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Roofing guides

26 guides, grouped the way a roofing job runs. Every figure on them is read from a primary source and stamped with the date it was read.

Start with takeoff and estimating if you are sizing a roof: what a square is, how pitch changes the area, and what a replacement costs per square. The materials guides price each covering and say how long it lasts. When something has gone wrong, the repair, leak and storm guides trace the failure and price the fix, and the bids, contracts and job guides cover permits, installation, warranties and insurance claims.

The guides explain; the 17 calculators and templates do the arithmetic on your own numbers, and the 9 comparisons put two materials or methods side by side and name a pick.

Takeoff & estimating

4 guides

Takeoff & estimating

What is a roof square?

The trade's only unit: 100 square feet, and how squares become bundles and dollars.

6 min

Roofing materials

6 guides

Roofing materials

Roof underlayment types

Felt, synthetic and ice-and-water membrane — where code requires each one.

7 min

Repair, leaks & storm damage

8 guides

Repair, leaks & storm damage

Roof repair cost by defect

What each common repair costs, and where repair stops paying and replacement starts.

9 min

Repair, leaks & storm damage

Roof leak repair cost

Leak source to price: boots, flashing, valleys, nail pops and deck rot.

8 min

Repair, leaks & storm damage

Chimney flashing repair cost

Reflash against patch, the reglet cut, the cricket, and what masonry work adds.

7 min

Repair, leaks & storm damage

Roof decking replacement cost

Sheathing per sheet, tear-off, and the signs a deck has to come off with the shingles.

7 min

Repair, leaks & storm damage

Ice dam prevention

Why dams form, and the ventilation, insulation and membrane fixes that stop them.

8 min

Repair, leaks & storm damage

Asphalt shingle roof repair

Replace one damaged shingle, re-seal a lifted tab, nail to the manufacturer's zone, and know when repair stops paying.

9 min

Bids, contracts & the job

8 guides

Bids, contracts & the job

Drip edge installation

Eave before underlayment, rake after — the order, the overhang and the code behind it.

6 min

Bids, contracts & the job

How much does a roofer make?

Federal wage data by percentile and state, and how crew pay is actually structured.

8 min

Bids, contracts & the job

Roofing permit requirements

When a re-roof needs a permit, the layer limit, and the inspections it triggers.

7 min

Bids, contracts & the job

Roof valley types

Open, closed-cut and woven valleys — how each is built and where each fails.

6 min

Bids, contracts & the job

Roofing warranty types

Manufacturer, system and workmanship warranties — the GAF, Owens Corning and CertainTeed tiers, transfers and what voids them.

9 min

Comparisons