# Newbie roofer in CO



## hawkeye (Feb 15, 2011)

Hi all, great forum!

Newbie roofer/owner here in CO.I worked for quite some time for roofing crews but got tired of following orders to cut corners and "bang it out." Being fairly new to the business end of things I am a bit uncertain what to charge. I am a maticulous one man crew. I have tried hiring a few helpers but none met my approval...so for now I do imost of the work by myself. I often hire a few guys to help with tear off but thats it. 

Roofing prices are all over the board here as the "guest workers" work for peanuts and others change what I think are very high prices for shoddy work.

I could sure use some expertise advice..What is a good price for: 

lets say this is 4/12 pitch.

cost for tear off per sqft 1 layer 2 layer 3 layer

cost for putting down new shingles per sq (after tear off)

cost for a re-roof (no tear off)

What percent (if any) is acceptable to mark up materials


Are insurance jobs paying poorly? I recently got called to give a gal an estimate for her hail damaged roof. She showed me the insurance estimate which was $9200 for 2 layer tear off and put on 27 squares of 25 yr shingles. I thought that was quite good. Am I crazy? I do not want to bid too high and have the insurance company accuse me of gouging but OTOH I do not want to bid too low either. I have put together an estimate totaling $8k with 25% being materials, delivery and dumpster fees and the other 75% in labor. Thoughts?

Hawkeye


----------



## hawkeye (Feb 15, 2011)

Ok. What am I doing wrong that I got no responses?

Maybe this will help.

What would be a fair LABOR price to install 3 tab shingles on 2500 sf of roof? 

What would be a fair LABOR price to tear off two layers of 2500 sf of roof?

4/12 pitch, no valleys or peaks. 

This is labor only.

I guess I am trying to figure out the low-end, high-end and middle-ground for roofing labor prices.


----------



## 1985gt (Dec 21, 2010)

Everyone charges what they need to make on a job. Our company has to charge more since we have more over head then say you doing it by your self. You have been around so you should know what your worth. You know what materials will be, you what dump fee's run. You know how much you have to pay helpers for tear off, and you know about how long it will take to tear off. Now your laying up by your self so you have to figure out how long it will take and how much you should make an hour. dont forget to figure in your overhead and profit.


----------



## hawkeye (Feb 15, 2011)

Thanks! :thumbup:

ie On a 25 square 3 tab "tear-off and replace" what is a fair percentage for labor and profit? I want to charge enough to be successful but not so low to be labeled a lowballer.


----------



## Interloc (Apr 6, 2009)

every area is different


----------



## hawkeye (Feb 15, 2011)

Yes Interlock, I know labor prices vary. What's the average prices in your area.


----------



## English Roofer (Dec 26, 2008)

Hi hawkeye, I doubt very much anyone offering up the answer your looking for! As has been said it is different for every area and roofing company for that.
Check out some of Grumpys posts as he has a great system to work out what you should be charging for you personally.
Hope this helps
Cheers
Dave


----------



## RemStar (May 8, 2010)

Yea that is good, quote it at $100 less and pray


----------



## hawkeye (Feb 15, 2011)

Thank you Dave.



English Roofer said:


> Hi hawkeye, I doubt very much anyone offering up the answer your looking for! As has been said it is different for every area and roofing company for that.
> Check out some of Grumpys posts as he has a great system to work out what you should be charging for you personally.
> Hope this helps
> Cheers
> Dave


----------



## hawkeye (Feb 15, 2011)

I took your comment as sarcastic. If I am incorrect I apologize. I am just looking for some sound, experienced advice.




RemStar said:


> Yea that is good, quote it at $100 less and pray


----------



## RemStar (May 8, 2010)

I read your original post...if you can get $9100 you will be in great shape on that job. No sarcasm intended.


----------



## hawkeye (Feb 15, 2011)

OK..and sorry. 



RemStar said:


> I read your original post...if you can get $9100 you will be in great shape on that job. No sarcasm intended.


----------



## Roofmaster417 (Jun 7, 2010)

Give me insurance work over a hard bid any day.I haven't given an estimate for some time.As its already been mentioned what are you willing to do the work for? When I do insurance work I can get more than what is on paper.Add a little to the summary,and DON"T eat Deductables.

I despise hard bidding because you are competing with others who would remove the gold from grandma's dentures.Give me contingencies.When bidding use software to determine pricing,when hard bidding I stay within $500 of the bigger companies.My overhead isn't as much as a couple contractors BUT I am in this to make money.

Why underbid so much that you tarnish your local contracting "Norm"?.Slice someones bid then it will happen to you,then you do it,then its done back,then your norm is sh**.Maybe I don't have a $50,000-$100,000 overhead a month but I want the money as if I do.And I don't want to join the slice and dice local typicals who live by the season versus long term.


----------



## hawkeye (Feb 15, 2011)

RemStar said:


> I read your original post...if you can get $9100 you will be in great shape on that job. No sarcasm intended.


thank you. :thumbup:


----------

