With the aid of a roofing material calculator you can estimate the price you need to pay for different types of roofs. A shingles roof may be the cheapest but a slate roof is elegant and attractive. The roof not only protects but also makes a style statement. It draws the eyes of the beholder towards your home. Paired with attractive exteriors and surroundings you home will the cynosure of all eyes.
Wood shake shingles are another option and you can easily find the cost using your roofing material calculator. Though wood roofs are beautiful option and present an old world charm unmatched by any other commercial product there are certain very serious disadvantages. Wood is susceptible to mold, fungus and fire. This means you have to replace the roof often. Wood is expensive and also difficult to maintain. Compared to this asphalt shingles are simpler to lay, are cheap and last a couple of decades.
No wonder that asphalt is the most commonly used roofing material in the United States. It’s light weight, simple to lay, easy to handle and is resistant to fire, wind and impact. There are several new types of shingles available that are tougher, thicker and last longer. With dimensional shingles you also get an additional degree of attractiveness as the shingles no longer appear flat and lifeless. Like real life slate and wood these shingles have lines and other design elements to make them stand out.
Other roofing options can be explored with help of the roofing material calculator. Tiles and metal are options that are extremely long-lasting and attractive to boot. The price is slightly more compared to asphalt shingles. But, since they last much longer and have better resistance to fire and wind, these qualify for lower insurance premiums on your home insurance and you get to save quite bit on roof replacement and roof repairs costs over time. Metal is lighter than asphalt shingles but tiles are heavier. You might need to strengthen the structure of the roof to take the extra load of tiles.
Costing Using Roofing Material Calculator:
Here are some costs arrived at by using the roofing material calculator. The cost of asphalt shingles for a single story ranch style home with a gentle slope costs from $800 to $4000 dollars for homes that are $1500 to $2100 square feet in area depending on quality of materials. To remove the old roof and getting the roofing installed professionally you will have to additionally around $500 to $4000 for the same home depending on where you live and materials used.
Take wood shake or shingles, these are no doubt elegant and long lasting. But, in moist weather conditions they are a nightmare to maintain because wet weather encourages the growth of mold, mildew and fungus. The wood needs special treatment to prevent fungus and other growth. This can be expensive in addition to cost of shingles which costs $7000 to $20000 for 1800 to 2100 square feet area ranch style home. If you would to do the same home in fire proof materials made of recycled rubber or molded plastic of high quality then the cost is about $8000 to $21000 or more.
Another beautiful roofing material are tiles. A rough estimate using roofing material calculator gives the following values for a simple style home as above. The prices for a concrete tile home is around $7650 to $21000. Ceramic tiles cost from $12000 to $22000 for standard shapes and colors. For the premium ceramic tiles you will pay anywhere between $17000 to $60000 both for the custom shapes and complex installation.
Compare this against metal roofs using the roofing material calculator. Metal roof is light weight, durable, resistant to fire and is not affected by fungus and does not rot like wood. It does not break like tiles on impact. A long-lasting roof this costs about $5000 to $22000 for a simple ranch style home of similar size as above. Let’s look at aluminum which costs from 12000 to 24000 dollars. Coppers is more expensive at $26000 to $40000 dollars.
A slate roof is much more expensive even if it is the most long lasting of all roofs. Installing slate roof can set you back by $17000 dollars for the lower end slate shingles to $85000 dollars for more expensive ones for a small home of size 1700 – 2000 square feet. For a larger sized home of size $3000 square feet you can end up paying $120,000 for a high-end slate roof according to your roofing material calculator.
The cost of removal and disposal of old shingles is task whose cost can’t be underestimated. The price for such as calculated by the roofing materials calculator runs into about $1000 dollars. This can be lower or higher depending how far the disposal site is, how difficult it to remove the old shingles and the type of shingles to be removed and disposed off.