Why does removing an old roof cost so much? It seems like removal would be unskilled labor and should be .?

Question

quick and cheap?

Answer 1

Well to be quite honest with you, my cousin owns a "Roofing Business" right, and they jeopardize their lives, each and every time any of the guys get up on those roofs!!! Believe me!! What state do you live in by chance? The reason I asked is because here in Arizona, my Mom just found out that our state just got done buying Mom's Gardener's daughter a whole new house!! Because she had such bad "Mold-spores" in her house, she had to move, and she somehow got ahold of some sort of help organization, who funded everything!!! And I do believe it all depends on your income is all !!! How cool is that,, hoh!!! Just let your fingers do the talking & the walking for you !! Look on Yahoo's Yellow pages, for you!! I'd look up places such as Building and coding's or HUD, would know who to call for just your situation!! In fact they may even be the one's who do this... I'm going to call my Mom right now and ask her who it is,,okee-dokee, be right back... Okay I'm back.. Mom said to call your City Hall and ask them who it is you would need to help you to get a good quote or even get it fully paid for in any way shape or form of the word.... Also if you just so happen to be living anywhere near Kingman Arizona, just call a guy named: Bill Schilling at: 1-928-753-8159, even if you dont live around here, and see if the guy would know who you could go through in your state, and city, okay... He's the one you want to talk to about this sort of thing okay.. Or like Mom said call City Hall, you can find them on Yahoo's Yellow pages and give them a "Jingle" on Monday.....Alrighty Then .......I sure hope I was of some help to you hun......Where there's a will there's Relatives!!HaHaHa!! Just joking!! Where there's a Will there indeed is A WAY!!! You'll see!!! Smile!!!

Answer 2

Let us look at the obvious first. Houses in most areas cost $140,000 and up. Just how do you expect the low skilled worker to afford that house on $5 per hour. I am not addressing this to you but this is just an observation about life. Funny how the people that make $75,000 to $150,000 per year begrudge paying somebody more than minimum wage.

You are also forgetting the costs of the different insurances that the contractor has to pay for. He has to make money to live and pay his employees. The cost of the roof goes up with the pitch of the roof.

If you were unskilled would you work for less than $15 per hour? I doubt it.

You can't buy a weeks worth of groceries for $20. Houses don't cost $8000 now either. You can't expect things to cost next to nothing with the high cost of living.

A bundle of shingles weighs about 75 lbs so there is a lot of work involved in removing the old ones. Even using the special shingle removal shovels it is a lot of work.

Always go with 50 year shingles if you are going to use shingles. If you need a shingle that is designed to resist moss growth then you might be only able to find that in a 40 year shingle. The cost difference is very little and you get so many more years out of the roof than if you went the cheap route.

Answer 3

I can see you've never done this type of work, the people, like you, that complain about the price, are the ones that have never done this but, think the work you do, is so advanced you should be paid a high price. Well Buster, you come up here some day and grab a shovel and kick in, give a hand and see what you think you should be paid.
Then you start tell us how this should be done so that your family is safe and secure, is comfortable and can live an easy life and, guarantee it. The first time you find a leak and come screaming at us, we'll see what happens.

Walk in our shoes before you complain, I saw my daughter and son-in-law hanging from a three story church on a copper roof while others had to scurry around to get ladders and help so they could be saved from falling, then to have someone complain about price? try it.

Answer 4

I've seen some old roofs with like 5 or 6 layers of composition roofing...applied badly to correct leaks in a hurry, etc., and a good roofing contractor knows this and bids the job accordingly. It might be 'unskilled' in the sense you don't need a B.A. to do the work, but it has to be done thoroughly--no crud left behind, all old bits of flashing and rain-valleys removed right without tearing up the solid layer the roofer needs to install the new roofing material right. It can't be quick, and in the case of old multi-layered crud, it obviously can't be cheap either! Hug a roofer today, OK?

Answer 5

I suppose you have never done any roofing... removing the old shingles is extremely hard work and you have to get all the nails out. Then all this garbage has to be picked up and removed and you have to pay to dispose of it at the dumpyard. Then black paper has to be put down. If you tote one bundle of shingles up the ladder you will see just how hard it is after the clean up is done and putting the new roof on is. Not to mention being in the sun and grueling heat on any roof at any time of year. I worked that job for a couple years and I am a little woman under 100lbs and you couldn't pay me enough money to do it again. Lighten Up!! it is a very hard job

Answer 6

Yes, cheap you are. How dare any construction worker demand to be paid for back breaking work like removing probably several layers of roofing and probably replacing several sheets of dry rotted roofing. Paying a dump fees for taking a hazardous material. Having a roofing business requires insurance , payroll, taxes and so on, if you are hiring a professional. If not expect to re roof it again in 10 years or so and wonder why flashing and vents are leaking a few weeks after the new roof is on.
If you want cheap go to the home depot and get some Mexicans and be your own contractor. People like you irritate the hell out of me. I guess going to a doctor for a band aid or a prescription refill and paying a $100.00 plus was paying for skilled labor too, but you probably have no problem with that or are you a doctor?

Answer 7

Don't get me started about roofing contractors...........If you are lucky, one out he ten you called will return your query. Yes it is highly unskilled and labour intensive. But, when you take this equation (unskilled + labour) it equals STUDENT HELP. THats what I use. DRaw up a risk waiver and you are all set to go. By the way most contractors inflate their estimates...it is all based on supply and demand. We should really all be going with metal roofs and the prices would drop dramatically with an inverse increase in service. Been there roofed that got the sunburn to prove it.

Answer 8

My answer is spend a little time doing it yourself. I am not a roofer, but have helped family members after hurricanes here in Florida. After helping, I hired a roofer for my own. It is extremely hard work, and they also have to pay to dump your old roof, not only labor costs.

Also - you may have more than one roof on your roof. Many cities have codes that allow for 2+ roofs without removing old shingles first.

Answer 9

Do you realize how many nails are on your roof to hold down the shingles? They have to remove those 1 by 1. It always takes longer to remove a old roof then to put a new one on.

Might take them 3 days to take off your old roof, and 1/2 day to put your new one back on.

Answer 10

I would not think so, Slate roofs are essentially rock that could be used in driveways septic fields etc. Shingle roofs are made of tar and gravel. The better way to roof now is, to put air space between the two, so it stays cooler in summer ,and warmer in winter. Like a tin type roof.