How to quote a new metal roof?

Someone recently asked me to “park the price of a metal roof”. I’m afraid I insulted him when I couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

The helpful answer is so long and conditional that it’s almost useless. Only our company offers metal roofing ranging from under $1.00 per square foot to over $15. If you add labor to these numbers, you can easily have a price range that could equal a nearly 20-to-1 differential. So you could have answered, “Something between $5,000 and $100,000. How is that?” That for a baseball stadium?”

The fact is that there is such a variety of options that any attempt to park can set a ridiculous standard against which any given job will bear no relation. We have “economy” roofs that are meant to be utilitarian and quick to install. They’re not particularly pretty, and many people wouldn’t want them in their home, but they work for what you pay for, and some people are simply delighted with the result. On the other hand, I have clients who want the best and want their investment to be a showcase for their home. For that class of client, few things advertise “Real Estate Quality” like a solid copper or zinc roof.

Metal roofing materials also have the distinction of possibly having the widest variable in labor rates for installation. Since there is such a colossal difference in detail levels between the cheapest and best material styles, the cost of labor is consequently very different. The time it takes to slap and “clamp” long, seamless panels into a walkable pitched roof is possibly a tenth of the time it might take to fine tune around architectural details on a steep and complex English Tudor mansion. As one considers the range of variables, it becomes easier and easier to understand why the “ball park” is fraught with danger when it comes to metal roofing prices.

One thing is for sure, whether you are looking for the most functional or the most impressive, few materials offer the breadth of value and appearance that metal roofing materials do. If you visit our metal roofing sales website, metalroofnet.com, to research metal roofing options, you’ll quickly see from the wide variety of appearances why metal roofing prices are hard to come by. What would be helpful though is to choose a profile or two from some of the photos you like and see if there is a building or house style that resembles yours. With a rough roofline and profile to consider, a quick phone call to us and a few more questions answered and you might get something close to a useful number. Of course, if you really want to do your homework, go to http://www.ReRoof101.com and ask for a computerized aerial photo map and pricing formula for your house and get VERY useful numbers. Then you’ll be way ahead of even seasoned roofers in having good numbers from which to make decisions about your next roof, metal or otherwise.