Where does Your Money Go for a Roof Installation?
Replacing your old roof can be a pretty expensive project. There are a lot of factors involved in a roof installation that you might not have thought about.
Keep in mind that costs will vary depending on the area that you live. The size of your house, type of roof that you have (like the height and pitch or angle of your roof), and number of stories will also greatly affect the price of a new roof installation.
Labor
Roofing is a tough job. Roof installations usually last from sunup to sundown and workers take very few breaks despite being on their hands and knees in the blazing Sun. Roofers are at high risk for accidents, especially for particularly high or sharp angled roofs and on windy days.
To get a job done quickly, contractors often have multiple workers working on a roof at once. Roofers work tirelessly all day to complete a big project so you can have a new roof as quickly as possible.
It is no wonder that the labor involved in a roof installation makes up nearly half of the cost of the entire project.
Despite the hefty cost of labor, however, be cautious when trying to cut costs with cheaper companies. Always make sure you are only hiring reputable companies that are licensed and insured. One of the reasons labor is costly is because contractors have to protect themselves and their workers in the event of an accident. They are required by law to provide workers compensation in the event that someone falls or is otherwise hurt on the job. This increases their costs, which increases yours, but for good reason.
Removal and Installation
Before a new roof can be put on, the new roof has to come off. A decent chunk of the labor costs involved in a roof installation is for the removal and disposal of your current roof.
Removing and scraping off all of that old stuff is pretty hard work, and the company usually has to pay for the proper disposal of the old roofing materials as well, which factors into the removal costs for your current roof.
Materials
There are a lot of different materials, colors, and other factors that can affect the price of your roof installation project. Shingles are typically the cheapest option when it comes to roofing costs, but there are different kinds and colors to choose from. Custom shingles, of course, can cost you more money as well.
Depending on the materials you have chosen for your roof installation, materials typically add up to about half of the entire project cost.
When you think about all of the hard work and other factors that go into the pricing of a roof installation, it is easy to understand why it’s such a pricey affair. It is easy to scoff at the hefty price of labor, but when it really comes down to it, the price is fair for all of the factors that go into the labor for a tough project like roof installation.
