This roof estimating guide is a continuation of our two-part series for roofing contractors, on how to measure and estimate roofing prices. See part one of this guide to learn how to measure a roof.

Calculating roofing materials and estimating roof prices:

For the purposes of this guide, I will use asphalt shingles as a default roofing material, but the same principals can be applied to a metal roof, slate, etc. Cedar shingles/shake will be slightly different as the waste factor is higher.

Calculating roofing materials First – you need to know how many sq. ft. or squares of shingles you will need. You should take your total roof square footage and divide it by a 100 – this will give you the number of roof squares. Round the number up to the nearest square. Most shingle roofs will have 5-10% waste factor, and if during roof installation you use most pieces, waste can be reduced to as little as 2-3 percent. If you have valleys / dormers and side-wall flashing, use 15 percent waste factor. See our roofing square guide, to learn how roofers and builders measure roofs.

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In our previous article, we reported on a large price increase for roofing shingles, that took place in 2011. Due to these price increases, the overall roof installation costs have also gone up, as roofing contractors have to pay more for the shingles and roofing accessories. We updated our main roofing calculator (which estimates overall roof installation price) and roofing shingles calculator, which estimates the cost of roofing materials and accessories needed to replace your roof (including shingles, roof underlayment, drip-edge, nails, ridge vent and ridge cap shingles, etc.).

We’ve already updated our roofing materials calculator about a week ago, and now we rolled out the update for the main roofing calculator.

Summary of price updates for Roofing Calculator:

Base installation price for 30 year architectural shingles went up by $25 per roofing square – this accounts for $19 increase in shingles prices and about $6 / square increase in accessories cost. Base price now is $275 per square, installed.

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It’s been widely reported and discussed on various roofing forums that roof shingles manufacturers are drastically raising the prices of their roofing shingles and accessories that go along. Some roofers report getting letters from their roofing suppliers that shingles prices are going up as much as 30%. Keep in mind that in the spring of every year, most roofing manufacturers raise their prices by 3-8% on average, so this new increase in the cost of roofing materials is something out of the ordinary.

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Most homeowners do not start thinking about their roof until it starts leaking. It’s understandable, but if your roof is already leaking, and you can see it inside your house – it means that the roof has been slowly leaking for a while, and the damage is probably more extensive than what you see.

We understand that roofing is not the most exciting topic, and unless you are faced with certain roofing issues, you will not be much interested in roofing. However, once those roof issues arise, you will want to know as much about your roof issues as possible.

This is just the place for homeowners to learn about roofing!

In this Roofing Guide for Homeowners you will find information on how to prevent roof leaks if possible, how to deal with roof leaks, how to repair simple roof leaks, how to choose the longest lasting roofing materials for your home, how much a new roof should cost, how to choose a roofing contractor, and many other roof related topics. We separated this guide into three separate sections:

• Roof Leaks Prevention and Roof Repair
• Choosing Roofing Materials and a Roofing Contractor
• Roofing Prices Guide
• Miscellaneous Roofing Articles for homeowners

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This installation instructions guide and the video demonstration below will help you quickly add our roofing calculator software to your website. Adding our free roofing calculator will allow your customers to quickly calculate roofing costs without bothering you for a roof estimate, just to get “ballpark” pricing, as many homeowners like to do, even if they don’t plan to install a new roof anytime soon, or don’t have any clue as to what a new roof will cost. The benefits of having this roofing calculator on your site include:

• Ability for your customers to get an approximate price quote instantly, without wasting your time on those who will never be your customers.
• Let your customers know what you charge for your roofing services, which will prevent the sticker shock when you do a roofing estimate.
• Built trust for your roofing business, because you advertise your prices online – shady roofing contractors don’t do it and they rarely even have a website!
• Roofing Calculator simplifies your sales process, as both the customer and the roof estimator are on the same page.

I found that the roofing calculator works AWESOME for us – people already know what to expect in terms of pricing when the estimator shows up to measure a roof, and you avoid the “jaw-dropping effect” for the most part. We also sell more jobs now (percentage wise, as compared to the total number of roof estimates we do) and we avoid 95% of price shoppers/tire kickers. Also the calculator pages attract internet traffic by themselves, and these site visitors turn into customers!

Here is more information on roof estimating software for websites, where you will find the use policy and guidelines for this free roof calculator software, information on getting a customized version of the roofing calculator that will show your roofing prices instead of the industry average roof prices. Read the rest of this entry »

We are entering the final stages of developing a Roofing Calculator app for Android devices (mostly smart-phones for now with an Android Tablet app to follow, after the release of tablet-optimized “honeycomb” version of Android OS). The Android version of our Roofing Calculator app will be virtually identical to the iPhone (iOS) version, with some minor visual differences.

As of right now, we expect the Roofing Calculator app for Android to be release and available through Android Market, by end of January 2011. Here we will discuss technical an logical changes to the app, as well as inform you where we stand in the development of Android version of Roofing Calc app. For a full list of features, check out the Roofing Calculator app for iPhone and Android article, which we posted on Dec. 24, 2010.

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Because there are quite a few roof types available to homeowners, it’s important to understand not only the costs associated with installing a particular roofing system, but also the benefits and drawbacks of common roof types. Now, lets cover some basic roofing prices for several different types of roofing systems. The least expensive roof replacement options will be listed first.

Asphalt shingle roofs are among the least expensive roofs for residential homes.  Asphalt shingle is the most frequently installed roofing product in America.  Although asphalt shingle roofing costs less than other types of roofs, they have a low lifespan expectancy, contain petroleum products, and ultimately pollute the environment.

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