How much does a Roof Repair cost? Is it more costly in Los Feliz than Silverlake or Sherman Oaks?
Roofers in the San Fernando Valley (such as Sherman Oaks) will charge the same as roofers in Los Feliz or Silverlake, and here’s why… There are some guidelines to how much it costs to repair your roof. Let’s assume:
• Roof is walkable – not very steep.
• Roof is an everyday product, such as composition shingle.
• Roof is not in terrible condition.
• Roof access is normal (not 3 stories, up 3 flights, on a hill, 100 foot walk, and so on.)
• Your house is average size, say, 2000 square feet, although this doesn’t always have a major bearing unless overall maintenance is a big part of the proposal.
For this type of roof you should pay about $400 for a localized repair (say, one leak or replacing a few shingles) and some routine maintenance like sealing up all the pipes and generally going over the roof more thoroughly and spot sealing random penetrations, sealing a crack here and there, etc.
When composition shingles get too old, say, over 20 years, they can be nearly impossible to repair properly. It gets to a point where they are too brittle and cannot be manipulated and will just break when you try to work with them but apart from that, they should be repairable.
This is for a professional estimator who came to your door, analyzed it, sent you a bid and then dispatched a repairman with specific instructions.
Why so much? There are a few reasons and chief among them is the cost for a professional roofer in terms of insurance. Roofers work rates are among the steepest in the industry since it is a hazardous job. However, the roofer gets paid the same rate for loading up his truck, going to the supplier, driving to your doorstep, driving back and unloading at the end of the day. Roofers don’t do any of this for free. Between WorkComp, and liability insurance, you’re looking at a cost to the contractor – before markup for profit, etc., of $45 – 65 per hour for one man. This of course is before material costs, operating costs and then last but not least, profit.
You may be surprised (even annoyed) at the fact that a two man repair team shows up and spends less than an hour on your roof doing a repair that you paid $400 for. But bear in mind that the professional estimator who showed up probably, all told, spent already 2 hours on this. The repairmen who came to your house also spent time getting briefed on what to do, getting supplies, drove to where you live, and then cleaned up and probably went back to the shop as well, none of which is done for free. On a repair such as this, the estimator will make about $51 for his time.
Also, if you live way up in the hills away from the city, most of the roofers you call are not going to live near you. You will pay a premium for additional travel time to and fro. If you have a steep roof, a slate roof, etc., these costs can be 3 to 4 times a normal shingle repair.
Call around to the roofers in Los Feliz, Silverlake or Sherman Oaks and you should find this to be the case.