Squares
Roofing is sold in squares — 100 square feet of roof surface, not floor area. A 2,000 square foot house with a simple gable roof is usually 22 to 26 squares. Dormers, a steep pitch or a cut-up shape push the same footprint well past 30.
Cost
What drives the price.
These are the things that move the price of a roof, in roughly the order they move it. Nothing here is a quote; it is what we will be looking at when we write yours.
The nine things that set the number
Pitch
Past about 7/12 a roof stops being walkable and the crew works off staging and harnesses. That is slower and it carries more risk, and both show up in labor. A 12/12 roof can cost half again what the same area costs at 4/12.
Layers coming off
Tear-off is priced per square per layer. Two layers are roughly double the tear-off labor and double the dumpster. Code permits a recover over one existing layer in limited cases. It is almost never the right call, which is why a second layer usually means the last contractor cut a corner.
Decking condition
Nobody can price this from the ground. A sound estimate carries a per-sheet allowance with a stated unit price, credited back if it is not used. An estimate that is silent on decking has deferred the conversation, not avoided the cost.
Complexity
Valleys, hips, dormers, chimneys, skylights and roof-to-wall transitions are where the labor and the flashing live. A cut-up roof can run 20 to 30 percent over a plain one of identical area, and it is also where the leaks will be in ten years if it is done cheaply.
Access and height
Where the dumpster and the delivery go matters. Two- and three-story elevations, tight lots, steep driveways, pools and landscaping that has to be protected all add setup time before a single shingle moves.
Material
The shingle itself is rarely more than about 40 percent of the job and is often closer to a third, so trading down on product saves less than people expect. The spread between a standard architectural shingle and a designer profile is far wider than the spread between brands at the same grade.
Ventilation and code
Intake and exhaust have to balance for the roof to last and for the shingle warranty to mean anything. If the attic is short on intake, that gets corrected on a re-roof, not ignored. Permit and inspection costs vary by jurisdiction.
What is behind the gutter
Rotten fascia, undersized or under-pitched gutters and a missing drip edge are common on older homes in this area. They are cheap to fix with the roof open and expensive to fix later.
Ballpark in three questions
What is this likely to cost?
No email, no phone number, no waiting for a callback. Three questions and a range, with the squares and the per-square rates it came from.
On a roof like that, in this market, we would expect:
The spread is almost entirely about how many squares your roof actually is — nobody can measure that from a questionnaire. The site visit replaces this range with one number.
What this range leaves out
- A second or third layer of old roofing coming off
- Decking replacement beyond the allowance, once we can see it
- Rotten fascia, soffit or gutter work found behind the drip edge
- Skylight replacement, chimney masonry or crickets
- Structural repairs, and anything an inspector adds
- Insurance work, which is scoped against the carrier's estimate instead
Specification
Three ways we spec a roof
What changes between them is the product and how far the water protection extends. Relative price only; your number comes from the site visit. We are an independent contractor and not a certified installer for any manufacturer.
$
Standard
Architectural shingle from the lines we install: GAF Timberline HDZ or CertainTeed Landmark. Synthetic underlayment over the full deck, ice and water shield at eaves, valleys and penetrations, new drip edge, new flashing, continuous ridge vent.
- Architectural shingle, named product and color
- Synthetic underlayment, full deck
- Ice and water at eaves, valleys, penetrations
- All new flashing and boots
- Continuous ridge vent
$$
Extended water protection
The same shingle lines with the membrane carried further: ice and water across the whole lower roof plane, up the rakes, and behind every wall transition. The upgrade that matters most on a low-pitch roof, a north-facing plane under trees, or a house that has leaked before.
- Everything in Standard
- Ice and water across the full lower plane
- Membrane up the rakes and wall transitions
- Upgraded valley treatment
$$$
Designer profile
Heavier dimensional and designer shingles for houses where the roof is a large part of what you see from the street. We bring physical samples and show you the same colors on your own house in the visualizer before anything is ordered.
- Everything in Extended
- Designer or heavyweight profile
- Color matched to trim and masonry on site
- Physical samples before ordering
The document
What is on the estimates we write
Compare this list against any estimate you have in hand, including ours.
- Squares, pitch and the number of layers coming off
- The shingle by manufacturer, product line and color name
- Underlayment and ice and water shield by name, and where each one goes
- A decking allowance with a per-sheet price, credited back if unused
- Flashing, boots and valley metal listed as new
- Ventilation: what is there now and what we are changing
- Permit, disposal, daily cleanup and magnet sweep
- Your right to cancel, and the date that right expires, on any contract paid from insurance proceeds
- The workmanship warranty terms, in writing
- What is explicitly not included
Questions
On price.
Why will three bids on the same roof come back thousands apart?
Usually because they are not the same scope. One has new flashing and one is reusing it; one carries a decking allowance and one will raise it as a change order; one is a 30-square measurement and one is 26. Lay them side by side, line for line before you compare totals — and if a bid has no lines, ask for them.
Is the cheapest bid ever the right one?
Sometimes. If it is itemized, the scope matches, and the products are named, a lower number can simply mean lower overhead. The bids worth worrying about are the ones that are cheap and vague, because the gap is being carried by something that is not written down.
Does a repair ever make more sense than a replacement?
Often. A roof with eight good years left and one bad valley is a repair, and saying so costs us a bigger invoice today. The decision turns on the age of the shingle, whether the failures are in one place or spread across every slope, and whether the decking underneath is still sound. Our repair-or-replace walkthrough on the roofing page runs the same questions we ask on site.
What about insurance work?
If a carrier is involved, the scope is negotiated against their estimate rather than priced in the open market. We work from the carrier's own line items and give you a written comparison against what we measured. Under O.C.G.A. § 10-1-393.12 a roofing contractor may not represent or negotiate your claim, so anything missing goes back to the carrier from you. We will never offer to cover your deductible.
Next step
Tell us about the roof or the siding.
A few sentences, the city or ZIP code, and what the property needs is enough to start. Call, or send the form and we will reply with next steps.