Free Roofing Estimate Template
Made for roofing contractors who price by the square and win jobs at the kitchen table. Measure the roof, drop your numbers into the template, and hand the homeowner a line-item PDF before the competitor's salesman has finished his pitch.
Works as a roof replacement estimate form or a roof repair estimate template — with room for tear-off, decking, underlayment, and every accessory a proper scope should show.
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What to Include in a Roofing Estimate
Roof measurements in squares
State the roof size in squares (1 square = 100 sq ft), the pitch, and the number of stories, plus a waste factor — typically 10% for simple gables, 15%+ for cut-up hip roofs with valleys. Homeowners comparing bids can't judge fairness without knowing whether both roofers measured 24 squares or 28. Showing your measurement basis instantly separates you from the guy who eyeballed it from the truck.
Tear-off and disposal
Specify how many existing layers come off and where the debris goes: dumpster size, hauling, and dump fees. Tear-off runs $1-$2 per square foot for one layer and climbs steeply for second layers or wood shake removal. A bid that's suspiciously cheap is often planning a layover — installing over old shingles — which many manufacturers won't fully warranty.
Underlayment and ice & water shield
Name the underlayment product — synthetic felt is now standard over old 15-lb paper — and where ice and water shield membrane gets applied: eaves, valleys, penetrations. Northern building codes commonly require membrane extending 24 inches inside the warm wall at the eaves. This is the layer that actually keeps water out when a shingle fails, so it deserves its own line.
Decking repair allowance
You can't see rotted sheathing until tear-off, so price it per sheet upfront: typically $80-$150 per 4x8 sheet of plywood or OSB replaced. Include a small number of sheets in the base bid or set a unit price for extras. The roofers who get bad reviews are the ones who discover $2,000 of decking mid-job with no unit price on paper.
Flashing, ventilation, and accessories
Line-item the metalwork and vents: drip edge (priced per linear foot), step and chimney flashing, pipe boots, ridge vent, and ridge cap shingles. Reusing corroded flashing is the classic corner-cut on cheap bids, and inadequate ventilation voids shingle warranties. Listing these tells the homeowner your number covers a complete system, not just shingles.
Warranty terms — both of them
Distinguish the manufacturer's material warranty (25 years to lifetime on architectural shingles, often requiring certified installation and proper ventilation) from your workmanship warranty covering installation errors, typically 2-10 years. Print both on the estimate with their durations. 'Lifetime warranty' with no explanation of which warranty is a red flag homeowners are increasingly trained to spot.
Sample Roofing Estimate Line Items
| Description | Amount |
|---|---|
| Tear-off and disposal: 1 layer asphalt, 24 squares | $3,120.00 |
| Architectural shingles installed: 24 squares @ $465/sq | $11,160.00 |
| Synthetic underlayment and ice & water shield at eaves/valleys | $1,380.00 |
| Decking replacement: 4 sheets 7/16 OSB @ $110/sheet | $440.00 |
| New drip edge, pipe boots, and step flashing | $860.00 |
| Ridge vent and ridge cap: 42 linear ft | $630.00 |
| Chimney reflash with counterflashing | $550.00 |
Example pricing for illustration — your rates will vary by market and scope.
Roofing prices per square in 2025-2026
Asphalt shingle replacement — the bulk of US residential roofing — is running $450-$800 per square installed in 2025-2026, which works out to $4.50-$8.00 per square foot. A typical 22-square (2,200 sq ft) roof therefore lands between $10,000 and $17,500 with tear-off, synthetic underlayment, new flashing, and ridge vent included. Architectural shingles dominate at these prices; 3-tab still exists at the bottom of the range but is disappearing from quality bids.
Other systems price very differently: standing seam metal runs $900-$1,600 per square installed, stone-coated steel $800-$1,400, concrete tile $800-$2,500, and cedar shake $800-$1,500. Steep pitches (over 8/12), multiple stories, and heavily cut-up rooflines add 15-40% to labor. Repairs are their own market — minor shingle repairs run $150-$1,000, flashing and chimney work $200-$1,500, and most shops enforce a $300-$500 minimum service call.
Inside the number, materials are roughly 40% of an asphalt job and labor plus overhead the rest; roofing crews bill out at $75-$150 per hour per installer equivalent. Healthy roofing companies price for 30-40% gross margin because warranty callbacks, steep-roof insurance premiums, and weather days are brutal on thinner margins. If a competitor is 25% under your bid, they're either skipping tear-off, reusing flashing, or won't exist when the warranty claim comes.
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Estimate vs. Quote: What's the Difference?
Roofing lives closer to the quote end of the spectrum than most trades: once you've measured the roof and counted layers, there's little excuse for the final number to move — with one big exception, and that exception is decking. The professional pattern is a firm price for everything visible plus a disclosed unit price for sheathing replacement discovered at tear-off, converted to a signed change order with photos before new plywood goes down. Deposits of 10-30% at signing are typical for retail jobs; insurance restoration work runs differently, with the contractor working from the carrier's approved scope and collecting the deductible plus supplements. Be wary of collecting large deposits before material delivery — several states restrict it, and homeowners have been coached to refuse.
Roofing Estimate FAQs
How many squares is a typical roof, and how do I convert?
One roofing square equals 100 square feet of roof surface. The average US home has a 17-25 square roof once pitch is factored in — a 2,000 sq ft house with a 6/12 pitch has roughly 2,200-2,400 sq ft of actual roof plane. Always estimate off measured roof area with a waste factor, never off the home's footprint.
Do roofers need a license to bid work?
It varies more than almost any other trade. Some states require a specific roofing contractor license (Florida, California over $500, Illinois), others regulate at the city or county level, and a few have no state requirement at all. Post-storm markets attract unlicensed out-of-state crews, so putting your license and insurance certificate numbers on the estimate is a genuine competitive weapon.
Should I bid per square or give one lump-sum price?
Show the homeowner a total, but build it per square internally and itemize the major components — tear-off, shingles, underlayment, flashing, ventilation. Full unit-price transparency (your exact per-square rate) invites bid-shopping, while a bare lump sum looks like a guess. Component itemization with a decking unit price is the balance most successful roofers strike.
How long should a roofing estimate stay valid?
15-30 days is standard, and shorter than other trades for a reason: shingle manufacturers have pushed multiple price increases per year recently, sometimes 5-10% at a time with 30 days' notice. Date-stamp the estimate, state the validity window, and reserve the right to pass through manufacturer increases if the job is signed but scheduled months out.
How do estimates work on insurance claims?
On storm damage claims, the insurer's adjuster produces a scope (usually in Xactimate) and the claim pays actual cost up to that approved amount — so the homeowner generally can't pocket the difference by hiring cheap. Your estimate's role shifts to documenting damage the adjuster missed and filing supplements. Legally, the homeowner owes their deductible; contractors who offer to 'eat the deductible' are committing insurance fraud in a growing list of states.
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