Roof pricing, from someone who has actually looked
You have probably found a roof cost calculator by now, put your details in, and got a range so wide it told you nothing. That is not because the calculator is badly built. It is because the four things that decide what your roof costs cannot be seen from a map. Here is what they are, what to ask anyone who quotes you without looking, and how to get a figure you can actually budget to.
Free inspection, no call-out charge, and a written price that does not move.
A calculator takes a postcode and an estimated floor area. It cannot see your pitch, so it does not know your real surface area. It cannot see whether you have concrete tile or natural slate. It cannot see the battens. It is pricing an average house in an average condition, and there is no such thing.
Nine times out of ten, what changes a roofing price is not the covering. It is what is underneath it. Battens that have taken water for twenty years, a rafter end that has gone soft where the gutter failed, a valley that was patched rather than replaced. None of that is visible until the scaffold is up, and none of it is visible to software.
If a figure comes from a form on a website, nobody has committed to it. When we put a price in writing it is fixed, it is itemised, and it is the number on the invoice. That only works if we have looked first.
Ask us the same ones. If a roofer cannot answer these, the number they have given you is not a price, it is a hope.
If the answer is no, the price is an estimate whatever they call it.
A roofer who has looked can answer this. It is the single biggest swing factor in the job.
Access is often a four-figure line. It should never appear as a surprise later.
Ask for the rate up front. We put ours in the quote so there is nothing to argue about.
Those are two very different words. Get the answer in writing.
Ours is a 20-year written guarantee with an independent inspector signing the work off.
Yes. We are a Cambridgeshire firm, registered at Botany Bay, Stonehouse Road, Upwell, Wisbech PE14 9EA, and we work across Peterborough and the surrounding villages every week.
Evenings and weekends included. We work around your day rather than asking you to take one off.
Covering, ridge, valleys, flashings, chimney, roofline, and the timbers where we can safely reach them. Then we tell you what we found, honestly, including when the answer is that it can wait another few years.
Itemised, with the rate for any hidden rot stated up front so nothing can be added later. No call-out charge, and no obligation to go ahead.
Verified reviews from Arkenstone customers on Trustatrader and Checkatrade.
“Charles was quick to come and have a look at our roof leak issue. He talked through different options, being sensitive to different budgets. I felt Charles to be trustworthy as there was no upselling whatsoever.”
“He was very open and honest about the amount of work that would be required and what he recommended as the best way to complete the work to a high standard. The repairs were done to the high standard as quoted.”
“Charles & his team were excellent. Very caring & helpful. Very pleased with my new roof & all the work that was done. I don't think I could have found a better company than this one.”
Free inspection · no call-out charge · written price that does not move.
4.8
9.6/10