5 Questions to Ask Your Roofer Related to Price

A common mistake that people make with roofers, when asked by the roofer if they know the area of the roof; alot of times people who call, give us the area of the roof based on the area of the floor plan. This is a very big mistake and leads to all types of complications. The roofer may give a ballpark price based on the information given, only to later find out, the measurements were wrong. The price of a roof is based on the number of squares. One square is a 100 square feet. The price of the roof is based on the area of the roof, meaning the number of the squares. Roofers like to talk in squares not square feet. So, someone calls and gives square feet, the roofer may feel he can take advantage of the situation. So, the price is per square.

While the following is a small detail of how the roof is measured, what is even more important is to know the questions to ask about the measurements, which we will go over after the short description of how a roof area is measured.

So how is a roof area measurement done? There are two parts to a roof measurements, one is the measurements of the roof. The second is (1) the waste factor (2) ridge and (3) starter.

When installing a roof there is a usually a 10% waste factor- the more the slope, hips, and valleys, the more the waste factor. This is because things (shingles, metal, etc) have to be cut along the edges to fit the roof. In case, of some roofing systems like shingles, starter shingles need to be added. A starter shingle goes around the periphery. The ridge is where two slopes meet; an area that needs an extra layer of protection to cover any gaps; usually called ridge caps. The slope is also measured. The floor is flat. The roof has a slope. The slope of your roof is the ratio of vertical distance (rise) to horizontal distance (run). For example, if you find 4 inches of height with the tape measure at the 12 inch mark on the level, your slope is 4:12 or "4 in 12"; so you calculate accordingly.

The main roof is measured in the simple length times width method.

So it is (length x width x slope x 10% waste) + perimeter + ridge = Area of roof

What are the five questions you should ask your roofer

1) What's the length of the ridge caps?

2) What's the perimeter?

3) How is the field (the area of the roof)?

4) how much waste factor are they adding?

5) What is your price per square?

So if the roof is 30.5 squares, and you know the price per square, let's say $170/square, you will know the price is $5185.

Let each roofing bid give you the answer to these five questions. Sometimes the roofers are close to each other's approximations but not exact. Some roofers will overestimate a little bit just to be safe. If you ask each roofer all these questions, he will feel you know about roofing and this will keep you safe.

Besides the area of the roof questions, there are two other questions.

1) What is your dump or hauling charges of the roofing system taken off?

2) What are you charging for pulling permits? (if it is required)

Get at least three bids, ask these questions.

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