The first question almost everyone asks is the hardest one to answer over the phone: what will a new roof cost? Nobody can price a roof properly without seeing it. But you should not have to walk into a conversation with a roofer completely blind either, so here are the ranges we work with across Kerry, Cork and Limerick in 2026, and what moves a quote up or down.
The short answer
For a standard three-bed semi-detached house with a pitched roof of roughly 100 square metres, a full replacement in Ireland in 2026 lands somewhere between EUR 11,000 and EUR 18,000 including VAT. A small terraced house can come in under EUR 9,000. A large detached house in natural slate can pass EUR 24,000.
That spread is wide because a roof is not a product off a shelf. Two houses on the same road can differ by several thousand euro depending on what is found once the old covering comes off.
Price per square metre by material
Roofers price by roof area, not by the number of bedrooms. These are typical 2026 rates for materials and labour combined, before scaffolding.
| Material | Typical rate per m2 | Expected lifespan |
|---|---|---|
| Concrete tile | EUR 90 to 130 | 30 to 40 years |
| Fibre cement slate | EUR 110 to 160 | 35 to 50 years |
| Clay tile | EUR 120 to 170 | 50 years plus |
| Natural slate | EUR 150 to 220 | 80 to 100 years |
| Standing seam metal | EUR 130 to 200 | 50 years plus |
If you want the trade-offs behind those numbers rather than just the price, we go through each system on our roofing materials page.
How to estimate your own roof area
You do not need to get up a ladder. Measure the footprint of the house at ground level, length by width, then multiply by 1.4 for a standard pitch of around 35 degrees. That covers most Irish semi-detached and terraced houses. A bungalow will have a far bigger roof than its bedroom count suggests, which is why thinking in terms of a three-bed house is misleading.
Multiply your area by the rate for your chosen material and you have a sensible number to sense-check any quote against.
What is not in the per-metre rate
This is where quotes diverge, and where people get caught comparing two prices that are not measuring the same thing.
- Scaffolding costs EUR 800 to 2,500 depending on height, access and how long it stands. A terraced house with a narrow side passage costs more than a detached bungalow with a driveway.
- Stripping and disposal of the old covering, plus skip hire. On an old felt roof this is heavier work than it sounds.
- Timber repair. Nobody can see the rafters and battens until the roof is open. On older houses in coastal parishes we regularly find rot at the eaves, so keep a contingency.
- Lead work: new valleys, flashings and chimney detail. Often the difference between a roof that lasts and one that leaks in five years. See lead work.
- VAT at 13.5 per cent applies to renovation and repair work on existing homes in Ireland. Always check whether a quote includes it, because a 13.5 per cent gap looks like a bargain until the invoice arrives.
Why coastal Kerry costs more
Exposure is a real cost factor here and it is not padding. On the Dingle and Iveragh peninsulas, and along the west Cork coast, wind uplift and salt air mean mechanical fixing across more of the roof, better underlay, and stainless rather than galvanised fixings. Expect roughly 10 to 15 per cent above an equivalent inland job. Skipping that specification saves money once and costs money twice.
When a repair is the better call
Replacement is not always the answer. If the covering is sound and the problem is localised, such as a slipped ridge, a failed valley or a cracked flashing at the chimney, a repair costing a few hundred euro can buy years. We say so when that is the case, because quoting a full re-roof on a roof that does not need one is the fastest way to lose a customer for good.
The honest test is proportion. Once you are patching the same roof for the third time, or once a large share of the slates are delaminating, repair money starts subsidising a replacement you will need anyway. Our roof repair and roof replacement pages set out where the line usually falls.
How to compare quotes properly
Ask every roofer for the same list in writing: roof area in square metres, material and manufacturer, whether the old roof is being stripped, new underlay and battens, ridge and verge detail, lead work, scaffolding, waste removal, VAT, and the guarantee. A quote that is one line and one number is not a quote, it is a guess.
Be wary of a price well below the others. It usually means something has been left out, most often scaffolding, lead work or stripping the old covering, and it reappears as an extra once the job has started.
Getting a real number for your roof
Everything above is a planning range, not a price. The only way to get a figure you can rely on is to have someone stand on the roof and look at it. We survey free across Kerry, Cork, Limerick and Waterford, and you get a written fixed price afterwards, with a 12-year guarantee on full re-roofs.
If you want that for your house, get in touch, or read how we work in Kerry and Cork.