PETRUS Roofing and Solar

Rock Solid Roofing and Solar in the Greater Houston Area

roof contractor

How Much Will It Cost Me?

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When a homeowner needs a new roof and starts Googling around, one really big customer frustration emerges:

WHY DOESN’T ANYBODY TELL US HOW MUCH IT’LL COST?!?

After all, you are about to spend thousands of dollars on a roof. You search, click, and search some more. Sure, you’ll find plenty of “Free Quotes” and “Free Inspections”, which are all good and normal tools of the trade. Those aren’t deceptive, but those aren’t really the answers you’re looking for.

Let me explain why this happens and hopefully deal with some of the homeowner frustration around hiring a roofing contractor.

“For starters, you’re frustrated because you feel like you’re wasting your time and not finding the answers you’re looking for. Furthermore, you’re thinking to yourself, ‘I’m the customer! It’s my money. And it’s my right to know.’” (-Marcus Sheridan, They Ask, You Answer)

Why Don’t Companies List their Prices?

According to Marcus Sheridan of IMPACT, a company dedicated to the “They Ask. You Answer.” method of marketing, 90% contractors don’t list roof prices because they are afraid of 3 things:

  • Competitors will know our prices!
  • What if the price scares customers away?
  • Every customer is different/ too many variables!

First: The funny thing about that is, everyone in the roofing industry knows the averages for roof installs in Texas and in our service areas. If we know theirs, they know ours! So that’s a dumb excuse that doesn’t really apply anymore in the Internet Age. After all, so much data about costs and averages are just a 0.04 second Google Search away.

Second: What happens when you see a restaurant’s menu with no prices? I don’t know about you, but I’ll avoid the restaurant (if I’m paying) or if I’m stuck, I’ll get a knowingly cheaper option (burger). The really scary thing is not seeing the prices. What else are they hiding?

Third: Every solution is different. It depends on a lot of variables. You know what, though? Brian, our Sales Manager, knows those variables. He talks about it with you when he sits down on a sales visit. That’s the whole point of sales. So, if Brian knows how to talk you through the variables, and probably other sales companies can do that, too, why don’t we just put that down on the website?

“It depends.” is the truth. But that’s where the conversation starts, not ends.

Brian KNOWS the variables and will guide you. He helps you decide what is right or wrong for your situation. Because we go with two manufacturers, Atlas and GAF, we are able to limit and control most of the variables, which makes it even easier to give you prices!

Since we know the prices, let’s put those things on our website! Let’s give you the power to answer as many of your questions as possible first!

What Will It Cost for the New Roof?

At Petrus Roofing, we believe in transparency and fair pricing to build TRUST with you. The prices below were updated on 7/2024 and reflects our most accurate pricing with inflation. Shingles are part of the costs, but homeowners want to know price they are paying for what they will see every day for 30 years. We recommend Atlas Pinnacle in the Houston area because they are Class 3 storm rated. Your salesman will determine how many “squares” your roof will need. These are priced per square below:

  • Iko shingles for the budget-minded: $130-135/sq
  • Atlas Pinnacle Pristine shingles: $147-152/sq
  • GAF HDZ: $150-155

In roofing, a “square” is a unit of measurement used to quantify the area of a roof. One square equals 100 square feet of roof surface. This term is commonly used by roofing professionals to estimate the amount of materials needed for a project. For instance, if a roof is 2,000 square feet, it would require 20 squares of shingles to cover it. Understanding this measurement is crucial for accurate budgeting and material calculation, ensuring that homeowners purchase the right amount of shingles for their roofing projects.

Wishing for Unicorns

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Now that I’ve spent the last three months diving into the world of contractors, roofers and otherwise, I’ve realized the old saying is painfully true: “Fast, Cheap, Good- pick two.”

Cheap can be fast, but isn’t good. This is because you have to cut corners somewhere. The dangerous thing is if you cut out what is required by code. For instance, Brian recently saw an investor purchase a long-abandoned house on his street get the roof replaced. They didn’t use ice and water barrier, which means future leaks will happen at the next big storm event. The other side of cheap is after the roof is built. If there is a problem, they will not be around to rectify the situation. Cheap labor usually isn’t competent, but it definitely isn’t long-lasting if you’re trying to build a business that matters to the community.

Fast can be good, but it usually isn’t cheap. If I’m a roofer that moves fast, that means I have a lot of people working the job. Sometimes, like in The Woodlands, there are beautifully complicated roofs that require two or three full work crews to get it done quickly. Cheap contractors usually work slowly because they don’t price their work high enough to afford more teams of skilled workers. If fast work is cheap, it is usually because they are skipping steps to get it done. Not laying out tarps or Catch-All nets means nails will be in your yard, waiting for your pet’s paws or kid’s foot. Using the wrong nails or nail heads can mean little leaks into your attic from day one.

Good can be fast, but it ain’t cheap. Good work requires skilled workers. Rare is the handyman who can scale a roof for the first time and know that, when working in valleys, you need to dog-ear the shingles along the angled edge so water can flow smoothly off the roof. Rare is the salesperson who knows what to look for in an attic under the roof on his or her first day. Cheap usually means “unskilled” or “new”. Good work usually means experienced workers. They cost more because they have earned it through demonstrated workmanship.

Everyone thinks they can find that one contractor who will be good, cheap, and fast. Maybe these unicorns exist, but such wishful thinking will only get you taken advantage of by unscrupulous folks. They overpromise and underdeliver because they know every homeowner is looking for that unicorn. But you’re the one stuck with cheap work, cheap materials, cut corners, and no follow-up.

There is a Texas-based roofing company whose ads on Facebook I see almost every day declaring that roofing companies are ripping people off with high prices, and they are good people because they charge around half the norm. My guess is this company will not be around in 5 years. So what’s the worth of a 5-year warranty from a company that fails in 2 years?

Nothing.

Our prices are based on materials, labor (including liability and worker’s comp. insurance), sales, and overhead. We pay our people right and on time. We pay for trucks, gas, Catch-All netting systems for your house, plants, pets, and swimming pool, etc. And we run lean as an organization. Our office furniture was brought from our homes. There are no cushy luxuries bought with company cash.

This is because we want to build something worth lasting.