What a metal roof really costs: the calculation on our public price list
The price of a roof is the best-kept secret in this trade. You type in “how much does a metal roof cost” and you get ten pages that say “it depends on the project, get in touch for a quotation”. It does depend, of course — but that does not mean it cannot be calculated. Our price list is public, so the sum is public too: this text shows how much material goes on the roof of an average house, what that costs at the current prices, and which items people forget so that the quotation grows later.
What the material for your roof costs
Drag the sliders to the dimensions of your house. The calculator works out the sloping area of the roof from the plan and the pitch, adds the cutting waste, and then multiplies every item by the price from our price list. Not one figure is an estimate — they all come from the same price list we invoice by.
Material for the roof — on the current price list
| Item | Quantity | Amount net |
|---|---|---|
| T-35 trapezoidal sheet RAL 7016/9005 | 131.1 m² | 1,279.35 € |
| Anti-condensation fleece | 131.1 m² | 209.73 € |
| Gutter developed width 330 | 24.0 m | 84.00 € |
| Downpipe Ø100 | 24.0 m | 84.00 € |
| Gutter brackets | 35 pcs | 89.25 € |
| Hopper heads | 4 pcs | 14.88 € |
| Eaves flashing (developed width 280 mm) | 24.0 m | 86.64 € |
| Verge flashing (developed width 360 mm) | 19.9 m | 78.05 € |
Total incl. 25 % Croatian VAT
2,407.38 €
1,925.91 € net
Per m² of roof
20.20 €
incl. 25 % Croatian VAT
Roof area
119 m²
plan area 108 m²
* All unit prices come from the current Modeco price list. Only the material is calculated — without installation, transport, battens, membrane, screws and small fittings. The model is a gable roof without valleys, dormers and chimneys; every such detail adds flashings. The brackets are calculated at a spacing of 70 cm (the range in practice is 60–80 cm), and four downpipes are assumed. The roof area is obtained by dividing the plan area by the cosine of the pitch.
The material calculation for the roof is indicative and not a binding offer. The final price is confirmed by a written quote after checking measurements, quantities, material availability and the cost of delivery and installation. Terms of purchase: terms and conditions.
Why the same sheet has two prices
The first thing you see in the calculator: the same profile in RAL 3009 or 8019 (brick red, brown) costs 7.92 €/m², and in RAL 7016 or 9005 (anthracite, black) 9.44 €/m². The difference is about 19 %, and it is not a matter of fashion but of the coating: dark shades heat up more strongly and demand a more resistant coating system. Why a dark RAL demands a matt coating and how the coatings differ we wrote about in the article on top coats.
Second: a higher profile is not significantly more expensive. T-18 is 7.92 €/m², and T-45 8.48 €/m² — about seven per cent difference for a profile that takes a considerably larger purlin spacing. If the structural design allows purlins further apart, the higher profile often pays for itself through the timber substructure you save. Which profile for which span — set out with a slider in the guide to the trapezoidal profiles.
Seven items a quotation “forgets”
The calculator above works out the covering, the drainage and two basic flashings. That is the skeleton of the sum — but the roof is not finished with it. Here is what a cheap quotation regularly leaves out and what still has to be paid for:
- Anti-condensation fleece (1.60 €/m²). In an unheated space the roof drips without it — that is not a workmanship error but physics, explained in the article on roof sweat.
- Ridge flashing and ridge ventilation. Without spacers and a mesh the roof stops breathing.
- Valley flashings and wall abutment flashings around chimneys, dormers and junctions with a wall — every such detail is a flashing made to measure.
- Snow guards. On a metal roof the snow slides off all at once; above entrances and driveways that is not an option but a necessity.
- Screws with a sealing washer and rivets. A small item per piece, but they go on the roof in their thousands.
- Battens, counter-battens and a vapour-permeable membrane — the substructure is not part of the covering, but without it the covering does not stand.
- Transport. Long sheet does not go by parcel delivery. Our price list has zones from 10 € for Đakovo to 112 € at 120 km.
Drainage: a small item that is expensive to get wrong
In the calculator the drainage comes out as a small part of the sum — a gutter of developed width 330 is 3.50 €/m, and a Ø100 pipe likewise 3.50 €/m. That is exactly why it is where people save, and a system that is too small gets chosen. The step from developed width 250 to developed width 417 on a house of twelve metres changes the sum by a few dozen euros — and the difference between a gutter that takes all the water and one that overflows in every heavier downpour is precisely that. Which gutter your roof can take is calculated from the catchment area, not estimated: the calculator for that is in the article on sizing the gutter.
One warning you pay for over years: do not mix metals. A copper pipe or flashing above a galvanised gutter destroys the zinc layer and the system fails considerably before its time.
Trapezoidal Sheet T-35 · RAL 7016/9005
The most common choice for the roofs of family houses and smaller halls — cover width 1035 mm, profiled in our own plant in Đakovo.
What to do with this figure next
The amount from the calculator is material, not a roof. Installation, the substructure and transport come on top of it, and with a renovation also the removal of the old covering and the disposal of the waste — with asbestos cement that is a separate item, because it is hazardous waste. What this sum does give you is a yardstick: when you receive a quotation, you know how much of it goes on material and how much on everything else. A quotation below this amount either does not have all the items or is not the same material.
This is the sum for a roof. If you are building a hall, alongside the material and the works come public charges that appear in no contractor’s quotation — the utility contribution, the water contribution and the power connection.
The prices come from the current price list, but the price list changes. For a binding quotation send us the dimensions and the pitch — we will work out the exact list of materials for your roof. Send an enquiry or put together the cross-section of a flashing in the Flashing Designer.
Frequently asked questions
The material can be calculated from the public price list: trapezoidal sheet costs from 7.92 to 10.00 €/m² excluding VAT depending on the profile and the RAL group, and with it come the fleece, gutters, brackets, hopper heads and flashings. Installation, substructure and transport are not included.
English version of the Croatian original: Koliko stvarno košta limeni krov: račun po javnom cjeniku.