How Cost Plus Pricing Works
The same roof, with the number taken apart so you can check it.
Almost every roofing quote in Houston is one number. Eleven thousand four hundred dollars, say, for a roof. Inside that number is the material, the labor, the dump fee, the permit, the overhead and the profit, and you are not told how the number splits. You cannot tell whether the roofer found you a good price on shingles or marked them up ninety percent, because you are never shown what the shingles cost.
Cost Plus is the same job with the number taken apart.
The four lines on every quote we write
| Line | What it is | Example, 2,400 sq ft roof |
|---|---|---|
| Materials | Shingles, underlayment, ridge, drip edge, boots, nails. Billed at what the supplier charged us, with the invoice attached. | $4,850 |
| Labor | The crew, at our published rate. Not a mystery allocation. | $3,200 |
| Permits & disposal | The city permit fee and the dumpster, passed through at cost with receipts. | $650 |
| Service fee | Our overhead, insurance, warranty reserve and profit. One stated percentage of the three lines above, set by job complexity and locked before work starts. | $1,740 (20%) |
| Total | $10,440 |
Why the fee is a range and not one number
The fee runs from 20 to 30 percent, and which end you land on is decided before you sign, not after. A straightforward single-storey composition roof with good access sits at the bottom. Steep pitch, cut-up rooflines, three storeys, a historic district review, tile or metal, or a job where the crew has to hand-carry material over a pool deck sits higher, because those jobs genuinely take longer and carry more risk.
The point is not that the fee is low. The point is that you know what it is. A roofer quoting a lump sum has a margin in there too. Theirs is simply not written down.
What you actually receive
- The supplier invoice for every material on your job, itemised
- The permit receipt from whichever city or county issued it
- The disposal ticket from the dumpster
- The crew hours at the rate quoted
- The fee, as a percentage, exactly as agreed before the tear-off
What happens when the job changes
Roofs hide things. You cannot know how much of the decking is rotten until the shingles come off. On a lump sum quote this is where the second conversation happens, and it is usually expensive.
On Cost Plus, decking is priced per sheet on the original quote. If we replace nine sheets, you pay for nine sheets at the price you already agreed, plus the same fee percentage, and you get the photo of each one before it goes in the dumpster. There is no renegotiation, because there is nothing to renegotiate.
The honest case against Cost Plus
It is slower to quote. Pulling real supplier pricing for your specific material takes us longer than pulling a number out of a spreadsheet, which is part of why we say 24 hours rather than same day.
It also means the final invoice can be slightly lower or slightly higher than the estimate, because it is tied to what actually got used. Most homeowners find that reassuring. Some would genuinely rather have one fixed number and not think about it, and if that is you, there are good roofers in Houston who will give you one.
Common Questions
Is the service fee charged on the materials too?
Yes. The fee is a percentage of materials, labor, permits and disposal combined. That is stated on the quote before you sign, and it is the only margin in the job.
Can I buy the materials myself and just pay you labor?
No, and the reason is the warranty. Manufacturer coverage on a shingle system depends on the whole assembly being supplied and installed to spec. When we buy it, that chain is intact and we can stand behind the install.
What stops you from marking up the supplier invoice?
You have the invoice. It has the supplier's name, the date and the line items on it, and you are welcome to call them. That is the entire mechanism.
Do you price match a lump sum quote from another roofer?
We will show you how their number compares line by line against ours, which is usually more useful. Sometimes their number is genuinely better and we will say so.
See it on your own roof
Free inspection, photographed, with a Cost Plus quote inside one business day.
Get My Free InspectionOr call (281) 305-8669