
The roof of your home is designed to take a beating. After all, it is your home’s first line of defense against the elements. Each day, it protects the interior of your home from the punishing ultraviolet radiation emitted by the sun; it endures rain, snow, hail, and sleet; and it often takes damage as the wind picks up and carries trees, branches, leaves, and other detritus onto the rooftop.
Your roof can handle all of this for years with only minimal maintenance. Eventually, however, it will need to be replaced. Often, homeowners wish to use the need to replace their roofs as an opportunity to get something better. This often means also paying for tear off—the removal of the previous shingles on the roof so that they can be replaced.
It’s important, however, to know what the costs will be so you can plan properly. The cost of a new roof with tear-off can depend upon many variables which we’ll discuss below.
Start By Getting To Know Your Roof
It’s not really possible to quote the cost of a roof replacement with tear-off without knowing some details about the roof, for example, the square footage. Calculating this number is not quite as simple as multiplying the length and width of the home. While you will need to do this, you’ll also need to factor in the complexity and slope of your roof.
The roof complexity is a measurement of the hips, valleys, and other facets of your roof. As you might expect, a very complex roof will have a lot of these details. For most homes, however, there will only be a few. Either way, however, you’ll need to be well aware of this complexity.
The roof slope is the incline of the roof and can be measured as a ratio of the vertical rise over the horizontal run. You’ll need this information as well before you can properly determine the square footage of your roof.
Getting to know your roof also means understanding what it’s made out of. For example, what type of shingles does your roof employ? Most homes will utilize asphalt shingles since they are both inexpensive and weatherproof. However, wood, slate, and clay shingles are also not uncommon. The more information you have about the roof that’s over your head, the easier it will be to calculate the cost of a new roof with tear-off.
The Parts of Your Roof
Of course, a roof is more than just a bunch of shingles hammered over a wooden frame. Like any other structure in your home, a roof is complex. This means that replacing it is not a simple task. The truss serves as the basic skeleton of your roof. It is often a complex structure in its own right, with struts, rafters, joists, and plates serving to make up the entirety of the frame that will serve as the basis for your roof.
On top of the truss sits the decking, which is often made from solid wood and is built to hold a great deal of weight. Typically, the decking serves as the strongest part of your roof, and it’s the decking that does the most with regard to keeping the wind out when inclement weather strikes. On top of the decking, a layer of underlayment is installed. This is constructed from some type of waterproof material, usually felt, but it can be made from other materials as well, provided they are lightweight, strong, and capable of keeping the water from seeping through.
At the very top of everything, the shingles are layered in such a way as to appear aesthetically pleasing while also serving as the roof’s first line of defense against the elements. As we’ve previously mentioned, shingles can be made from many materials but are most commonly asphalt. Finally, the flashing helps to direct water away from vulnerable parts of the roof. Flashing is most commonly made from aluminum or other lightweight metals.
What Affects the Cost of Replacing a Roof?
Many different pieces contribute to a complete roof. When you are looking for a roof replacement with tear away, you’ll need to replace many of these parts completely. In fact, about 40 percent of the project’s final cost will be in materials. Since you’re opting for tear away, all of the old shingles will be removed and replaced entirely. It’s likely that the flashing, felt underlayment, and perhaps the decking will all need to be completely removed and replaced too. Fortunately, unless there is some serious structural damage to the home, it’s likely that the truss can remain intact.
If ordering new shingles, decking, flashing, and underlayment only accounts for 40 percent of the cost, where does the other 60 percent come from? The answer, of course, is labor. It’s critical that you hire a skilled roofing contractor from a company such as Interstate Roofing to perform your roof replacement for you, and hiring any skilled laborers tends to come with a certain amount of costs attached.
Note that while you may be able to find roofers who are willing to replace your roof for a lower fee, you should always regard such claims with suspicion. While it’s not necessary to overpay, it’s also true that you often get what you pay for. This is certainly true in roofing, and a skilled contractor will ultimately save you money in the long run, as they will construct a roof that requires significantly less maintenance and is far less likely to fail and end up needing costly emergency repairs.
So How Much Will My New Roof Cost?
It’s impossible to quote exactly the cost of a new roof with tear away, simply because there are so many variables in play that are unique to your home and your roof. However, most homeowners will spend tens of thousands. These costs can increase as you opt for more premium materials or have a larger roof. As you may expect, some parts of the country, such as the Pacific Northwest, tend to be far more expensive than others when it comes to roofing.