Roofing pricing
Roofing pricing calculator: count the squares, then price the job
A roofing square is 100 square feet of roof. Multiply the footprint by the pitch factor to get the real roof area, add waste for what you order, and price the job from your own costs: materials on the squares you order, labor and tear-off on the squares of roof, disposal and permits. Then add your overhead and profit as shares of the selling price. The calculator below does each step. The cost numbers in it are examples; replace them with yours.
1. Roof squares
Footprint is the area the roof covers seen from above, overhangs included.
| Pitch | Pitch factor | Squares per 1,000 sq ft of footprint |
|---|---|---|
| 3/12 | 1.031 | 10.31 |
| 4/12 | 1.054 | 10.54 |
| 5/12 | 1.083 | 10.83 |
| 6/12 | 1.118 | 11.18 |
| 7/12 | 1.158 | 11.58 |
| 8/12 | 1.202 | 12.02 |
| 9/12 | 1.250 | 12.50 |
| 10/12 | 1.302 | 13.02 |
| 12/12 | 1.414 | 14.14 |
3. Your overhead share
Use last year’s books: everything not tied to a single job, against all your sales.
Changing these fills the overhead box in step 2, until you type in that box yourself.
How to price a roofing job, step by step
- Measure and count squares. Footprint × pitch factor ÷ 100 is squares of roof; add your waste allowance for squares to order.
- Price the materials on what you order. Shingles plus underlayment, starter, ridge, flashing, drip edge, vents and fasteners, per square.
- Price labor and tear-off on the roof. Your crew pay or sub rate per square, and tear-off for each layer coming off.
- Add the job costs. Dumpster and disposal, permit, anything else this job needs.
- Add overhead and profit as shares of the price. Price = direct cost ÷ (1 − overhead share − profit share). Know your overhead share from your own books.
- Offer a choice. Two or three material systems you would stand behind, each priced from its own cost.
Retail jobs and insurance claims
When the homeowner pays, your price comes from your costs, as above. On an insurance claim the insurer’s estimate sets what gets paid, so the price is not yours to set. The calculator is still useful there: enter your real costs and see whether the approved amount covers them before you commit a crew.
Your prices come from your costs. Your leads hear from the roofers around you.
MyIntelBrief watches the roofing companies near you — the services, financing and specials they post, their new reviews, the crews they’re hiring, new companies showing up after a storm — and emails you a short brief on what changed. Type your company name and pick it from the dropdown for a free look at who you’re competing with. Here’s a sample brief for a roofing company.
Frequently asked questions
- How do you calculate roofing squares?
- A roofing square is 100 square feet of roof. Measure the footprint the roof covers, overhangs included, and multiply by the pitch factor: the square root of (1 + (rise ÷ 12)²). A 6/12 roof has a factor of 1.118, so a 2,000 square foot footprint is 2,236 square feet of roof, or 22.36 squares. Add a waste allowance for the squares you order.
- What is the pitch factor for a roof?
- The number that turns a flat footprint into the real sloped area: the square root of (1 + (rise ÷ 12)²). A 4/12 roof is 1.054, 6/12 is 1.118, 8/12 is 1.202, 10/12 is 1.302 and 12/12 is 1.414. The table on this page lists more.
- How much waste should I add when ordering shingles?
- It depends on the roof: a simple gable wastes little, while hips, valleys, dormers and short runs waste more. Track what you ordered against what the roof measured on your own past jobs and use that figure; the calculator takes whatever percentage you enter.
- How much do roofers charge per square?
- Enough to cover materials, labor, tear-off, disposal and permits on that job, plus the company's overhead and profit, which depends on each roofer's costs and the roof itself. The calculator works out your price per square from your own numbers instead of quoting someone else's.
- How do you price a roofing job?
- Add the direct costs: materials on the squares you order, labor and tear-off on the squares of roof, the dumpster or disposal, and the permit. Then add overhead and profit as shares of the selling price: price = direct cost ÷ (1 − overhead share − profit share). Offer two or three material options so the homeowner can choose.
- What does overhead and profit mean in roofing?
- Overhead is what the company spends to run, not tied to one job: office, salespeople, insurance, vehicles, marketing, your own pay. Profit is what is left after that. Your overhead share is your yearly overhead divided by your yearly sales. On insurance claim jobs, whether overhead and profit is paid depends on the policy and the claim.
- What is the difference between markup and margin?
- Margin is a share of the selling price; markup is added to the cost. If overhead and profit together are 30% of the price, the markup on direct cost is 30 ÷ 70 = 42.9%. Applying 30% as a markup instead prices the job lower than you meant to.
- Does this work for insurance claim jobs?
- On a claim the insurer's estimate sets what is paid, so the calculator is for retail jobs the homeowner pays directly. On a claim it is still useful the other way round: put in your real costs to see whether the approved amount covers them.
More pricing calculators for service businesses: plumbing, HVAC, auto repair, lawn care, cleaning, pest control, electrical and landscaping. See how MyIntelBrief works for home services.