Let’s face it: there isn’t a ton of information on transparent pricing, especially when it comes to contractor-driven trades. Try and find a clear breakdown of estimated costs and you might find what you’re looking for, but most of the time there’s a pushy salesguy shoving a price in your face.
Pacific Exteriors, with nearly 20 years of experience in the industry, is implementing the change we want to see in the industry. With our built-in roofing cost calculator, we prioritize homeowner trust and pricing transparency.
Outside of helpful tools like cost calculators, understanding what goes into contract pricing can also help you decide between contractors.
From the obvious costs, like your roofing type and accessories, to costs like permitting and size or complexity, we’ll break down for you step by step.
Let’s jump right in.
What Influences the Cost of Your Roofing Project?
There are a variety of factors that can affect the price tag on your roofing project.
First and foremost is the size and angle of your roof: the more steep your roof is, the harder it is to place roofing on it. This affects cost greatly.
Next, it’s the type of roofing you choose and add-ons and accessories.
The more unfamiliar costs that can crop up during a project include government licensing, labor costs, and tear-down and disposal fees.
Fret not—we’ll break down each of these components and explain clearly what they mean.
The Type of Roofing You Choose Impacts the Cost
There are three main types of roofing: asphalt, metal, and slate. Asphalt and metal are the most common within the United States, with asphalt coming out far ahead.
Caption: Price range from Pacific Exteriors for Atlanta, Georgia.
Asphalt roofing has three main styles: three-tab, architectural, and designer. The differences between these three types is the durability and price.
- Three-tab shingles are the cheapest out of the three. This is because they’re much thinner (only 1 layer) compared to architectural and designer shingles, and because there’s less thickness to them overall, they are prone to damage during storms.
- Architectural shingles hit the sweet spot for many homeowners between durability and affordability, as it sits right in the middle. Comprised of 2 layers of fiberglass mat and gravel, architectural shingles last much longer and are able to weather more. Our PNW pricing for architectural shingles is broken up into three groups: good, better, best. While the pricing depends on where you are, the pricing for a 2000 square foot home starts at $7.85, $9.61, and $11.07 respectively.
- Designer shingles are the most expensive and most durable type of shingles. Made thicker and wider to mimic slate roofs, the extra manufacturing cost increases the price by nearly three times the amount of asphalt shingles.
Metal roofing is another popular alternative to common asphalt. While it is pricier, it’s also more eco-friendly and sustainable because metal roofs are easily recycled and made of recyclable materials. It’s also much more durable at high wind speeds.
The two differences of metal roofing are the fastener types. Fasteners are interlocking mechanisms that connect metal roofing, preventing water from getting into your home. Our pricing for metal roofing for a 2000 square-foot home starts at $27.42 per square foot.
- Concealed fastener panels are when the fasteners are interlocked and invisible. Instead of having the screws directly placed into the roof, the metal roofing panels themselves are manufactured to lock together. Concealed fastener panels are sturdier and less prone to rusting as a result. However, this attribute makes them more expensive as well.
- Exposed fastener panels have visible connectors (often screws) that make them more prone to rust. This makes them the slightly cheaper option between the two.
Here’s a helpful picture from GNMC on the differences between the two types of siding.
Lastly, slate roofing is the most expensive and long-lasting. Slate roofing is made of stone, which can exclude a lot of homes based on their structural weight-holding capabilities. Slate is a type of natural rock that breaks into sheets easily. They are processed from their raw form to become smaller, more manageable tiles for installation.
Because it requires more hands-on processing (breaking down large rocks of stone is not machine-handled), the labor cost is more. Being heavier also means more transport and shipping costs.
Size and Steepness Affect Price
It seems obvious, but the size and complexity of your roof will affect the cost. A 6,200-square foot home with a steep roof will be much more expensive than a 1,300-square foot home with a less sloped roof.
This is a helpful infographic on different roof types and will be helpful for you when locating contractors for your home renovation project.
Steve, our head project manager, says that the difficulty of roofing installation lies its steepness. Gambrel and mansard types of roofs are more difficult because it requires additional safety equipment and training, and a different installation style. Open/box gable roofs are flatter, meaning that roofers can install while standing on the roof.
The steeper your roof is, the more expensive it will be. Steeper roofs require more safety precautions and experience to install.
Add Ons and Accessories Can Affect Cost
The third semi-controllable cost when it comes to your project are add-ons and accessories. This includes necessary accessories like:
- Underlayment
- Vents
- and Ridge caps
Additional add-ons that are highly recommended but not necessary are
- Flashing
- Ice and water shields
- Fasteners
- Starter strips
- and Sealants and adhesives.
If you have further questions about how this information can be applied to your home specifically, with your estimator or project manager on which accessories are recommended for your specific roofing project.
Tear Off, Disposal, and Labor Costs go Hand in Hand
One part of the home renovation process homeowners easily forget about is the disposal process—yet it’s one of the most important parts overall. You don’t want a whole pile of old roofing in your yard, after all!
Dropping off a large pile of waste in the dump requires a fee, and the equipment (dump truck, loading labor, etc.) all have a cost. Labor costs to move and take off all the old roofing contribute to that cost.
Sometimes, during this part of the process, contractors can discover layers upon layers of old roofing that wasn’t visible prior to the project siding. One project manager at Pacific Exteriors shared that on one of his job sites, they found five layers of hidden roofing.
This increased the timeline for the project by weeks, as the contractors had to spend five times the scheduled amount of time to safely tear off and dispose of all the old roofing.
That extra time affects labor costs, which also depend on the style of your roof, project length, and occasionally, weather.
Because a steep roof requires more training and a special style of installation, it will cost more compared to a flatter roof where the installation is easier for greener contractors to install.
Additionally, the longer the project is, the more resources the company focuses there. Project coordinators, project managers, and contractors are just some of the people involved and they all require scheduling coordination which costs more time to plan out.
Lastly, weather can affect your project for similar reasons, because weather delays can cause projects to be pushed back. However, experienced contractors will always have strategies to mitigate weather delays.
The Potential Hidden Fee: Permits and Licensing
Permitting is one of the most continuous and difficult parts of home renovation, as permitting frequently encounters delays and takes forever. Additionally, if your home is built on an environmentally critical area, it can dictate what sorts of home renovations you are allowed to do.
Quick definition break: Environmentally critical areas (ECAs) are properties and areas that need to be protected in the name of public safety. This includes areas that are landslide-prone, liquefaction-prone, seismic hazard areas, etc. For a full list, head to the seattle.gov website to learn more.
Permitting for areas like these take months—the best thing you can do to jumpstart the process is to decide sooner rather than later when you want to schedule your home renovations.
The Elements of a Smooth, Stress-Free Roofing Project
While roofing projects can seem much more straightforward than siding projects, there is still quite a lot to consider.
If you’re a homeowner, deciding what you want for your home can be a balancing act between cost and efficacy. There are two options you can control (type of roofing and add ons/accessories) and four you can’t (labor, licensing, steepness and size of roof, and disposal).
Find yourself struggling? Fill out our 60-second form to schedule your free estimate, where you’ll be paired with an incredibly knowledgeable estimator. They’re the guys that’ll know the answers—ask away!
Disclaimer: All prices in this article are accurate as of September 2025. Prices may change at the time of your appointment due to inflation and rising business costs. Please contact us and schedule an appointment to discuss updated pricing.
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