A roof replacement in Los Angeles typically costs $12,000 to $65,000 for the 1,500 to 2,000-square-foot roof on a single-story house: about $5 to $10 per square foot for composition shingle, $8 to $15 for a tile lift and relay, $10 to $20 for new concrete tile, and $15 to $30 for clay tile or standing-seam metal, all with tear-off, material and labor. Green Design and Build is a licensed general contractor (CSLB #1110975) based in Van Nuys that tears off, repairs and replaces roofs for homeowners across Los Angeles County, Orange County, Ventura County, western Riverside County and western San Bernardino County. The figures on this page are typical Los Angeles budgeting ranges, not a quote; your number depends on the material, the size and pitch of the roof, and what the tear-off finds underneath.
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Roof replacement cost by material
The material sets most of the number. The table gives the per-square-foot range for each kind of roof we install, and what that comes to on a typical 1,500 to 2,000-square-foot single-story roof, including tear-off of the old covering, underlayment, flashing and the new roof. Repairs are priced by the job.
| Roofing work | Per sq ft of roof | 1,500–2,000 sq ft single-story roof |
|---|---|---|
| Roof repair (flashing, a few tiles, one leak) | By the job | $500–$3,000 |
| Composition (asphalt) shingle, tear-off and replace | $5–$10 | $12,000–$25,000 |
| Tile lift and relay (new underlayment, tile reused) | $8–$15 | $15,000–$30,000 |
| Concrete tile, new roof | $10–$20 | $20,000–$45,000 |
| Clay tile, new roof | $15–$30 | $30,000–$65,000 |
| Standing-seam metal | $15–$30 | $30,000–$65,000 |
| Flat roof, torch-down modified bitumen | $5–$10 | $8,000–$20,000 |
| Flat roof, TPO single-ply | $7–$14 | $11,000–$28,000 |
Roofers quote in “squares” (100 square feet of roof), so a $5 to $10-per-square-foot shingle roof is $500 to $1,000 a square. The roof area is larger than the floor area because of the pitch and the overhangs; a 1,600-square-foot single-story ranch house in the San Fernando Valley usually carries 1,800 to 2,100 square feet of roof, and a two-story house of the same floor area has roughly half that. Our guide to what a Los Angeles general contractor costs covers how these trade prices fit into a larger remodel.
What changes the price of a roof replacement
Two houses on the same street can get quotes $15,000 apart for what sounds like the same roof. When they do, it is one of the items below.
The material and its weight
Composition shingle is the least expensive roof to install and the right choice for most pitched roofs, including the 1950s to 1970s Valley ranch houses we re-roof most often: laminated architectural shingles in a Cool Roof Rating Council-rated color over synthetic underlayment, with ice-and-water membrane in the valleys and around penetrations. Concrete and clay tile cost two to three times as much and weigh roughly 9 to 12 pounds per square foot, so moving from shingle to tile needs a structural review of the framing, and that engineering is part of the price. Standing-seam metal costs about what clay tile does and is gaining ground on hillside and fire-zone homes because it is Class A in a tested assembly, sheds embers and takes solar clamps instead of roof penetrations.
What the tear-off finds
Rotten plywood only shows itself after the old roof comes off, and the deck is the most common reason a roofing job costs more than the quote. We replace up to 10 percent of the deck at no additional charge and price anything beyond that per sheet, before we cover it, so you see the damaged sections and the number at the same time. A house with two layers of old shingles also costs more to tear off and dispose of than a house with one, and California code does not allow a third layer, so a roof that already has two must come down to the deck.
Size, pitch and complexity
A simple gable roof with two planes is the cheapest roof to cover. Every hip, valley, dormer, skylight, chimney and plumbing vent adds cut tile or shingle, flashing and labor, and a steep pitch slows the crew and adds fall protection. A 2,000-square-foot roof cut up by four valleys and three skylights can cost as much as a plain 2,600-square-foot roof in the same shingle.
Solar, gutters and ventilation
If you have solar panels, they come off before the tear-off and go back on after the final inspection. That work is performed by licensed solar and electrical contractors and scheduled and supervised by us as your general contractor, and it runs roughly $1,500 to $5,000 depending on the size of the array. Seamless aluminum gutters and downspouts installed with the roof run about $8 to $20 per linear foot. Attic ventilation is worth adding while the roof is open: the residential code calls for net free vent area of at least 1/150 of the attic floor, and on most 1950s to 1970s Valley houses the soffit vents are painted shut or missing.
Cool-roof and fire-zone requirements
These are code requirements rather than options, and they narrow which products you can use. Under the 2025 California Energy Code, in effect for permits filed on or after January 1, 2026, replacing more than 50 percent of a roof (or 2,000 square feet, whichever is less) triggers the cool-roof requirement, and products must carry a Cool Roof Rating Council label; the City of Los Angeles has separately required cool roofs on residential re-roofs since 2014. In a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, which now includes much of the hillside Valley, the Santa Monica Mountains and the Orange County canyons after CAL FIRE’s March 2025 maps, the roof must be a Class A assembly with closed gaps under tile at the eaves and ridges, metal valley flashing, ember-resistant vents and no wood shakes or shingles. Cool-rated shingles and Class A assemblies are standard products now and rarely move the price much, but a fire-zone roof that also needs new vents, gutter covers and eave closures is a larger job than a like-for-like re-roof.
Repair, overlay or full replacement?
Repair makes sense when the covering has years left and the leak has a specific cause: a cracked pipe-jack boot, a rusted valley, a slipped tile, or a failed seam on a flat roof. Most repairs land between $500 and $3,000. What a repair cannot fix is underlayment gone brittle everywhere; patching one spot moves the leak to the next.
Overlay means new shingles over the existing layer. The California Residential Code does not allow it where the roof already has two or more layers, where the covering or deck is water-soaked or deteriorated, or over wood shake, slate or tile. We rarely recommend one even when it is legal: it hides damaged decking, adds weight, traps heat, and makes the next replacement cost more because there are two layers to remove instead of one.
Full replacement is a tear-off to the deck, replacement of damaged sheathing, new underlayment, new flashing at every penetration, and the new covering. It is the only option that lets you see the deck, and it is what every figure in the table above describes.
Tile roofs: lift and relay for about half the cost of new tile
If your tile roof dates from the 1980s or 1990s, the felt underneath is probably at the end of its life even if the tile looks perfect; the first signs are leaks at valleys and skylights and staining on the underside of the sheathing. A lift and relay removes the tile in sections, tears off the old underlayment and battens, replaces damaged sheathing, installs new underlayment with new metal at every valley, eave, wall and penetration, and resets the original tile with new fasteners. Broken tiles come from matching salvage stock. At $8 to $15 per square foot you keep the look for roughly half the cost of a new tile roof, and because the weight does not change, the job qualifies for the same express permit as any re-roof.
Do you need a permit to replace a roof in Los Angeles?
Yes. In the City of Los Angeles, which includes most of the San Fernando Valley, a re-roof is an express permit with no plan check when the new covering is Class A or B, weighs less than 6 pounds per square foot, and goes over solid sheathing. Heavier tile, new skylights, a pitch change or rafter work means plan check. The contractor certifies the finished work on the LADBS Re-roofing Certificate of Compliance, and any new sheathing gets a nailing inspection before it is covered. Our post on whether you need a permit to replace a roof in Los Angeles walks through the process. Burbank, Glendale, Pasadena, Santa Clarita, unincorporated Los Angeles County and every Orange County city issue their own re-roof permits under the same state codes.
The permit is a small part of the cost, and a quote that leaves it out is not cheaper. Without one there is no inspection of the new sheathing, no Certificate of Compliance for the next buyer’s disclosure, and no cool-roof or Class A documentation if the house is ever in a fire-zone insurance review.
How long does a roof replacement take?
| Job | Typical duration once material is on site |
|---|---|
| Composition shingle tear-off and replace | 2–5 working days |
| Tile lift and relay, or new tile roof | 1–2 weeks |
| Standing-seam metal | 1–2 weeks |
| Flat roof (torch-down, TPO or foam) | 2–4 working days |
These are typical Los Angeles budgeting estimates, not a price list or a quote. Your project can come in lower or higher depending on the house, the scope and the finishes; the only real number is a written proposal after a site visit.
An LADBS express re-roof permit is usually issued in days; heavier tile or new skylights go through plan check, and solar removal adds about a week on each side of the roofing work for the panels to come off and go back on. Add a week or two for shingle or tile to arrive if you choose a color that is not stocked locally.
A real roof: what the tear-off found in Newport Beach
In October 2025 we replaced the roof on a single-story house in Newport Beach that looked fine from the street. Once the old roofing came off, the original plank decking at the eaves was rotted through in several places, with old vent openings cut into it. The damaged boards were cut out and replaced and the fascia checked before any underlayment went on; then synthetic underlayment, new flashing and a light-grey architectural shingle went across the full roof, including the chimney and vent details. The homeowner saw the damaged sections before we covered them, which is the point of a full tear-off. Photos of every stage are on the Newport Beach roof replacement project page, and a Buena Park roof from August 2026 shows the same thing: one area of rotted decking under curling shingles, cut out and replaced before the new underlayment.
The same lesson is in our permit post: on a 1960s San Fernando Valley shingle replacement, tear-off exposed about 80 square feet of soft, stained deck around a bathroom vent from a slow leak nobody had seen from inside. Covering it would have put a new roof over a failing deck.
How to compare roofing quotes
Quotes for the same roof are only comparable when they describe the same work. Check that each one lists the tear-off and disposal of every existing layer, the underlayment product (synthetic or felt, and the ice-and-water membrane at valleys and penetrations), new flashing at every pipe, wall and chimney rather than reuse of the old metal, the exact shingle or tile product and its Cool Roof Rating Council listing, how much deck replacement is included and the per-sheet price beyond it, the permit and the Certificate of Compliance, ventilation, and the manufacturer’s and the contractor’s workmanship warranties. A quote priced in squares should say how many squares it counted; a difference of five squares on a 20-square roof explains a lot of price gaps. Confirm the licence on the CSLB site: roofing must be done by a contractor holding an active C-39 roofing classification or a B general building licence, with workers’ compensation on file.
Where we replace roofs
We re-roof houses from our Van Nuys office across the San Fernando Valley, the rest of Los Angeles County, Orange County, Ventura County, western Riverside County and western San Bernardino County. The material mix changes with the area: composition shingle on Valley and South Bay ranch houses, concrete and clay tile on the Spanish and Mediterranean homes of Pasadena, Orange County and the Inland Empire, flat torch-down and TPO on mid-century Valley houses and garage conversions, and Class A shingle or metal on hillside and canyon homes in the fire zones. The cool-roof rule reaches all of it: the Valley and Los Angeles basin, Orange County, inland Ventura, Riverside and San Bernardino all sit in climate zones where a steep-sloped re-roof needs a cool-rated product, and only the coast in Climate Zone 6 escapes the steep-slope rule. See all of our service areas.
Roof replacement cost FAQs
How much does a new roof cost in Los Angeles?
A new roof on a typical 1,500 to 2,000-square-foot single-story house in Los Angeles costs about $12,000 to $25,000 in composition shingle, $15,000 to $30,000 for a tile lift and relay, $20,000 to $45,000 in new concrete tile, and $30,000 to $65,000 in clay tile or standing-seam metal, including tear-off. Flat roofs run $8,000 to $28,000 depending on the system. These are typical Los Angeles budgeting ranges, not a quote.
How much does a roof replacement cost per square foot?
In Los Angeles, composition shingle runs about $5 to $10 per square foot of roof with tear-off, a tile lift and relay $8 to $15, new concrete tile $10 to $20, clay tile and standing-seam metal $15 to $30, torch-down flat roofing $5 to $10 and TPO $7 to $14. Roofers often quote per “square” (100 square feet), so $5 to $10 per square foot is $500 to $1,000 per square.
Is it cheaper to put new shingles over the old roof?
An overlay is cheaper up front because it skips the tear-off, but California code does not allow it where the roof already has two layers, where the covering or deck is deteriorated, or over shake, slate or tile, and we rarely recommend it even when it is legal. It hides damaged decking, adds weight, traps heat and makes the next replacement more expensive because two layers must come off instead of one.
Do I need a permit to replace my roof in Los Angeles?
Yes. In the City of Los Angeles a like-for-like re-roof with a Class A or B covering weighing under 6 pounds per square foot over solid sheathing is an express permit with no plan check, and the contractor signs the LADBS Re-roofing Certificate of Compliance at the end. Heavier tile, new skylights or structural changes go through plan check. Other cities in Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura, Riverside and San Bernardino counties issue their own permits under the same state codes.
How long does a roof replacement take?
Once material is on site, a composition shingle tear-off and replacement on a single-family house takes two to five working days, a tile lift and relay or new tile roof one to two weeks, standing-seam metal one to two weeks, and a flat torch-down, TPO or foam roof two to four working days. An LADBS express permit is usually issued in days, and removing and reinstalling solar panels adds about a week on each side.
Does a cool roof cost more?
Usually not much. Since 2014 the City of Los Angeles has required cool roofs on residential re-roofs, and under the 2025 California Energy Code replacing more than half of a roof triggers the cool-roof rule across the Valley, the Los Angeles basin, Orange County, inland Ventura, Riverside and San Bernardino. Cool-rated architectural shingles, tile and metal are standard products carrying a Cool Roof Rating Council label, so the requirement narrows the color choices more than it raises the price.
Get a written roof replacement price for your house
We will measure the roof, count the layers, check the deck from the attic and the fire-zone and cool-roof rules for your address before we write a number, and give you an itemized proposal that lists tear-off, deck replacement, underlayment, flashing, the roofing product, ventilation, permit and warranties line by line. The site visit and the estimate are free.
