Two houses on the same Surrey street, same square footage, and the quotes come back thousands apart. That usually isn't one contractor gouging and one being generous — it's that a roof price is built from the specific conditions of that roof. Once you know what those conditions are, comparing estimates gets a lot easier.
Roof area, not house area
Roofing is priced by the roof surface, measured in squares (one square = 100 square feet). A 2,000 square foot bungalow with a wide, simple hip roof can have more roof area than a 2,600 square foot two-storey. That's the first reason floor-plan comparisons between neighbours don't work.
Pitch and complexity
Steeper roofs slow everything down and add fall-protection requirements. Complexity does the same thing: valleys, dormers, skylights, multiple chimneys, low-slope sections tied into steep sections. Every transition is a detail that has to be flashed properly, and details are where labour hours and leaks both live.
What's under the old roof
Tear-off cost depends on how many layers are up there and what they are. Cedar shake over skip sheathing is a different job than one layer of asphalt over solid plywood — the former usually needs new sheathing installed before anything else goes down.
Rotten or delaminated decking gets found during tear-off, which is why a good quote states a decking allowance or a per-sheet rate rather than pretending it can't happen. If a quote is silent on decking, ask.
Ventilation, flashing, and the parts you don't see
Underlayment type, ice-and-water membrane at eaves and valleys, new edge metal, new stack boots, new step and counter-flashing at walls and chimneys, ridge and intake ventilation — these are the line items that separate a roof that lasts its rated life from one that fails early. They also account for a real share of the price difference between two quotes on the same house.
Ventilation in particular gets skipped. In our climate, an under-ventilated attic produces condensation that stains ceilings and rots decking, and homeowners often read it as a leak. We cover the symptoms in our coastal maintenance guide.
Access and site conditions
A townhome complex with no driveway access, a Vancouver lot with a narrow lane, a hillside home in North Vancouver where the dump trailer can't get near the eaves — all of it adds material handling and disposal time. Landscaping that has to be protected, tight neighbours, and permit or strata scheduling constraints affect the number too.
Material choice is the biggest lever you control
Everything above is largely dictated by the building. Material is the part you actually choose. Architectural asphalt shingles are the value baseline; standing-seam metal and premium composite like Brava cost more upfront and are built to last much longer with less maintenance. If you're weighing that tradeoff, read why homeowners choose Brava before their cedar roof becomes a problem.
How to compare quotes fairly
- Same measured roof area, stated in squares
- Number of layers being removed and how disposal is handled
- Decking replacement allowance or per-sheet rate
- Underlayment and ice-and-water coverage, by area
- Which flashings and metal are new versus reused
- Ventilation work included
- Workmanship warranty length and the manufacturer warranty being registered
- Whether the crew is in-house or subcontracted, and who carries WorkSafeBC coverage
A quote that's cheaper because it reuses flashings, skips ventilation, and has no decking allowance isn't cheaper — it's a different, smaller job. Our warranty page explains what we stand behind on a full replacement.
Get a number for your actual roof
We won't quote a roof from a satellite image. A site visit gives you a measured scope with the above items itemized, so you can compare it line by line against anyone else's. Book a roof replacement assessment and we'll walk you through where your money is going.