Depending on what needs to be done, the cost of roof repairs can vary from a few hundred dollars to several thousand dollars.
The average cost of a simple roof repair in the United States is about $600, but many factors must be taken into consideration to come up with a more accurate estimate of how much any particular roof job will cost.
Shingle Replacement
The most common roof repair is the replacement of several damaged shingles to eliminate leaks. Replacing a few shingles is not as inexpensive at it may seen, however. Shingles are sold by the square, enough shingles to cover 100 square feet. These squares can cost $100 or more, and finding an exact match for a roof that has faded over time can be time consuming too.
Replacing damaged shingles also requires roofing nails, which cost about $65 per roll, and roofing cement, which often costs more than $20 a gallon.
With prices like theses, it is easy to see why contractors charge at least $250 for a small repair and often charge several hundred dollars more than that.
If a problem has existed for a while and the plywood underneath the shingles has been damaged, each sheet of plywood costs around $20 plus installation.
For roofs with several leaks, the most common way of fixing the problem is overlaying a complete layer of new shingles on top of the existing one. Taking into account the prices above, it is no surprise that contractors charge as much as $2 per square foot for new shingles installed over existing ones.
Other Roof Repairs
When a roof leaks in the valleys created where two or more different angled surfaces come together, it could be a failure of the flashing. Flashing is a piece of metal that covers inside angles so the exposed edges of the wood don’t take on water. When this fails, water can come in around the plywood and creates leaks inside the home.
The cost of replacing or resetting flashing depends on how much needs to be done. The materials are moderately priced, but the installation of them can be costly. In the case of flashing, a number of shingles have to be raised up or removed to place the new flashing, a tedious process that adds to the labor bill.
Labor usually costs between $45 and $75 per hour, depending on the region, and jobs with complicated angles or large areas that need repairing can take a full day or longer to complete. Chimneys, skylights and unusual roof lines can add to the complexity of a job and therefore cause labor costs to mount up.
In fact, leaks often develop around holes in a roof that have been cut for things like chimneys, skylights and vents.
In addition, when a storm causes roof damage, it often damages skylights too. Because installing a skylight requires a number of shingles and flashing pieces to be removed, this one simple task can cost $450 or more.
Problems Only Worsen
Because roof damage often causes leaking onto the plywood below the shingles, homes can be experiencing structural damage from roof problems long before leaks appear. That makes it very important to tackle roof repairs as soon as possible.
The exact cost of roof repairs also varies by region, by season and from one contractor to the next, and there can be as much as a 300 percent difference from one contractor to another.
It pays for homeowners who don’t plan to do their roof repair work themselves to choose a reputable, established roofing contractor they know they can trust.