Creating roofing estimates is key for roof replacements and roof repairs. This helps the homeowner to have a better understanding of what they can expect from roofing services and how they can budget for their project.
From roofing materials to length of project, there is plenty to consider when preparing roof replacement costs. Let’s take a look at what is included to create an accurate roofing estimate for your home.
Roofing Estimate Factors
In order to best understand a roofing estimate, you need to know what is involved. The values that make up the equation for a quote are: type of material, availability, contractor’s liability, cleanup and warranty information on your new roof.
Roofing estimates include how your new roof is to be paid for and if there will be any extra charges. Every little detail about the potential cost needs to be added in the total costs.
Roofing estimates help the customer to understand the scope of the project so they can avoid any surprises. For roofers, roofing estimates help them to explain their customers the project in full which makes them more likely to be hired.
Understanding the Job
To begin, a roofing company will send out a roofing contractor to visit the property and analyze the scope of the project. It may be more convenient to receive a quote over the phone for the roofing costs. However, this is not going to be as accurate since an expert will need to know exactly what to evaluate. Because there are multiple pieces to a roofing system, it’s easy to miss important aspects that the contractor will need to look at physically.
Scoping out the work means gathering all of the dimensions of the roof. Once the measurements for the roof replacement project are available, roofing companies will plug them into a roofing estimate template. The template is an easy way that covers all the information you need to know in order to move forward. Below is breakdown of the items you’ll find in an estimate proposal.
- Contact information – You’ll usually find email addresses and multiple phone numbers for the office and the contractor who performed the estimate. They want to be accessible at all times for inquiries.
- Project Summary – This helps your customers to clearly understand what the roofing job will look like and what they can expect from this project. This portion covers proposed dates for the start of the project.
- Project Cost – Breakdown of costs for materials, labor and extra.
- Schedule for payment – Most roofing companies will give you several payment options. Some require a downpayment and then payments over the following months. Dates are added to when the payment is due.
- Company policy – In case any issue arises after the work is complete, you’ll have in writing what a company’s policies for fixing missed problems.
- License and Insurance – License of the business and lists the trade organizations it is part of.
How to Calculate Costs for the Project
The first thing a homeowner is going to what to know right away is the approximate costs of the project. Here are a few items that are part of the costs in a roofing estimate:
Demolition
Before professionally installing a new roof, the damaged or old roof will need to be demolished. Having the right bins available for disposing of the old material has costs that roofing companies charge to the homeowner.
Materials Needed
By having available the calculations of the roof size, the company orders exactly the amount of materials needed. Therefore, avoiding an overcharge with leftover roofing products. Depending on the roofing type, costs will vary. Some of the more cost-effective and popular choices are asphalt roofing, metal roofing, slate roofing and tile roofing. Shingles cost roughly $4.5-$7 per square foot to install.
Estimating labor
Head contractors take into account how many subcontracts need to be hired. Length of the project and size factor into how the large the team is. Of course, the more subcontractors they need for the work the more expensive it will be.
Permit Costs
In most states, local permits are required in almost every roof replacement job. Being an expert in this area, it’s the roofer’s job to research and check which permits are applicable for the project. Including the cost of the permits or license is one of the important parts of roofing estimates.
Guarantee Of Work
To put your customers’ fears to rest and show them your credibility, roofing companies need to put a guarantee of work in the estimate. This gives customers peace of mind that they will take responsibility for issues with the work after the project is done.
Final Thought on Roofing Estimates
As we’ve discussed, the quote process is detailed for good reason. A full quote of labor, materials and other costs give homeowners the opportunity to make an informed decision. A well-written estimate also benefits a roofer’s business by helping to maintain clear communication with the homeowner.
Any home improvement project will interfere temporarily with your daily routine. Use this opportunity to ask questions such as timing, cleanup and noises.