The cost of a roofing project is always relative to the size of the home. However, it is important to understand that for most homes in Florida, the area of a roof is about 35% more than the base square footage of a home. It is common for homeowners to be surprised at how much more area their roof has compared to their base floor plan. This is because the “footprint” of the roof is larger than the living space of the home (think soffit overhang). On top of that, roofs are sloped to keep the rain moving off your home. The steeper the slope, the more area the roof will have.
Roofers use squares to describe the size of a project. A square is simply 100sq feet. For example, 2500 square feet of roofing would be considered 25 squares, easy! Most shingle roof replacement projects will cost anywhere from $400-$500 per square (or $4-5 per square foot). Standing seam metal will typically run double that. The average architectural shingle roof replacement we complete costs around $13,500.
Here is a quick breakdown of the typical costs associated with a roofing project:
1. Set Up Costs (5%)
Set-up costs cover what it takes to start a project before we ever get on site. This typically includes permitting, county recording fees, and dump/ disposal costs. These costs usually account for about 5% of the project total.
2. Materials (50%)
Most material orders for a roof replacement will include shingles, ridge caps, starters, underlayment, drip-edge, vent flashings, fasteners needed for installation, and roof cement/ caulking. Depending on the scope of the project, items like skylights, chimney flashings, etc. may be required. In general, materials will take up about 50% of the cost to replace a roof.
3. Labor (25-30%)
There are standard labor rates we use for every roofing project to cover the costs of completing the work. We start with a base rate and then increase it if necessary based on roof pitch, number of layers, and roof height. All of these figures are calculated based on the actual features of the project, so no more or no less is included than what fits the scope of the project. Additional work like chimney flashing, skylights, and other special features have standard associated costs too. Payroll costs and workers’ compensation insurance are included in this category as well. You can expect labor to account for 25-30% of the bill for shingle roofing.
4. Overhead and Profit (20-30%)
This is what is added to the above costs to ensure the costs to run a business and make a profit are accounted for. Operating a roofing company requires many expenses to keep rolling. At a minimum, we must ensure we can cover the expenses listed below. It can look like a lot, but when we spread those costs over all the projects we complete every year, it is a fairly small portion of the total cost of the roof.
- Office/ Warehouse lease space including electrical and utilities
- General liability insurance
- Salaried management positions
- Vehicle and equipment costs
- Software and CRM subscriptions
- Licensing and membership dues
- Marketing
- Training
- Business development
Lastly, a reasonable profit is added to the project. At Prime Roofing, this is a standard rate we keep the same for every project. We do not charge a percentage based on the costs of the materials and labor. In calculating profit in this way, we keep our costs consistent and fair for all of our customers on all projects. It also removes the possibility of biased or inaccurate methodology from our estimating process. An established roofing contractor should have between 20-30% of the project price accounting for the cost of both operation and profit.
