What a new roof costs in Fort Wayne

Local and national numbers

Fort Wayne's figure of about $10,900 comes in a little under the national average of $12,000 for an asphalt shingle roof. Statewide, one estimate puts the Indiana average at about $7,355, and another puts most Indiana roofs between $9,500 and $14,000. Your own roof can land well outside any average, so use them to sanity-check a bid.

Figure	Cost
Typical Fort Wayne home, architectural shingles	About $10,900 ($5.45 a sq ft)
Indiana average, all homes	About $7,355; most between $5,621 and $19,431
National asphalt shingle range	$8,000 to $16,000, about $12,000
National metal roof range	$6,043 to $18,341, about $11,766

What moves the price on a Fort Wayne roof

• Size. Roofers price by the square, which is 100 square feet of roof surface. A low-pitched ranch has less roof than a two-story with the same floor space.
• Pitch and height. A roof too steep to walk needs harnesses, roof jacks and more hours.
• Layers. A house that was re-roofed once before may have two layers of shingles. Both come off, and the second adds labor and dump fees.
• Rotten decking. It can't be priced until the old roof is off, which is why a per-sheet price belongs in the quote.
• Shape. Every valley, dormer, skylight and chimney adds flashing and cutting.
• The shingle line. Three-tab, architectural and designer shingles run from about $3 to $16 a square foot installed.

What Indiana requires on every new roof

Indiana enforces one residential code statewide, and two parts of it matter for a Fort Wayne roof price:

• Ice barrier at the eaves. Allen County and every county around it require it, from the roof edge to at least 24 inches inside the outside wall.
• Drip edge at the eaves and rakes of every shingle roof.

A bid that leaves either one out isn't cheaper; it's missing required work. Indiana's code also caps a roof at two layers, so a house that already has two needs a full tear-off.

How to compare two roof bids

Lay them side by side and check that each one lists the same things:

1. Tear-off of every layer, with disposal included
2. A per-sheet price for replacing rotten decking
3. Ice and water shield at the eaves and in the valleys, and how far up it goes
4. New drip edge, step flashing and pipe boots, rather than reused ones
5. The shingle maker and product line, plus matching starter, hip and ridge caps
6. Ventilation: what's at the soffits and the ridge
7. The permit, where your town requires one
8. Which warranty you get and who registers it

Indiana's home improvement law also says what the written contract has to show, including the price, a description of the work and the expected start and finish dates. You have to get the completed contract before you sign it.

Does a new roof pay back?

Partly. On average, a new asphalt roof recovers about 68% of its cost when the house sells. Its bigger value is that it keeps water out of everything else, and a roof near the end of its life is one of the first things a buyer's inspector flags.

Questions about roof costs

For our prices on your house, book a free roof replacement inspection, or start with roof repair if the roof may have more years in it.