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Roofing cost calculator

HomeGuide lists roof replacement, tear-off included, at $400–$900 per roofing square, checked October 2026; a square is 100 sq ft of roof. Price from measured squares, never the house footprint, and keep tear-off, pitch and decking as separate numbers inside the total. Then you can see which one is eating your margin, and the customer can see why their roof costs more than the neighbor’s.

Price a roof per square

Starting point: $650.00 per square. Replacement including removal; US calculator: $400.00–$900.00 per roofing square. Our midpoint of that range, rounded to cents. Tear-off, materials and installation for 100 sq ft of roof. HomeGuide: roof replacement costs, checked 2026-10-15.

Extras, travel and minimum

One roofing square is 100 square feet of roof surface. Include waste in the measured quantity or materials, once. Enter the tear-off total for all selected layers across the roof.

Job price before tax—

Enter roof area (roofing squares).

How much more should you charge for a steep roof?

Yarco Roofing in Huntsville, Alabama, adds $55 a square for a 7/12 to 9/12 pitch on a $400 base, about 14% more. On a 25-square roof that’s $1,375. Price walkable roofs at your base rate, add a per-square charge once you need roof jacks and harnesses, and quote anything steeper than 9/12 after you’ve been up on it.

Steep roofs also hide squares. Pitch adds surface over the same footprint, so a footprint measurement comes up short on a steep roof, and every missing square is shingles and labor you pay for. Measure on the roof or from an aerial report, add the waste that a cut-up roof needs for its hips and valleys, and only then apply your rate.

How do you price tear-off per square?

HomeGuide puts the tear-off share of a replacement at $100–$300 a square. Price it per layer: a second layer means more labor, more weight in the dumpster and more chances of rot underneath. Check the layer count at an edge or a vent before you quote, write it on the quote, and price each extra layer per square so the total moves in plain sight.

What usually goes wrong is disposal. Shingles are heavy, and a two-layer tear-off can fill more container than you planned, with landfill weight charges on top. Put the dumpster, the haul and the tipping fee into the cost of every job rather than a general overhead line, and check them against the invoice when the job closes.

How should you handle rotten decking in a roofing quote?

Price it per sheet and get the approval rule agreed before tear-off. Shepherd and Sons in Keller, Texas, charges $75–$110 for each required and approved sheet of replacement decking, on top of its square price. Nobody can see the deck until the old roof is off, so a per-sheet price is the fair way to quote work that may or may not be there.

Some roofers fold a small decking allowance into the price; others list every sheet. An allowance makes the quote look complete and covers the usual soft spot around a chimney or vent. A pure per-sheet line keeps the base lower and wins more bids, but expect the customer to ask why the bill grew. Either way, photograph each bad sheet before it goes in the dumpster.

Example: a 20-square tear-off and replacement

Your materials and labor come to $250 a square, so 20 squares cost you $5,000. Add $1,500 for tear-off and disposal and $500 for access and other costs: $7,000. At a 30% margin, $7,000 ÷ 0.70 = $10,000, or $500 a square including removal. That sits inside HomeGuide’s $400–$900 range and in the lower half of Shepherd and Sons’ $450–$750 Keller price.

If tear-off turns up six bad sheets, Shepherd and Sons’ $75–$110 a sheet adds $450–$660, billed on approval and kept outside the $10,000.

Frequently asked questions

What do I say when a homeowner has a cheaper roofing quote?

Put the two quotes side by side by scope. Check if the other one is a tear-off or a layover, if it includes new underlayment, valley flashing and ridge vent (Shepherd and Sons includes the last two in its square price), and how it handles bad decking. A low roofing quote is often a different roof. If the scopes really match, decide if you want the job at their number.

What does roofing labor cost per hour?

The Bureau of Labor Statistics put the mean wage for employed roofers at $27.45 an hour in May 2024. That is the paycheck only. Payroll taxes, workers’ comp, which runs high in roofing, insurance, trucks and your own time sit on top, so your loaded crew cost per hour is well above the wage. Price from the loaded figure.

What if it rains in the middle of a roof job?

Never strip more than you can dry in the same day. Tear off in sections, get underlayment down before you leave, and keep tarps on the truck. Write a weather clause into the quote: rain days move the schedule, not the price. If a storm catches a roof you have open, the damage is yours, which is why working in sections matters.

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