What goes into new roof installation cost?
Short answer. Installation cost covers everything beyond the shingles: tear-off, disposal, labor, underlayment, flashing, ventilation, permits and cleanup. On a typical North Georgia home the whole installed job usually runs about $8,000 to $16,000, and labor plus disposal make up a large share of it.
The pieces of an installed roof
- Tear-off of every existing layer down to the deck.
- Deck inspection and repair, with any replaced sheets priced per sheet.
- Underlayment: synthetic over the field, ice and water shield in valleys and around chimneys and pipes.
- Drip edge at eaves and rakes, which the residential code requires on shingle roofs.
- Flashing: step flashing at walls, counterflashing at chimneys, new pipe boots.
- Ventilation: ridge vent or other exhaust balanced with soffit intake.
- Shingles, starter strip and ridge caps, nailed to the manufacturer's pattern.
- Disposal, permit, and cleanup, including a magnet sweep for nails.
What drives the labor part
Pitch is the big one. Above roughly 7/12, crews need harnesses and roof jacks and move slower. Two story walls, multiple layers, and lots of valleys or dormers add hours. A clean, open driveway for the dumpster helps.
Where cheap installs cut corners
Reusing old flashing, skipping drip edge, short or too few nails, leaving out ice and water shield, and ignoring ventilation are the usual savings. None show on day one; they show as leaks and early failure. Read roof flashing explained and drip edge explained so you know what to look for, and roof replacement day for how the work unfolds.