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Shoots….I just bid a roof for $140 a square for a tear off and re-roof. The owner is going to do the clean up and haul off though. So am I even close???? $300 a square WHAT THE????? need to retire soon or what?????
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Has anyone out there seen or heard of a roofing product that has a look of slate but is made out of rubber.If so,I'de like to know where I can get a hold of it .
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Eric, read this
*It would interesting to see the condition of the deck (sheets or planks) and if the molds and mosses are beginning there. Your price for replacing the surface needs to consider the replacement costs of what's underneath. I would inspect it first and even have a contingency by-the-hour price for replacement and repairs of problems discovered after cleaning the roof. There are some expensive but very attractive profiles in steel shingles these days. In a damp place, I would want to have an air space between the top and the deck. Cedar-breather might be worth trying on top of the felt if you stick with the asphalt.
*What do you regard to be a walkable pitch?My place has a flat roof over most of the back, with a purelydecorative 7-in-12 hip section facing the street. I'll walkon the flat part, but the 7-in-12 with the gutters about 27 feet above the ground I'm just too scared of. I was hoping to save some money when the time comes by doing my own tearoff, but I'd have to find the safe and proper way to workup there. Any suggestions on what to use and how to do it?Thanks ---- J.S.
*Use a roofing company for that part of the roof.If it were mine and I felt I absolutely had to do it, I would rent a very stout rope and harness and find/make a good anchor point up above.Of course, I am scared of heights and would undoubtedly just hire someone else to do that portion of the roof.
*john sprung...different strokes.. but..i've always considered a 6/12 pitch a walkable roof,you can set things down and they stay for a little while... at 7/12 you can still walk it, but not without experience, and at 8 /12 you can walk but you have to watch for loose granules or dirt on the deck...guys who roof all the time are a little more comfortable than us with some of these pitches..here's a current job... about 22 feet to the gutter, 8 /12 pitch 4 layer tear-off, we're doing a plywood overlay on the main roof because the roof deck was in poor condition...we like to stage our eaves and work the first four feet, then set roof staging about 3 feet up and apx every six feet or so from there....note the tarps to protect the siding from the tear -offb but hey, whadda i no ?
*At my house, the tarp is the roof.
*Mike --Thanks for the picture and info. I'm particularly intrigued by your scaffolding setup. It appears to use just two vertical legs, and it must be tied off to the side of the building somehow. That would be perfect for my situation, since the building is only 3 feet from the lot line and public sidewalk. What kind is it, and where do you buy them? I'm going to need window, stucco, and paint work, so it would probably be a good idea to own that equipment.The roof I'd be tearing off is fake Spanish style concrete tile, so I know what you mean about loose granules.I'll also check out rock climbing equipment -- Luka's rope and harness idea. For the final roof on this little decorative part (four squares), I want to go with standing seam copper. I don't see how that could be done with staging, since the sheets go all the way from the ridge to the gutter.Thanks again,-- J.S.
*john... that's alum-a-pole and you can get it at most good roofing supply or scaffold companies..it's quite an investment unless you can buy it used..two poles , braces, jacks and work bench plus a 14 inch x 24 foot scaffold and a 20 inch x 24 foot scaffold will run $2100 plus tax..that will stage you 22 feet high and 24 feet long..after you get by your first setup you can add to as your jobs require....
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Can someone help me out? Neighbours want me to replace their roof and I have some questions. It has been about ten years since I last did a tear off and I have no clue what the market rate is. I guessed about hundred and sixty a square to tear off, dispose of rubbish, felt, drip edge, new boots and flashings, 30 year shingles, ice guard, cut in two valleys, new hat vents...
breakdown of material and labor costs seem to support the 160.
I'm smack in the middle of Ohio.
I'm thinking I'll turn in the bid and see what transpires. Moving on- the house is very shaded and the current shingles are fairly covered with various molds, mosses and lichens. Anything I can do to inhibit them coming back?
*NE Ohio market is around $125/Sq. 1 layer tearoff, more for 2. Try "shingle shield" under the last course at the ridge. They are zinc strips about 3' long that wash zinc oxide over the shingles when it rains, and like magic no more moss mold or the like.
*thanks Keith. I was worried I might be a little heavy handed- I'll rework and see if I can temper the numbers a bit. Good to know about the "shingle shield"
*Doug,You're right in there with that price, if not a little low. Is it a walkable pitch, cut up or straight forward? I do a few roofs year (only for friends,family, or really good customers, and then only easy, walkable ones generally) and I go about 140 on up. Last was a straight gable two story with a front porch and one story garage roof, all 5 pitch, and I was about 155/sq with 3 tab 25 year fg. That is a top quality install with 30# felt and replace all flashings, drip, valley, etc. I am in PA, and I would stick with your 160. Who wants to do roofs anyway.Oh and some shingles if I am not mistaken are treated with fungicides, like certainteed xt series I believe. Ask your supplier.Tom
*Are these prices including the shingles? The last roof I did I got about $250 per square total labor and all materials (one floor, walkable slope, 25 year shingles).Rich Beckman
*Thanks T.B. It's a four pitch, one layer. one reverse gable. Bout 36' of fascia to replace, six pieces of hardboard to take out and redo up a gable- right where the electric service comes in. Mostly simple- except for that service cable...I submitted it at the 160 so we shall see I guess. Anyway thanks for the input.
*Wow! Yeah shingles included. I figured all my materials plus 5% waste. added 30% markup, 6% tax and then labor and hauling.
*Oops, did you forget your profit and overhead? Or is that included in the 30% material markup? Or somewhere between labor and hauling? BTW, how many squares, total?
*Ralph- I didn't think so.it's twenty six squares and I just looked at the numbers again. It seems like at the price I quoted I should net around eleven hundred dollars.Guess I'll visit the business archives and do some learning
*Doug,I am sorry I didn't see this yesterday cause I think I could have saved you some money.In Akron,I don't price by the square---but----after I add up ALL my costs and include my profit and then divide back by the number of squares it generally comes out as $200-230/sq.Additional charge of at least $25/sheet osb replacement or $1.75/lineal foot of 1x decking.There are plenty of guys here who charge less,some who charge $300 plus.I don't really care what the market rate is because the market rate doesn't reflect the fact that my company is the sole source for work installed and backed up by Stephen Hazlett.If my name is going on the roof then the roof is gonna carry my price,not my competitions price.You are the sole provider of work backed up by Doug Hubbard. Charge what Doug needs to charge.The roofing industry is filled with endless hassles and infinite risks.don't involve yourself in it,even sporadically,on the cheap.If you are gonna accept the liability involved,insist on being fairly compensated. In my opinion $160/sq is not enough.BTW I think Tommy mentioned shingles with a built in fungicide. He is quite correct,these are available from several manufacturers. You may have to plan ahead and special order. It should not add much to the cost(if any),but your supplier may need to get the shingles from a different plant than the manufacturer usually ships from.Best wishes to ya,and I hope you don't get rained on. Stephen
*Thanks Stephen. Fortunately R.B. sounded the alarm in time. I was able to retrieve the bid before the folks saw it and reworked it this morning. Found plenty of support for the numbers in the archives- I shoulda looked there first.
*thanks rich! you and ralph got me scratching my head and looking around the archives. resubmitted the bid ( the other one was still in the mailbox)
*I'm still confused.Are we talking about tear off and reroof or are these figures just for the tear off or just for the re-roof?
*Shoots....I just bid a roof for $140 a square for a tear off and re-roof. The owner is going to do the clean up and haul off though. So am I even close???? $300 a square WHAT THE????? need to retire soon or what?????
*Wow.$250-300 a square? I must really be confused.Need to do more roofs. Fast.MD
*Stu, $140/sq.was a good price in my area about 10 years ago.I wouldn't even get out of bed for that now,let alone actually work&warranty.To be honest( and no offense intended)$140 is the best you should hope for untill you learn to do valleys properly. That,plus a proven long term reputation,some salesmanship,and the willingness to use a sheet metal brake instead of tar and caulk will get your prices up to $230-300Liability,liability,liability---Stephen
*Follow up for everyone- thanks to the heads up from Rich, Ralph, and Stephen I reworked the bid and got it for $230 per square. We are just finishing up- I made money , customers are thrilled and have contracted me to replace fascia and gutters and have house painted for them... perhaps a kitchen remodel this winter. Checked the bid with other guys around town and it was more than most- less than some.Anyway- happy ending. Thanks guys...
*Mad Dog,here is another perspective on the $250-300/SQ issue.A couple of months ago I gave an estimate to a family aquaintance at my usual rate.The husband of the aquaintance insisted there was no way he would pay that price so he hired some "Bargain Bob" doing it on the side. Well" BOB" proceeded to tear off the old roof and felt it---then the rain started.And it rained,and rained and rained----you get the picture.I happened to run into the aquaintance at a wedding reception. She was a basket case cause EVERY ceiling in her ranch style house was coming down.And the roof ain't done yet.I bet she wishes her husband had paid my price now,huh?I have worked only 10- 12 days in the last month or so because the weather was so bad,or threatening to be bad that I felt tear-offs were to risky.Of course none of my customers ceilings are collapsing.Sometimes you get what you pay for,and what you should pay for is good judgement and the fiscal ability to back that judgement up. $140/sq pricing would negatively impact a contractors ability to use good judgement.Sitting home again,watching the rain,Stephen
*Glad it worked out well for you.Customer would have paid you $140,was happy to pay$230 and prob.would have paid $260 cause they wanted YOU. I imagine price was secondary to them all along,cause they trusted YOU to do it right. the referalls you get from this customer will be a gold mine.Congrats,Stephen
*Interesting. I'm actually thrilled to death, since this may mean I could make more money. I hear what you're saying too, Stephen. You guys have to make good money to justify all that time off. I'm not giving you crap either, I know how hard roofing is on the body. I'd be lucky to last ten years as a full time roofer.Crazy thing is, I've gotten outbid on my last two roofing estimates. Otherwise, I'd be really fired up about this. MD
*Congratulations, doug! That's great!Rich Beckman
*Good work, Doug. Nice save. On your way to being a prosperous businessman.
*Mad Dog,actually I am starting to look at buying junk houses,re-habbing them and then renting them out.I figure that would let me profitably use up a lot of rainy days.I will still continue to roof as long as I am able----but realistically at 38 and already wearing a brace on both elbows and sometimes one knee how much longer can I last?Like Mickey Mantle said" If I had known I was gonna live this long I would have taken better care of myself"Aspiring slumlord,Stephen
*Good luck on that, Stephen. For me, renting is a huge pain in the butt. Some people love it though.MD