Estimating roofing labor starts with a clean square takeoff, a real crew, and an honest production rate per square. Roofing labor hides in the tear off, the underlayment and ice and water, the flashing at every penetration, and the cleanup. The number you commit to should come from your own past jobs, tuned to the slope and access in front of you, not a single line item from a price book.
What You Are Counting
Before you price the labor, count the work in the units the crew thinks in. For roofing that means roof area in squares (100 SF each), underlayment and ice and water membrane in squares or LF, flashing and drip edge (LF), penetrations and vents (EA), and tear off if the job is a re roof. Each is a separate labor driver because the hours per unit differ.
Break the takeoff into buckets: tear off, deck prep, underlayment, the roof cover itself, flashing, and cleanup. Tear off includes removal of the old roof and hauling, and it runs at its own pace. Underlayment includes felt or synthetic plus ice and water at eaves and valleys. The roof cover is shingles, membrane, or metal, and each pulls a different production rate. Count flashing by the LF at eaves, rakes, valleys, and penetrations, because a roof with ten skylights and two valleys has far more flashing labor than a plain gable. If the scope includes a steep slope or a tile or metal system, flag it now because the crew and the pace change.
Crew and Production Rate
Pick your crew before you pick your rate. A common residential asphalt shingle crew is four to six roofers, one running the layout and the rest bundling, nailing, and loading. Commercial membrane work may use a smaller crew with a welder or a kettle. Steep or tile work often needs a crew with harness setup and material hoisting. Crew composition drives both the wage you average and the pace at which squares go down.
The bare wage range for roofers runs roughly $20 to $35 per hour depending on region, slope, and union or open shop. Add labor burden on top: payroll taxes, workers comp, insurance, and benefits commonly add 30 to 45 percent to the bare wage. A $28 bare wage becomes $36 to $41 fully burdened. That burdened number is what you multiply against labor hours for direct labor cost.
Production is expressed as man hours per square. A typical range for an asphalt shingle re roof on a walkable slope, including tear off, underlayment, shingles, and flashing, is roughly 1.5 to 3 man hours per square. New construction without tear off runs at the low end. Steep slopes, tile, or standing seam metal run higher, often 3 to 6 man hours per square. Tear off alone, with haul and dump, is commonly 0.5 to 1 man hour per square on top of the install. RSMeans is a common reference for production rates, but your own history from comparable work is the most reliable source.
Step by Step Labor Estimate
Run the math in the same order every time so nothing slips:
- Takeoff quantities: squares, underlayment and ice and water, flashing LF, penetrations EA.
- Assign a crew and a fully burdened wage rate for that crew.
- Apply a production rate (man hours per square) to the area.
- Add tear off, flashing, and cleanup as separate labor lines.
- Multiply to get total man hours, then multiply by the wage for labor cost.
- Add productivity factors for slope, height, weather, and learning curve.
For a representative scope of a 2,400 SF house at 4/12 pitch, 26 squares, a reasonable build is 26 squares at roughly 2 man hours per square for tear off, underlayment, shingles, and basic flashing, giving 52 man hours. At a $27.50 burdened wage that is $1,430 in direct labor. Add flashing at penetrations and a couple of valleys and you layer in another 6 to 10 man hours. That is the shape of the estimate, not a single number pulled from a table.
Factors That Move the Number
Production rates are not constants. They shift with the conditions you find on the roof, and a good estimate bakes those shifts in rather than hoping the average holds.
- Slope and height: steep and two story work is slower and needs harness and rigging time.
- Tear off: layered or nailed down old roofs take longer to strip than lightweight singles.
- Penetrations: every skylight, vent, and chimney adds flashing and sealant labor.
- Material: standing seam metal and tile run slower per square than architectural shingles.
- Weather and temperature: cold shingles crack and sealant does not set, hot roofs slow the crew.
- Access and loading: a long carry to the roof edge eats time on every bundle.
Common Mistakes
The estimates that lose money on roofing tend to share the same fingerprints. Catch them before you send the number.
- Using one flat productivity number for every slope and material.
- Forgetting tear off, haul, dump, and cleanup hours, often 10 to 20 percent of install time.
- Applying the bare wage instead of the burdened wage, underpricing labor by a third.
- Ignoring slope: steep work is slower and needs additional safety setup.
- Leaving flashing and penetration labor out of the square count, then adding it as an afterthought.
- Not pricing the long carry when the truck cannot get close to the building.
Putting It Together
The right roofing labor estimate is a range, not a single point. Take the low end of your production range for new construction on a walkable slope with an experienced crew, and the high end for tear off, steep, or detail heavy roofs. Add tear off and cleanup as separate lines so they do not disappear into the per square rate. Then check the total against two or three past jobs of similar scope. If your number is well below your own history, trust the history. Keep a log of man hours per square by slope and material, and your next estimate will not need a price book.