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(02) 9072 1993
A roof part way through replacement, new red steel sheeting laid and the last of the old corrugated iron still at the edge

Money · Sydney

What a metal roof replacement actually costs

There is no price on this page, and there is a reason for that. What follows is everything that moves the number, so you can read a quote properly instead of comparing two totals.

Every roofing site that publishes a price per square metre is quoting a roof they have never seen. The figure is usually the best case, and the gap between it and your roof gets discovered later.

We would rather set out what genuinely changes the price. If you understand these six things, you can compare quotes on what they include rather than on which number is smaller, which is the only comparison worth making.

01Roof area, which is not floor areaA roof is bigger than the house under it, because it is pitched and it overhangs. Two houses with the same floor plan can have noticeably different roof areas if one is steeper.
02Shape and complexityHips, valleys, dormers, changes of level and anything that penetrates the sheet all add cutting, flashing and time. A simple gable roof and a complex hipped roof of the same area are not the same job, and complexity is usually the larger factor of the two.
03AccessSingle storey with a clear side path is straightforward. Two storey, a steep pitch, a tight block or no room for a skip all mean edge protection, scaffold or hand-carrying material, and that is real cost rather than padding.
04What is underneathBattens are normally part of a re-roof. Rafters and structural timber are not, and nobody can see them until the roof is off. Any quote should say how that is handled before it happens.
05Material and profileProfile, coating range and colour all move the sheet price, and a concealed fix profile costs more than an exposed fix one. On a coastal roof the heavier duty coating range is a specification requirement rather than an upgrade.
06What else is includedGuttering, downpipes, fascia, sarking or insulation blanket, disposal of the old roof, and whether the old tiles are being taken away. This is the single biggest reason two quotes for one roof look nothing alike.

Read this before you sign

Four things a quote should say

  1. 01The profile, the coating range and the colour. Not just a brand name.
  2. 02Which battens are being replaced, and which are staying.
  3. 03Whether guttering, downpipes and disposal of the old roof are in or out.
  4. 04What happens, and what it costs, if the timber underneath has gone.

How to get a number for your roof

Ring and describe the roof: roughly how old it is, what it is made of, whether it is single or two storey, and what it has been doing. That is usually enough to tell you whether you are looking at a repair or a replacement.

If it is a replacement, we measure it. Where getting onto the roof is genuinely awkward we can start from satellite imagery and confirm on site, which saves everybody a wasted visit.

(02) 9072 1993What a re-roof involves

Common questions

Questions about roofing quotes

Why will you not put a price on this page?

Because a number without your roof attached to it is not information, it is bait. Roof area, shape, access, pitch, the state of the timber underneath and whether guttering is included all move the figure enough that any published price would be wrong for most people reading it.

Is a metal roof cheaper than replacing tiles with tiles?

Not automatically, and it depends heavily on the roof. What is more reliably true is that a metal roof does not carry the repointing cycle a tile roof does, so the comparison over the life of the roof is different from the comparison on the day.

Why are two quotes for the same roof so far apart?

Usually because they are not for the same work. One may include new battens, sarking, guttering and the disposal of the old roof, and the other may not. Compare what is listed rather than the total, and if a quote does not list anything, that is the answer.

Should I take the cheapest quote?

Look at what is missing from it first. The common gaps are edge protection and access on two-storey work, disposal of the old roof, and any statement about what happens if the timber underneath has gone. Those costs do not disappear because they were left off a quote.

Do you charge for the quote?

No. We come and measure the roof, or start from satellite imagery where access is genuinely awkward, and you get a figure with the work described.

Next step

Find out what your roof will cost

We come out, measure your roof properly and put a fixed price in writing. It is free, it takes about half an hour, and you are not committing to anything by asking.

Call (02) 9072 1993Request a quote