Roofers price by the square, 100 sq ft of roof surface, installed. Architectural asphalt runs $450–$750 per square, so the most common American job, about 20 squares on a one-story ranch, lands at $9,000–$15,000. Standing-seam metal runs $1,000–$1,800 per square and clay tile $1,000–$2,000. Here's the full material table and the four things that move your specific number.
National installed ranges for 2025-26, including tear-off of one layer, underlayment, flashing, and standard venting:
| Material | Per Square | 20-Square Total | Life (yrs) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3-tab asphalt | $350–$550 | $7,000–$11,000 | 20–25 |
| Architectural asphalt | $450–$750 | $9,000–$15,000 | ~30 |
| Designer asphalt | $700–$1,200 | $14,000–$24,000 | 40–50 |
| Metal panel (exposed fastener) | $600–$1,000 | $12,000–$20,000 | 30–45 |
| Stone-coated steel | $850–$1,300 | $17,000–$26,000 | 40–70 |
| Cedar shake | $600–$1,100 | $12,000–$22,000 | 25–35 |
| Synthetic composite | $700–$1,300 | $14,000–$26,000 | 40–50 |
| Concrete tile | $800–$1,600 | $16,000–$32,000 | 50+ |
| Metal standing seam | $1,000–$1,800 | $20,000–$36,000 | 40–70 |
| Clay tile | $1,000–$2,000 | $20,000–$40,000 | 50–100 |
| Natural slate | $1,500–$3,000 | $30,000–$60,000 | 75–150 |
Enter footprint and pitch, pick a material, and add layers, stories, complexity, and region for a low-to-high installed estimate.
Roof Replacement Cost Calculator →Roofers don't quote your floor area; they quote sloped surface. Multiply your home's footprint by the pitch factor: 4/12 is 1.054, 6/12 is 1.118, 8/12 is 1.202, 12/12 is 1.414. A 1,800 sq ft footprint at 6/12 becomes 2,012 sq ft of roof, or 20.1 squares. Measure the eave outline rather than trusting conditioned square footage, since garages and overhangs add real surface. If you don't know your pitch, count exposed shingle courses on the gable end, about 5 inches each, over a 12-inch run; our roof pitch calculator converts any rise and run into the factor.
Three-tab is the flat old standard, fading out of favor and out of some inventories. Architectural (dimensional) shingles are thicker, shadowed, rated around 30 years, and are what four of five American re-roofs use now; they're also usually what warranty and insurance paperwork expects. Designer shingles imitate slate and shake at asphalt weight with 40-to-50-year ratings. If you're weighing metal against premium asphalt, standing seam at $1,000–$1,800 per square buys 40 to 70 years of life, snow shedding, and in hail states a 5 to 35 percent home-insurance discount, which compounds for decades.
Almost never for age. Policies cover sudden perils: wind tearing shingles off, hail bruising them, a limb through the deck. They don't cover a 25-year-old roof wearing out, which is what most replacements are, and an adjuster will say exactly that. Two trends tighten this further: carriers requiring roof inspections before renewal, and actual-cash-value roof endorsements that pay replacement cost minus depreciation. If your roof has genuine storm damage, document it with dated photos, get a roofer's inspection before filing (a denied claim still counts against you), and read your policy's roof schedule before you count on anything.
Rarely. Nailing over the old layer saves the tear-off, but code allows only one overlay, the extra heat shortens the new shingles' life, you can't inspect the deck, and the doubled weight matters on older trusses. The honest reason roofers sell it is speed. A full tear-off costs more and lets the crew nail sheathing, replace flashing, and find the soft spots, which is most of what separates a 25-year roof from a 15-year one.
Collect three, and make them comparable: same material brand and series, underlayment spec (synthetic versus felt), ice-and-water barrier at eaves, who pulls the permit, dumpster and protection included, and warranty split between workmanship and material. A bid that's 20 percent under the others usually cut one of those, not labor efficiency. If you're planning the order-of-operations for a whole exterior, our roofing materials calculator does the takeoff side: bundles, underlayment rolls, ridge cap, and starter strip from your squares.
A 2,000 sq ft footprint at 6/12 pitch is about 22.4 squares. Architectural asphalt runs $10,062 to $16,770 installed, standing-seam metal $22,360 to $40,248, and concrete tile $17,888 to $35,776. Add roughly 8 percent for two stories and $100 to $150 per square for each extra tear-off layer.
A square is 100 sq ft of roof surface, the unit shingles and underlayment are sold in, and it bundles the crew's day rate into a portable number. To cross-check a per-square price against per-foot language, divide by 100: $550 per square is $5.50 per sq ft.
Multiply your home's footprint by the pitch factor, then divide by 100. A 1,800 sq ft footprint at 6/12 has a 1.118 factor: 1,800 × 1.118 = 2,012 sq ft, or 20.1 squares. Common factors: 4/12 is 1.054, 6/12 is 1.118, 8/12 is 1.202, 12/12 is 1.414.
Only for sudden damage like wind, hail, or a fallen tree, minus your deductible, and only when an adjuster confirms it. Age-related wear, which is what most replacements are, is excluded almost everywhere, and a growing share of policies carry actual-cash-value roof endorsements that subtract depreciation.
Roof-over saves the $100 to $150 per square tear-off, about $2,000 to $3,000 on a 20-square job, but most building codes allow only one overlay, it hides deck damage, adds weight, and shortens the new roof's life. Most quality roofers and nearly all shingle warranties prefer a full tear-off.