Roofing Calculator Features Update

Roofing Calculator Updates:

Here is a chronological list of features and functions updates to our Roofing Calculator. We periodically adjust price settings or add new functions and different materials (previously not included) to make our Calculator more useful and better able to relay the actual “on the street” prices that homeowners can expect to get from local contractors.

We recommend that you learn how roofing prices are calculated by different contractors. You will discover two most popular methods of calculating roof cost – Per Square Pricing (most common) and Materials, Labor, Overhead and Profit method of estimating costs.

Planned Updates:

In the next month or two we will be rolling out our first version of Solar Metal Roofing Price Calculator. It is going to estimate the cost of installing a steel standing seam metal roof combined with Uni-Solar thin-film PV laminates – flexible solar panels for metal roofs – see photograph of a solar metal roof with solar thermal heating bellow:

Together with a Solar Roofing Calculator we are developing a new Solar System Cost Calculator which will estimate the solar system cost, based on the number of solar PV panels you plan to use on your roof, your desired electrical output, solar cost per watt, and solar system payback period. It will also include a number of other functions, as well as information about solar prices, system installation, and how to prevent roof leaks when installing a solar system.

Recent Updates

Mar. 25, 2010 – We are working on adding a setting for the number of floors that your house has, as this can change you per-square pricing significantly. Most contractors have an up-charge for the second floor, and an even bigger additional charge for the total roofing cost for 3-story homes, such as Victorian style homes, or triple-deckers, which are very common in the urban areas.

In the same update we will include not only a straight mathematical progression for steep roofs vs. shallow or low-slope roofs, but also an average premium, which contractors charge when calculating the total cost of the job. On average, contractors will add $60 per square for a 12 pitch roof vs. a walkable roof (less than 7 pitch).

Mar. 10, 2010 – New Metal Roofing Calculator: We’ve added a new, specialized version of our roof price calculator, which is designed to calculate metal roofing prices for standing seam, steel and aluminum shingles, stone-coated steel (such as Decra or Gerard metal tiles), and specialty metals – copper and zinc.

Future updates for the Metal Roofing Calculator will include price calculation for snow-retention systems, such as rib-mounted (for standing seam metal roofs) snow-guards, Railing-snow-guard systems with one, two or three horizontal bars, as S-5 type clips.

Metal Roof Price Calculator will also estimate approximate Cool Roof energy savings and provide an average roof life expectancy.

Feb. 25, 2010 – We recently included TPO roofing into our calculator, as it is the fastest growing flat roof material right now, because of its relatively low price compared to PVC membranes. However, we feel that you as a homeowner need to know the difference between PVC and TPO roofing: Why TPO is less expensive, facts about ever-changing TPO formulations (the way TPO is made and what goes into the product, as this determines the quality), and how long you can expect a TPO roof to last. Learn more about Pros and Cons of TPO membranes and the state of flat roofing today.

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