Wondering what to cost would be to replace a roof in Woodbridge, Virginia? Find the answers to this and other roof replacement questions in this short guide.

A new roof can be a significant investment into the long-term value of your home. The number one enemy of a house is moisture, and a roof is the most important part of your home when it comes to keeping that moisture where it belongs: outside.

When you consider the cost of your house, something that in most cases represents the largest investment an individual will make in their lifetime, the cost, which can range from $10,000 to $20,000, for a new roof seems like a small price to pay in order to offer your home ongoing protection.

Energy Efficiency of Roofs

A new roof from a quality roofing company in Woodbridge, VA can also reduce your costs over the long term. When you’re assessing the cost of your new roof, consider how the material that you choose, and the installation team that you hire, can improve the energy efficiency of your home. Certain materials are more energy efficient than others, offering more insulation to your home, and experienced roofing professionals are skilled at installing the materials in such a way as to minimize any leaks where hot air can be exchanged between your home and the outside atmosphere.

If your heating and cooling bills are exceptionally high, you could consider having an energy audit done of your home. This involves having a professional assess your home, using specialized tools to detect any place where heat is being exchanged at an increased rate between the air inside your home and the air outside of it. Because of the natural tendency of hot air to rise, many of these weak points are often in the roof. If you have a number of leaks, or even a few significant ones in your roof system, a new roof can greatly decrease your energy costs over the next 10-20 years.

Cost of Roofing and Labor in Woodbridge, VA

When you’re hiring a crew to install a new roof on your home, it is always a good idea to talk with them in advance in order to understand how they calculate their labor costs when offering you a quote. Usually they are going to base their quotes on the size of your roof, the pitch of your roof, and the complexity of your roof.

The Size of Your Roof Affects Roofing Labor Costs

The square footage of your roof provides the base number that roofing companies use to provide you with a quote. This is merely a jumping off point though, as there are any number of factors that will alter the quote from there. If you took three homes with 1600 square foot roofs, you would likely find that the same roofing company would provide three greatly different quotes for replacing the roof on those homes. The reason for this is that the amount of time it takes to complete  a roofing job is affected more by the factors than follow than it is just by the size.

Pitch Affects Roofing Costs

Pitch refers to how steep the roof angle on your home is. A general rule of thumb is the steeper the pitch, the greater the labor cost is going to be for installation of a new roof. This is due to safety and the difficulty involved in the job.

When a roof progresses beyond a certain pitch, the safety precautions that workers need to take change. This can range from the use of a safety harness to the need to install scaffolding for work on exceptionally steep roofs. Steep roofs also take more time because materials and tools can’t be safely stored on the roof, left readily accessible to the working crew, and instead need to be grabbed as needed.

Similar to pitch, exceptionally high roofs can also cause the cost of a roofing job to increase, if the height of the job affects the safety considerations or equipment needed to complete the job.

How Complexity Affects Roofing Labor Costs

Many modern homes have become miniature architectural masterpieces, with multiple roof angles, peaks, dormers, skylights and other features combining in order to create a highly beautiful and appealing roof line. However, as nice as these complex roofs look, they take much longer to work on when replacing a roof.

Every time you have a skylight, a window, or an angle involved or around your roofing materials, the laborers need to take special considerations in order to ensure that the roof remains water tight. Any of these features represent a point where water will naturally want to pool or run to, which means that you need to install the roofing materials in specialized ways in order to direct the water to your rain gutters and away from the house below.

The increased cost brought about due to complex roofs can be frustrating for some people, but it is always a good sign if you hire a working crew that quotes you extra labor time to attend to these types of challenges. This indicates that the company takes workmanship seriously, and that instead of simply trying to complete as many roofing jobs as possible in short order, they take their job seriously and want to do the job right the first time, providing you with a watertight roof that will protect your home for decades.

Work With a Roofing Company to Assess Cost or Roof Replacement Systems

At best, only general guidelines can be provided when it comes to how much a roof in Woodbridge, VA will cost. The only way to get an accurate picture of the total cost of a roof replacement is to have a roofing professional come to your home and evaluate it. They have the skill and experience to look at the particulars of your roof and know exactly how much time it should take their crew to do a high-quality job.

Other factors can also affect your price. The materials that you choose to use and the time of year you install your roof can affect pricing as well. Once again however, a consultation with a roofing contractor is the best way to put together the complete picture of how much your roof replacement will cost.
Contact our experts today for a free estimate.