Cost Home Book is written and edited by the Cost Home Book editorial team. The team builds the site's cost models from publicly available US wage statistics, supplier price lists and permit data, and updates each guide as those sources change. It has no affiliation with any contractor, manufacturer or lead-generation service. Figures on this site are estimates for reading a quote, not quotes.
How the figures are built
Every cost band starts as a national figure with a date on it. Where a guide is priced from published data, the labor leg follows the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the trade that does the work, and the materials leg follows a Producer Price Index series for what it is made of. Once a guide's sources section is published, both are named and linked at its foot, with the release they were read from.
The one number no dataset supplies is how much of a job is labor and how much is materials. That split is a judgement, it is stated on the page, and it is the difference between a roof price that moves with roofers' wages and one that moves with asphalt. How we calculate costs sets out the arithmetic, and the editorial policy is explicit about which figures are derived and which are estimates.
Independence
We have no affiliation with any contractor, manufacturer, marketplace or lead-generation service. The site is funded by display advertising and nothing else — no referral fees, no commissions, no paid placements. No advertiser sees a figure before a reader does. How the site is funded.
Corrections and contact
If a figure here does not match what you were quoted, that is worth knowing and we would rather hear it. Send the page, the figure and what you were actually quoted to corrections@costhomebook.com, or see the corrections policy for what happens next. Anything else: hello@costhomebook.com.
Guides by the Cost Home Book editorial team
240 in total, page 18 of 24.
Roof inspection cost$150 to $400eachA roof inspection costs $150 to $400. It is the cheapest thing in roofing and the one that most often saves money, because it separates a $700 repair from a $14,000 replacement.
Gutter replacement cost$5 to $14per linear ftReplacing gutters costs $5 to $14 per linear foot, so a typical house is $1,000 to $2,800. Gutters are the cheapest part of the roof and the one most responsible for expensive damage.
Soffit and fascia cost$9 to $30per linear ftReplacing soffit and fascia costs $9 to $30 per linear foot together. They rot because the gutter failed, so replacing them without fixing the gutter means doing it again in five years.
Skylight installation cost$1,000 to $3,500eachInstalling a skylight costs $1,000 to $3,500, typically $1,800. Modern units with a proper flashing kit do not leak; the ones that do are almost always a flashing failure.
Chimney flashing repair cost$400 to $1,800per projectRebuilding chimney flashing costs $400 to $1,800. A chimney is the most common source of a roof leak, and the leak almost never appears anywhere near the chimney.
Roof ventilation cost$7 to $15per linear ftRidge vent costs $7 to $15 per linear foot; a full ventilation upgrade is $600 to $2,500. It is the cheapest work on a roof and skipping it is why some roofs fail at fifteen years.
Roof decking replacement cost$70 to $150eachReplacing roof decking costs $70 to $150 per 4x8 sheet. It is the line that most often makes a final invoice beat the estimate, and nobody can quote it honestly in advance.
Roof leak repair cost$300 to $1,500eachRepairing a roof leak costs $300 to $1,500, typically $700. Most of that spread is finding the leak: water enters in one place and appears somewhere else entirely.
Emergency roof repair cost$300 to $700per projectEmergency tarping costs $300 to $700, and after-hours rates run 25% to 40% above scheduled work. An emergency is water entering the house; everything else costs less on Tuesday.
Roof cleaning cost$15 to $60per sq ftCleaning a roof costs $0.15 to $0.60 per square foot soft-washed, so $300 to $1,200 on a typical house. Never pressure wash asphalt shingles: it strips the granules permanently.