How much is a "square" of roofing?

Q:

How much is a "square" of roofing?

A:

In roofing lexicon, a "square" is equal to 100 square feet of area to be roofed. Remodelers and roofing contractors purchase roofing to the nearest square, so when they are working out the size of your roof and then converting it to bundles of shingles they tell the supplier the amount of “squares” they require. Every shingle manufacture has different sizes of bundles of shingles; depending on the style and type of shingle it will change the amount of square footage in the bundle as well. Bundles of shingles are packaged on size and weight, a more expensive shingle that is a thicker material (meaning that it has the potential to last longer on your roof) will have less shingle tiles in the bundle. Since (per shingle tile) it is heavier they have to put less individual shingle tiles in a bundle to get the bundle to the correct weight and size. The bundle cannot be made to heavy or to large for that would restrict a single workers ability to pick it up. On average more expensive shingles cover less square footage per bundle meaning that your roofing contractor would have to order more of them.

You as the homeowner should be insisting on a more precise estimate from your roofing contractor if they are giving you a quote by the “square”. The roofing contractor should measure the entire roof so that they have an accurate count of the roof, not just for the shingles but for the hips, valleys and any other penetrations. If they give you a per square price they are telling you that they don’t actually know the total square footage so your final bill will probably end up higher.

There is always the chance even with a proper quote that your re-roofing job will cost you more, but it shouldn’t be in the cost of the actual shingles, the extra costs are usually found when the old shingles are removed and they find extreme water damage and wood rot in the sub structure below.

The shingles on your roof are the only thing keeping the weather out of your home, you should want that installed by a qualified professional, make sure they are by insisting that their quotes are accurate and not a guess on what it should cost.

Rob Abbott
Operations Manager
Village Builders Inc.