when my sister said they paid $12,000 for the roof, done by one of the premier, long in business roofing contractors in the Appleton WI area. If she had said $5000 to maybe $7000 I'd still feel it was too much. Is $12K for a simple ranch home full hip, no valleys, easy pitch, one-story, solid roof structure, WAY too damn much?

But then, knowing my brother in law, he'd only select the BEST (highest cost) option. Same guy that had a 12hp John Deere snowblower for his 50' single car width driveway leading to two car at the detached garage. He also has a 20hp riding lawn tractor for his 60x80 yard.

 

[HPRifleman]

We have a brick ranch, about 3200 sq. ft., 6/12 pitch. Pretty basic roof lines as it was built in the 1950's,

Last summer we got two estimates to replace the roof: $19,200 and $23,892.

 

[jack stand]

Ouch!

 

[Mr_fixit]

I did a 24 x26 garage late summer 2021 for 1500 in materials.

 

[andyvh1959]

WOW! Gotta break that down to understand the quote. A house like yours is easily done in one day with a crew of four guys. Avg cost per square is $285, about 36 square for a roof like yours. Figure the material cost is say $10,000. Four guys making $18/hour, ten hour job, means $720, but its much more than that. If the roofing company has benefits etc for the workers, lets say the fully loaded cost per hour is $100 per man hour (pay, insurance, benefits, etc), those four guys on a ten hour job equals $4000. So we're at $14,000 total for materials and four guys labor. Let's assume a 30% profit margin for the job, that adds $4200, now up to $18,200. A 50% profit margin means it totals $21,000 and its in the range of your quote. I'm sure I'm missing many important things: cost of trucks, equipment, insurance which reduce the profit margin.

My sister paid $12,000 for a much smaller roofing job. About 14 square at $265 per square equals $3,710 in materials, let's say $3,850 for additional ice dam sheeting to meet code. Four guys, eight hour job, at $100 fully loaded cost per hour means $3,200 for labor. Total now for materials and labor is $7,050 (which is very close to the average roof cost advertised on TV by a local roofer). So again figure a 30% profit margin on the job and it totals $9,165. Far less than the $12,000 my sister paid. Even at 50% profit margin the total is $10,575. Much closer to her quote, but still $1425 lower than her quote at 50% profit margin. Every business must make money to survive and grow, and any business is entitled to make profit on whatever price a fair market will sustain.

I guess, looking at it this way, when I get a quote for the simple roof on my 3,000 sq ft contemporary home, I'll look into all of this to determine if I do the job myself, or hire it out. It also would give me ammo to deal. Such as countering the quote by saying "based on what I estimate for the job, and your quote, this is what I'd consider paying for the job." If the contractor say yes, great. If not, I can shop around knowing the price is closer to my range. When I had three windows replaced in my house, I wish I had taken a similar approach. The sales guy's first quote was WAY higher than I thought reasonable. He came down $4000 to the price I bought them. Wish I had countered to say, "this is my price I'm will to pay" which would have been another $3000 lower. I spent way too much for those three windows.

 

[topcok88]

Had my roof replaced on my 1,500 sq ft ranch on 3/12/21. Developed a small leak in a transition and I didn’t like the idea of a mis-matched roof not to mention the builder grade shingles. So I had them replaced with CertainTeed Landmark, cut in a ridge vent for ShadowRidge, new drip edge, pipe boots, etcetera… 50 year on the shingles (full replacement by manufacture if you are a veteran) and 50 year on craftsmanship was $9,804.18. They started stripping the roof at 7am and done by 1pm. I think she did fine considering she didn’t have to DIY it.

 

[FredWanaker]

that quote you got is probably a little low based on current materials. Of course you can buy the cheapest shingles you can find and just tack them over the old ones. Here a permit is required and that adds on a required 1/2" OSB, or Plywood being put down if the original roof is less that 1/2" plywood or OSB, which most here are 7/16 or strips of lumber planks with gaps between when they were built as that was code back then. I paid $13,180 10/9/2019 before this materials shortage for a 1400 sq ft house and 2 car garage. My neighbor behind me in about the same size home paid $15,000 thru a Lowe's contractor but that included a couple skylight replacements. I had several other quotes which were $5,000 to $7,000 higher - and they were known to be competitive companies that didn't gouge. Just the bill for the materials was $6,505 which included the OSB, GAF roofing materials, and crane to lift them on the roof. I insisted on paying that directly to avoid lien risk if something bad happened. It took 1 & 1/2 days, included a crew of about 6 guys, some fascia, and the rain gutters in back were replaced too. The labor I figure for 6 guys bills out to about $450 an hour. They put in a total of about 12 hours work. I figure the contractor made about $1500 for his supervision and risk. If he has 2 crews a day out, and can do 4 roofs a week he makes $6000 a week X 40 months a year due to winter rains etc. That is $200,000 - 240,000 profit a year minus his own expenses. If it is 70F they work, if it is 115F they work. seems about right to me since he has to pay his own health insurance, and retirement from those profits.

 

[Showkey]

Andy, the premium roof and remodeling company in Wausau quoted $33k for my roof. Two years ago.
105 square, complex roof home and shop.
8 roofers were called, all said they would “stop by“ and bid ……..4 actually showed up and it took 2 weeks to get the bids.
All the companies pretty much had the same standard stuff with the exception of edging replacement.
The high was $33k low was $18k.

Ended up with complete tear off, all new edging, extra ice water shield, 50 years shingle, life time labor warranty etc. $22k all in

I would guess today the price could be 25% higher and longer wait ?

 

[unslow1]

My sister just did hers a couple of months ago for $13000 and mine was $6800 4 years ago. Similar size and height. Everything is sky high right now.

 

[getawheel]

Can confirm, roofing, as all else has increased, Shingles nearly doubled here; metal is a comparative bargain.
Fuel double. Go Figure.

 

[jd_1138]

Can confirm, roofing, as all else has increased, Shingles nearly doubled here; metal is a comparative bargain.
Fuel double. Go Figure.

Yep, my neighbor had metal done on his roof last summer. Looks great and should last longer than shingles. Crew was there for one day and it was done. Probably about a 1,500 square foot home. It looks like a nice system -- goes atop existing roof (shingles and all), has breathing room. I think he said it was about $5,000 or so.

My mom's house in California near the coast cost $30k for a new roof for like a 2,000 square foot house. That area is pricey and has few contractors. She only paid $150k for the house as a foreclosure, then put in $70k in remodel plus roof, and she sold it for $600k.

 

[johnharris]

I finished the roof last December on the new 28 x 28 garage. It's a gable roof with a 7/12 pitch. The 30 year architectural shingles, synthetic underlayment, drip edge, ridge vent and 30lb bucket of galvanized nails only cost me $1,500. The local HW store I purchased from doesn't increase prices until they have to restock their items. Also got a 30% discount on the shingles.

Doing that solo and hammering the nails it took ~7 days.

 

[slowtwitch73]

That sounds high.. got ours done last summer for same and it's a much bigger job. Think we got lucky.. bet it would be a fair bit more now.

 

[getawheel]

This isn't last summer either. You either need a roof or not....

 

[Donzi camino]

Going rate by me was $300 a square for remove, replace and materials. Then Hurrican Ida blew thru and It's $350 now!

 

[andyvh1959]

All interesting to know. I have myself done a 28x48 garage with a front hip, and now my 24x28 garage with a front and rear hip (two different pitches). My house is near 3,000 sq ft, three roof sections, two shed ends with a center gable contemporary house, no hips or valleys, all straight lines, built in 1973. When I bought it in fall 2002 I had a new roof put on (30 year shingles) as part of a construction loan I added to the house purchase which I blended into the mortgage. So if I sell it in within five years the roof will be 25 years old. I'm 64 now and still able to do a lot of heavy manual work, so I may put a new roof on myself even if I rent a man-lift to do the high work. I can't see spending $20K for a roof on this house, or I sell it as is with a price break for the next owner to do the roof.

 

[andyvh1959]

Got that. One thing for sure, doing most of my own work for whatever i need done, or at least having good basic knowledge of how its done, gives me the option to do it myself or to better understand the costs of paying to have it done. However, it seems every time I hire it done I find more than a few things that tick me off or make me feel "this is what I paid for?"

I make decent money, have very little credit card debt, am set for retirement with steady monies to maintain my current lifestyle, and I can do most of what I need done myself. I cannot imagine how a family of four exists when neither parent in the house does nothing in the house, garage or yard, and not make comparable money. My wife works with a gal whose husband does nothing, nothing like not even the yard work, nothing like family finances, no vehicle maintenance, no house repairs, they hire everything to be done. My wife suspects he does not even shovel/clear the snow on the driveway (leaves that to his wife too). Once his kids are grown I suspect he may be made very rudely aware by his wife's actions.

 

[ddawg16]

A missing factor....does this include tear off of the existing roof?

 

[haveissues]

Had mine done the summer of 2020. 47 square 12/12, lots of dormers, hips, etc and 2 skylights replaced. Estimates ranged from 21.5k to 34k, same materials, same roofing systems. The 34k company wanted 2k per skylight for crank open stocked skylights that maybe took 30 minutes each to replace while the roof was stripped? They didn't get the job....

 

[ace10]

I bet there's a thread on another forum somewhere with a woman who is complaining that her brother is overbearing is always being critical of the work they have done on their house. Nothing is ever right or done for the absolute lowest dollar. That she just wanted to get the job done and move on with their lives.

Your sister and BiL are adults, yes?

 

[andyvh1959]

Yup. Just surprised me when she said the roof for their 1200 sq ft ranch cost that much. But then, I've not had current roofing quotes on my house to reference.

I agree too,...that getting the job done is huge too. Neither my sister or BIL are able to do any work like that themselves, they have to hire it all out. Getting old, getting into the "I can't do that anymore" *****.

 

[zak77]

That price isnt out of line. I see a lot of permits for reroofs and based on the size on the house, it's about average. I had mine done a few years ago which included tear-off of 2 layers and a reroof for $13K for a 1500sq ft ranch and a 576sq ft garage. Sure is a better investment than the people who paid $80k to finish off about 900sq ft of their basement.

 

[andyvh1959]

Well based on that, and what I know of having done three roofs myself, for my house I may act as the roofing contractor. I can obtain the permits. determine the squares of roofing needed, get it delivered to the roof from Menards. I'd advertise on CL or FBM and find/interview four experienced roofing workers, pay them more per hour more than they make on their full time roofing job. I'd get the dumpster and do the cleanup myself. Four guys on my simple roof (center gable, shed style at east and west ends) can knock it out in a day, ten hours tops. If I pay them $20 an hour, my labor cost would be $800 to $1000. Dumpster is maybe $300. Material at about 20 square is $300 to $3500. With me acting as the contractor my cost would be about $4300 to $4800, and I wouldn't have to go up on the roof myself.

When I bought the house back in 2002 I had the roof stripped, OSB applied as needed, all new roofing felt and ice dam rolls, new shingles applied. So the substructure should be good. Just needs the newest roofing felt applied and flashings recovered. I should be able to contract out a new roof for $5000. FAR less than $12000 to $15000 to have a roofing contractor do it. My only concern would be insurance if something were to happen to a person I hired.

 

[ace10]

You're gonna get roofing pros to work on their day off for $20 an hour?
Is that realistic?

Injury risk would scare the hell out of me.

 

[NDJ]

. My only concern would be insurance if something were to happen to a person I hired.

That would be my BIGGEST concern. You are going to be responsible for any injuries. One of em falls off the roof and you get sued.
Some more unscrupulous types might even plan to get injured.

 

[Slednut]

My neighbor just had his done last week, one man did it in 3 days (maybe less the guy was an animal), took off the old roofing and underlayment. Installed new sheathing where it was needed, $6700. I went up and looked and it's straight and I can't see any signs of bad workmanship.

 

[danfromsyr]

Well based on that, and what I know of having done three roofs myself, for my house I may act as the roofing contractor. I can obtain the permits. determine the squares of roofing needed, get it delivered to the roof from Menards. I'd advertise on CL or FBM and find/interview four experienced roofing workers, pay them more per hour more than they make on their full time roofing job. I'd get the dumpster and do the cleanup myself. Four guys on my simple roof (center gable, shed style at east and west ends) can knock it out in a day, ten hours tops. If I pay them $20 an hour, my labor cost would be $800 to $1000. Dumpster is maybe $300. Material at about 20 square is $300 to $3500. With me acting as the contractor my cost would be about $4300 to $4800, and I wouldn't have to go up on the roof myself.

When I bought the house back in 2002 I had the roof stripped, OSB applied as needed, all new roofing felt and ice dam rolls, new shingles applied. So the substructure should be good. Just needs the newest roofing felt applied and flashings recovered. I should be able to contract out a new roof for $5000. FAR less than $12000 to $15000 to have a roofing contractor do it. My only concern would be insurance if something were to happen to a person I hired.

$20hr roof laborers

$300 dumpsters.

man you are so out of touch..

 

[iced98lx]

Getting re-roof quotes right now, about $325/sq tore off and put on a pretty nice shingle.

 

[topcok88]

Well based on that, and what I know of having done three roofs myself, for my house I may act as the roofing contractor. I can obtain the permits. determine the squares of roofing needed, get it delivered to the roof from Menards. I'd advertise on CL or FBM and find/interview four experienced roofing workers, pay them more per hour more than they make on their full time roofing job. I'd get the dumpster and do the cleanup myself. Four guys on my simple roof (center gable, shed style at east and west ends) can knock it out in a day, ten hours tops. If I pay them $20 an hour, my labor cost would be $800 to $1000. Dumpster is maybe $300. Material at about 20 square is $300 to $3500. With me acting as the contractor my cost would be about $4300 to $4800, and I wouldn't have to go up on the roof myself.

When I bought the house back in 2002 I had the roof stripped, OSB applied as needed, all new roofing felt and ice dam rolls, new shingles applied. So the substructure should be good. Just needs the newest roofing felt applied and flashings recovered. I should be able to contract out a new roof for $5000. FAR less than $12000 to $15000 to have a roofing contractor do it. My only concern would be insurance if something were to happen to a person I hired.

You figured it out. Go make that money with your infinite wisdom.

 

[topcok88]

$20hr roof laborers

$300 dumpsters.

man you are so out of touch..

90%+ of this forum is out of touch with reality.

 

[unslow1]

McDonald's and Walmart here are offering $15+ an hour plus a sign on bonus to anyone with a heartbeat and can't get any help. Full service restaurants are offering a lot more than that and they can't find anyone either.

 

[FredWanaker]

McDonald's and Walmart here are offering $15+ an hour plus a sign on bonus to anyone with a heartbeat and can't get any help.

It is $19.97 an hour here and not only is there no one applying, no cars are pulling in for food either except some old beaters that come by once in a while. Used to be a line of 10 - 20 cars at any given time.

 

[unslow1]

It's the same way with the drive thru places around here. It weird like the whole area is depopulated.

 

[haveissues]

It is $19.97 an hour here and not only is there no one applying, no cars are pulling in for food either except some old beaters that come by once in a while. Used to be a line of 10 - 20 cars at any given time.

I wonder if it has something to do with the prices? I went to one a couple of months ago for the first time in a long while and the prices were far beyond the value I see in their food. My daughter and I went to a chillie's for a cheap kid friendly dinner and had a much better meal than mcdonalds for several dollars less.

$20 an hour roofers, lol!

 

[428PI]

That would be my BIGGEST concern. You are going to be responsible for any injuries. One of em falls off the roof and you get sued.

Heck, it wasn't too many years ago that youth groups from church would go to a camp or such and volunteer their labor to put on roofs. I just shook my head. That would be a big no from me.

 

[Jeepster04]

Went to a Mcdonalds the other day (not for me, guy I work with ONLY eats out) and he paid $12 for lunch. I was blown away.

People are paying $12,000 for their roof, theyre going to charge it. There are very few people that can roof their own house.

 

[andyvh1959]

Ok, I stand corrected, especially on the labor rate, I'm not one to say I can't learn from others. So what is common for roofer labor rates that anyone knows? That $300 dumpster rate, prices here in Green Bay are quite reasonable, depending on what you get. Last time I rented one was two years ago. No tonnage rate either, no special tarps, no landfill fees. I'll have to check for typical costs per square of installed shingles in the area. At $325/sq for my house the roof would be $6500. That seems low even if Green Bay is a similar market to South Dakota. The info given on the website address below is more like $475/sq. For my sisters house that would have been $6650, far FAR less than the $12,000 she paid. The data on this website says an average cost for the roof installed on my house would be $9500.

2025 Roof Replacement Costs | Average New Roof Cost Per Square

Roof replacement costs $5,700 to $16,000 on average, depending on the size, pitch, and material. A new roof costs $300 to $600 per square (100 SF) on average.

homeguide.com

Another well known roofing contractor here in Green Bay, Overhead Solutions, says right on his local TV commercial, don't pay too much, then says the average roof cost is $7000. The business is highly rated.

 

[nadogail]

In my area, Workers Comp insurance premiums are greater than what the Roofer gets paid per hour. Last time I inquired (probably 40 years ago) Insurance Cost was 125% of Payroll.

 

[gatewaysysop]

If you want a real heart attack, try pricing out a tear off and re-roof with Presidential TL these days.

 

[reader2580]

I got a quote in April 2021 to re-roof my house with GAF Timberline HDZ shingles for $8455. House is a 1300 square feet ranch style 4/12 pitch with just two flat planes. The price seemed high to me at the time and has probably only gone up. Quote does not say how many squares.

My issue was I had lost some shingles over the winter, but it wasn't leaking. The roofer said the roof is still in decent shape so I ended up just replacing about a dozen shingles myself. No leaks since I did that. Roof was last replaced in 2003 so only 19 years old.