Updated September 2026
What a new roof costs in Nanaimo
Nanaimo Roofers prices a roof replacement in Nanaimo, Lantzville, Cedar and Gabriola Island at $4 to $9 a square foot installed for architectural asphalt and $8 to $30 for metal. Slope, valleys, storey height and how much sheathing needs replacing decide where a given roof lands, and we cannot use asphalt at all below a slope of 1 in 3.
Roofing is priced by the square foot of roof area, not floor area — a 1,500 square foot bungalow with a simple gable has more roof than its floor area suggests, and a steep cut-up roof has more again.
For a full breakdown of what an install involves, seea new roof installation.
What is being priced
We remove the existing covering down to the deck, repair what the deck needs, and build a new assembly back up: underlay, eave detail where required, flashings, the covering itself, and venting to code. Anything that stops short of the deck is a repair, and we price it differently.
| Covering | Installed, per sq ft | Typical service life |
|---|---|---|
| Architectural asphalt shingles | $4 – $9 | 25 – 30 years |
| Standing seam and profiled metal | $8 – $30 | 40 – 70 years |
| Cedar shakes and shingles | $14 – $30 | 25 – 40 years |
| Clay tile | $15 – $20 | 50+ years |
| Slate | $20 – $40 | 75+ years |
| Flat and low-slope membrane | $4 – $12 | 20 – 30 years |
Where the money goes on a typical replacement
We build your quote from several parts, and each one behaves differently before it adds up. Tear-off and disposal is fixed by area and by how many layers come off. Labour scales with slope and access. Materials scale with area. Ventilation and flashing are small line items, and we quote them with the same care as everything else.
| Component | Range |
|---|---|
| Shingles | $2,625 – $5,250 |
| Underlayment | $700 – $1,313 |
| Flashing | $625 – $1,500 |
| Ventilation | $500 – $1,125 |
| Gutters | $1,250 – $3,125 |
| Tear-off and disposal | $1,875 – $3,750 |
| Labour | $3,750 – $7,500 |
| Standard total | $11,325 – $23,563 |
That total is for a roof of about 2,700 square feet, and it includes gutters. A quote that leaves gutters out lands below it by that line's range.
The five things that move a quote most
Slope, first: anything above about a 6-in-12 pitch needs staging and slows every stage of the work. Next is the count of valleys, dormers and penetrations, because each one is a hand-cut detail rather than a run of field shingles. Storey height comes third, changing your access and disposal costs. Then the number of existing layers coming off. Last is sheathing: we cannot price it with certainty until your roof is open, so it goes into the quote as a per-sheet rate.
When metal is worth the extra
Metal costs roughly twice asphalt at the low end and lasts roughly twice as long, so on a house you plan to keep for decades the two come out close to even and the maintenance is lower. Your roof's slope can settle the material on its own. Below 1 in 3 we cannot use asphalt at all, and between 1 in 4 and 1 in 3 it is metal or a low-slope system.
What happens before you sign a quote?
We write every quote down before you sign it, covering exactly what your roof needs and what happens if something under the old covering turns out different than expected. Sheathing is the one part nobody can see until the tear-off starts, so it goes into the quote as a per-sheet rate, agreed before the work begins.
Permits and what they add
Whether your roof needs a permit depends on which authority covers your address. We confirm that with them before the work is booked, and the quote says so.
When you want a number for your own roof, request a free quote and we'll measure it and price it properly.