Roofing Cost Details and Estimates

External Sources & References for Roofing Cost Information

1. General: Here’s an interesting link: the University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Business Services publishes their most recent contract for roofing materials and installation services with one of the largest commercial roofing companies in the US with a breakdown by unit price for over 70 items related to the roofing work. Gives you a really good idea of what this stuff actually costs. At least in Wisconsin.

2. General: Price Trends: “Construction Data – Producer Prices and Employment Costs” is on the website of the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC). “Each month, AGC puts out tables and an explanation showing historical and recent changes in producer price indexes and employment cost indexes for construction materials, building types and subcontractor segments.”

3. General: Price Trends: “Producer Price Index (PPI) Detailed Report Information“. This is an excellent resource for roofing project cost projection. Once you’re on the page, scroll down to where it says “Current edition of the PPI Detailed Report” and click on it. This will open a very large PDF file. To save (a lot) of time, use CTRL-F to search for “roofing”. This will return all occurrences of “roofing” in the document, and you can jump from one to the next by using the arrows in the CTRL-F box. You can find price changes (as percentages) year-over-year and month-over-month for production material inputs, finished goods, roofing contractor services by region, and much more. On the website of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a division of the US Department of Labor.

4. General: A usefully accurate way to find out current material prices is to go to the Home Depot website and search for the item or material you’re interested in. If you’re using this information to verify roofing estimates, remember that contractors usually get volume discounts on the visible retail price at Home Depot, Lowe’s, or any place like that.

5. General: Another good source of current material prices is the GSA Advantage website. Quoting from the GSA (General Services Administration) website: “GSA Advantage!® is the online shopping and ordering system that provides access to thousands of contractors and millions of supplies (products) and services. Anyone may browse on GSA Advantage!® to view and compare the variety of products and services offered.” You can search for whatever product you’re interested in and get “pre-competed” price results.

6. General: Best Materials shows prices for a huge assortment of roofing products.

7. General: BuildDirect shows prices for an assortment of roofing products.

8. General: Grainger Industrial Supply shows current prices for a few construction materials.

9. Copper: Basic Copper gives prices for copper nails and copper sheets and rolls.

10. Fasteners: FastenerUSA supplies a variety of roofing fasteners (nails, screws, staples) and lists their prices.

11. Metal Roofing: For a general idea of what various types of metal roofing will cost you, see the Metal Roofing Cost page at the Metal Roof Manufacturers website.

12. Roof Drains: The “Roof Drain“ search results page on Amazon.

13. Used Materials: repurposedMATERIALS has prices for used construction materials and equipment. This is kind of a fun site to look through.

14. Ventilation Products: Active Ventilation Products provides prices for a variety of prefabricated items.