How many square should a good, experienced, young , healthy roofer put on in an hour? ( a walkable roof )
I have a couple guys that wanna be paid by the hour…I’ll probably pay em per square ( $25-$30) though …but one guy said he can do 20 sq. per hour…
Wayne
Back in the day well not that long ago. Union shops wanted at least 8sq per day finished. I talked to a couple of union guys the other day and they tell me 10 sq. is now the norm. A good roofer should lay 10 sq. with no problem. I pay my guys by the hour and ask for 8-10 sq. min. That way I dont worry about fight over who got the good sides. And the job gets done right. Alot of guys say " I lay done 20-25 sq a day" How good was it ? who knows. I would rather have a guy nail 8- 10 sq each and every day with quality then 20 sqs and hope I dont get a call back in the middle of a rain storm.
20 sq. per hour? I would pay to just watch that!!! 
.but one guy said he can do 20 sq. per hour…
Wayne
Me too. Wow I must have read to fast missed it
[quote=“CCSRoofer”]but one guy said he can do 20 sq. per hour…
Wayne[/quote]
:roll:
id like to see a crew of 5 guys lay 20 sq per hour. even THAT would be interesting to watch. lol
if a guy can do 10-15sq per day, in my book hes a fast roofer.
I agree with others, 10 or so square for an 8 hour period is decent. That guy that can do 20sq a day, I wonder if he knows shingles require 4 nails?
so you all agree about 2-4 sqr. an hour…depending on the person, pitch, etc.
but a good average on a walkable roof is probably 3 sq. an hour?..sound about right?
Thanks
Wayne
[quote=“CCSRoofer”]so you all agree about 2-4 sqr. an hour…depending on the person, pitch, etc.
but a good average on a walkable roof is probably 3 sq. an hour?..sound about right?
Thanks
Wayne[/quote]
3 per hour? no way. not unless he has someone throwing the shingles down for him and lining them up… maybe 2 guys. and he is just putting the nails in. and 2 or 3 nails per shingle, and not taking any breaks at all.
also, when i was nailing, i liked a 6-7 pitch better than a 4-5 pitch. way easier on the back.
I irks me when a person says he can do so many sq per hour.
I shingled 8 sq in one hour before…but that was in the field. And after I shingled the gable, go around the 1st three pipes, shingled the 1st six courses at the eave. Then had to go around a skylight at the end of the roof.
I ended up with about 3 sq per hour average at the end of the day
So you could see how people balloon thier production rates.
Forgot to answer your question…
A good roofer should get about 10-12 sq per day…more for the easy roofs and less for difficult ones.
Easy…Gable to Gable, 15 sq or better
Medium…A valley, 1 or 2 skylights, 10-12 sq
Difficult…Cut up pig, 7-8 sq
All numbers are based on quality installation at a decent pace.
at my prime was 3 an hour. and was 1 hour the best i think i did in 1 day was 12.
If I kill myself, I can put down at least 20 square in eight hours. But that is on a pre-papered roof. Walkable, and not having to do too many penetrations, skylights etc.
Although I generally tone it down, so I don’t die an early death.
By the way, that is 6 nails per shingle, installed to a high degree of quality. I can go faster feeding myself shingles, I hate when guys get fed shingles. It makes no sense to me. Lazy
I have never seen anyone shingle faster than me, with the same quality (in person). But I know that those guys are out their (wish they were working for me) 
Same thing here 4 seasons. I have never met anyone who can shingle as fast as me and consistently hit the nail line. Feeders usually slow me down because I am usually waiting and yelling SHINGLE!!. I don’t pay any other guys to get fed either. If they want a feeder, I tell them his pay comes out of their squares.
I would say I average around 2-3. Depends on what is in my way. I am also not stupid and set myself up very smart. As I have posted before, I used to work with a guy who shingled just as quick as me, but it always seemed like I had an extra few square on by the end of the day, mainly because of set up.
Crazy ! just charge what you should for your work and you wont have to work like an animal. I learned years ago that there are no Heros in roofing. “contrary to popular belief”
This question always means nothing to me. If I get on a roof, it is stocked and papered and a 5 pitch clear run gable, sure I’ll put up 20 square in a day. But this is rarely the case.
Steeper = slower
Fighting siding to get new flashing in = slower
penetrations = slower
valleys = slower
ridge vent = slower (hand driven)
cut up (A frames, dormers) = slower
100+ degrees outside = slower
wet wrinkly felt = slower
etc…
If I can put up 4 or 5 square a day on a steep cut up roof, and I know the chit won’t leak til the shingles fail, I’m happy with that and I can make money.
I totally agree nailer. I do 3 steady and hour if I have a feeder probably 5. I pay my laborers to feed shingles throw coils go get my knife when it falls for 100th time lol. 4 or 5 on a pig is decent I think.
We just did a 3 layer 22 sq 2 story tear off and put back masterRib metal, 80 ft of valleys ( you all know how long a metal valley takes) 1 huge chimney 30lb felt and all the trim, 2 trips to the dump…5 days all on chicken hooks. I don’t work my guys to death I ask them for a honest days work
Man, I guess Im slow. Very rarely can I put on more than 10-15 sq in a 8 hour day on your normal house with penetrations and a valley or two and a wall or two. Although the fastest team effort i have been involved in was a 24sq four sided hip roof, 5/12 one and a half story. Four of us carried the bundles up, and shingled in 1 3/4 hours. Rain was commin. Its the hip roof on my site. I thought that was ok.
I can put on 13-15sq or so a day and about 20sq a day with a feeder on a walkable easy roof. It goes down from there the harder a roof is. My other guys can do about the same but they also know that quality is more imporant to me than speed. I did once put on 7 and 2/3sq in one hour but there is no way I could keep that pace up all day long.
Where are you Superman ?? :o where hiring : )