A roofing estimate, line by line

A homeowner with three roofing estimates on the kitchen table is not comparing roofs. They are comparing documents. One is a number on the back of a business card. One is four pages of boilerplate with the total buried on page three. One shows what comes off, what goes back on, and what happens if the crew finds rot underneath.

The third one is the only page a homeowner can actually check against the crew's work. Here are two of them, written out.

Every dollar figure below is made up so the arithmetic is easy to follow. Your unit prices come out of your own costs — see how roofing is priced per square and DoneQuote for roofers.

Estimate 1: one-story ranch, tear-off and reshingle

Cedar Ridge Roofing LLC · 4120 Millwright Road · (555) 010-4188 · [email protected] Estimate #2026-356 · Issued August 23, 2026 · Valid through September 22, 2026

For: Dana Whitfield, 812 Larkspur Lane

Scope: Remove one layer of existing asphalt shingle down to the deck. Install 24 squares of architectural shingle, color to be selected from samples. 5/12 pitch, straight gable, driveway available for dumpster and material drop.

Included: tear-off and disposal, all underlayment, starter, drip edge, ridge vent, ridge cap, two pipe boots, cleanup, and a 5-year workmanship warranty.

Not included: any decking that turns out to be bad (priced above, per sheet), gutter replacement, fascia or soffit repair, satellite dish removal or reinstall, interior drywall repair.

Payment: deposit on material delivery, balance on completion. Estimate assumes a driveway free of vehicles on the tear-off day.

Estimate 2: two-story colonial, two layers, cut-up roof

Same crew, same shingle, 32 squares instead of 24. The roof is 9/12, carries two layers, and has six valleys, a masonry chimney, two skylights and no driveway wide enough for a truck — everything gets hand-carried. It also sits in a jurisdiction that requires an eave ice barrier. Whether yours does is your building department's call — the code edition and the local amendments it has adopted decide that, and it is not a national rule.

Not included: skylight replacement (flashing only — the units stay), chimney masonry repair or crown work, gutter and downspout replacement, and any decking beyond the per-sheet rate above.

Thirty-three percent more roof, twice the price: $543 per square on the ranch against $814 on the colonial. A homeowner who heard a per-square number from a neighbor will ask about that gap. The pitch, layer, access and flashing lines are the answer, and they are countable.

Two lines that are on neither total

Neither estimate shows a building permit. Most jurisdictions require one to tear off and replace a roof, and the fee, the inspection and whether you or the homeowner may pull it are all local. Ask your building department, then give it its own line.

Sales tax is off both totals for the same reason. Whether roofing labor is taxable, whether a full replacement is treated differently from a repair, and whether you owe tax on materials at the supply house or collect it from the homeowner are all set state by state. Your state revenue department publishes the rule for your trade. Settle it there, or with your CPA, before you print a total.

The line with a quantity of zero

The sheathing line is the most important one on both estimates, and on a good day it stays at $0.

You cannot see the deck until the shingles are off. Leave the line out and you end up standing on a torn-off roof in the afternoon, naming a price to a homeowner who has no way to say no. Put the rate on the page while they are still deciding instead: $95 per 4x8 sheet, billed as used, photographed before it is covered. They agree to the number on the day they sign.

That is a change order, and a number of states require change orders on residential work to be written and signed before the extra work starts. The threshold and the required wording vary; check your state contractor licensing board or attorney general's consumer pages.

Rotten fascia, rusted drip edge and failed chimney crowns get the same treatment: a unit rate, quantity zero.

Why the "valid through" date is not decoration

Both estimates carry an expiration date. Asphalt shingle and metal accessory prices move on the manufacturer's schedule, not yours, and an increase generally applies to material shipped on or after its effective date — not to the date you wrote the estimate. There is no standard validity window in roofing. The number that matters is how long your own supplier holds a quoted price: ask them, then match it. When an old estimate comes back signed four months later, you re-price instead of arguing, because the page said so.

Two different warranties, and they are not interchangeable

A shingle replacement usually carries two warranties, and homeowners routinely hear them as one.

Your workmanship warranty covers installation: flashing, fastening, and leaks caused by how the roof was put on. You set the term, and it is worth only as much as your business is still around to honor it.

The manufacturer's material warranty covers the shingle itself, and it comes from the shingle maker, not from you. It carries conditions. Adequate attic ventilation is a standard one — several major manufacturers exclude damage tied to inadequate ventilation, unvented attics or foamed decks. The enhanced versions typically add more: installation by a contractor that manufacturer has certified, and registration inside a set window after the job is finished. Coverage commonly prorates after an initial period, and transfer to a new owner is usually allowed once, only if they notify the manufacturer in time.

Write both on the estimate, separately, with the manufacturer named. Do not summarize the material warranty in your own words — read the terms for the shingle you carry and attach them. Promising something the shingle maker does not cover is your problem, not theirs.

Getting the second estimate written as fast as the first

The colonial has sixteen lines. The ranch has nine. Nothing on the longer one is unusual — the same drip edge and ridge vent lines, more pipe boots, and the pitch, access and flashing adders the ranch never needed — but it is the one that gets written at the end of a long day and comes out missing the hand-load hours.

In DoneQuote you load those units once, at the prices you charge. Then describe the roof, or upload the photos from the walkaround, and the draft comes back with the lines on it and quantities for you to correct. The sheathing line stays where you put it, at zero.