What a New Roof Costs in Kensington
There is no one price for a roof in Kensington, and anyone who gives you one over the phone is guessing at five things they have not looked at: how many squares your roof measures, how steep it is, how many layers are already up there, what the decking is doing underneath, and how hard it is to reach. A typical Kensington house measures 16–28 squares — the rest we measure free, photograph, and put in writing.
The three systems, compared
We do not publish a rate, and we will tell you why: a single Washington metro (Arlington, Alexandria, Fairfax, McLean, Falls Church, Loudoun, Prince William, Montgomery, Frederick) figure is wrong for every house it is quoted at. Two roofs on the same street differ by more than two towns do. What is worth knowing before an estimator arrives is how the three systems compare to each other — that ratio holds whatever your roof turns out to measure. We do not install 3-tab shingle, so there is no 3-tab line here: architectural is our entry system.
| System | Relative cost | Service life | Cost per year | What it is for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Architectural asphalt shingle | Baseline | 25–30 yrs | Lowest for most homes | Our standard system. The right answer on the large majority of roofs. |
| Designer / luxury laminate | About 1.4× asphalt | 30–40 yrs | Close to asphalt over its life | Slate and shake looks. Often the HOA or historic-district answer. |
| 24ga standing-seam metal | About 1.7× asphalt | 40–70 yrs | Lowest if you stay 15+ years | Low-slope sections, long clean runs, houses you intend to keep. |
A square is 100 sq ft of roof area. Every system above is quoted as a complete tear-off and rebuild — disposal, underlayment, ice-and-water shield, starter, drip edge, flashing, ventilation and the permit — because a roof quoted any other way is not comparable to one that is. Ridge, hip, valley and drip-edge trim is billed per linear foot and varies with your roof's geometry.
The six things that move your number most, every one of them found on the roof: a second existing layer to tear off, soft or plank decking that needs replacing or over-boarding, chimney reflashing, skylight replacement, steep-pitch and multi-storey access, and any code-required ventilation upgrade. Every one of those is found on the roof, not from the driveway.
How to work out what your Kensington roof will take
- 1Measure the footprint, not the roof. Take the outside dimensions of the house from a satellite view or a tape and multiply for the ground-floor area in square feet. Include the garage and any covered porch that has a shingled roof over it.
- 2Add for pitch and overhang. A roof is bigger than the house under it. Add about 10% for a shallow roof, 20% for a typical Kensington gable, and up to 30% for a steep or complex roofline with dormers. This is the step people skip, and it is why homeowner estimates come out low.
- 3Convert to squares. Divide by 100. Roofing is priced per square, and one square is 100 square feet. A 2,400 sq ft footprint at 20% for pitch is 2,880 sq ft, which is 28.8 squares.
- 4Count the complications, one by one. Squares alone do not price a roof. Walk the outside and count what a bidder will have to deal with: every chimney, every skylight, every valley, every dormer, and any section flat enough that water sits on it. Then find out how many layers of shingle are already up there — a second layer doubles the tear-off. Each of these is a line item, and a quote that does not mention yours has not accounted for it.
- 5Check what you cannot see, and admit that you cannot. The decking under the shingles is the item that moves a number most and the only one nobody can price from the ground. Soft or plank decking has to be replaced or over-boarded. Get a per-sheet rate agreed in writing before work starts, from whoever you hire — that turns the one genuine unknown into a number you already accepted.
- 6Then have it measured, and get it in writing. Squares and a complication list get you a real conversation instead of a phone number. What they cannot do is price your roof, because the price is set by what is found on it. Our inspection, the measurement and the 20+ photo report are free and yours to keep whether you hire us or not.
Or skip the tape measure: our satellite measuring tool works your roof out from aerial imagery in about a minute.
What moves the price in Kensington specifically
- Town permits, not county permits. The Town of Kensington issues its own permits for properties inside town limits, separate from Montgomery County — two different offices, two different submissions. Which one applies is settled before anything is filed.
- Historic district design review. Kensington has a historic district, and exterior changes there carry a design review on top of the building permit. Shingle profile and colour become an approval question, and slate or metal originals are a design question before they are a roofing question.
- Small early-20th-century houses, steep roofs. Kensington's core is bungalows and Victorians on tight lots. Roof area is modest but pitch is steep and plank decking is common, which trades material cost for labour and safety setup.
- Tight lots. Narrow side yards and mature trees limit where the dump trailer and the loading conveyor can sit. That is a real line item on a small-lot Kensington job and we price it rather than discover it.
We work all of Kensington and the surrounding Montgomery County communities — Wheaton, Chevy Chase, Garrett Park, Rockville — and every ZIP listed above.
If a storm did this, you may not be paying the whole number
Hail and wind damage is a covered loss on most policies, and on an approved claim your deductible is typically your out-of-pocket cost rather than the whole replacement. Age and ordinary wear are never covered, and we will tell you honestly which one your roof has before you file — a claim on a worn-out roof just puts a claim on your record.
What decides it is documentation tied to a dated storm event. We inspect free, photograph everything, and meet your adjuster on the roof.
Storm & hail damage in Kensington → · The full claim guide → · Financing options →
Straight answers
How much does a roof replacement cost in Kensington, MD?
There is no one Kensington price, and anybody who gives you one on the phone is guessing at five things they have not looked at. Roofing is priced per square — 100 sq ft of roof area — and what your number comes to is decided by how many squares your roof measures, how steep it is, whether there is already a second layer up there to tear off, what the decking is doing underneath, and how hard the roof is to reach. A typical Kensington house measures 16–28 squares, which is the one part of that we can tell you before we arrive. We measure the rest free, photograph it, and put the price in writing.
Why are the quotes I am getting in Kensington so far apart?
Almost always because they are not quoting the same roof. A full replacement is a system: tear-off and disposal of what is there, synthetic underlayment, ice-and-water shield at the eaves and valleys, a new starter course, new drip edge, new pipe boots and step flashing, continuous ridge vent, the permit, and the magnet sweep at the end. A quote that comes in far under the others is usually leaving out the tear-off, the ice-and-water, the flashing, the ventilation or the permit — and each of those is the thing that decides whether the roof reaches its warranty. Put two quotes side by side and read the scope, not the total.
How do I compare two Kensington roofing quotes fairly?
Make them quote the same squares. Ask each contractor how many squares they measured and how they measured it, because a bid on 24 squares and a bid on 30 squares are not comparable at any price. Then check five line items are present and priced: tear-off of every existing layer, ice-and-water shield at eaves and valleys, step and chimney flashing replaced rather than reused, ridge ventilation, and the permit. Ask what happens if the decking is soft — a per-sheet rate agreed in advance is the difference between a change order you expected and one you did not.
Will homeowners insurance pay for my Kensington roof replacement?
If the roof was damaged by a covered event — hail, high wind, a fallen limb — your policy typically pays for the replacement, and on an approved claim your deductible is typically your out-of-pocket cost rather than the full number. Age and ordinary wear are never covered. What decides it is documentation tied to a dated storm event, which is why the free inspection and its photo report matter more than the argument does. We also cover the Montgomery County permit path once a claim is approved.
Is a metal roof worth the extra money in Kensington?
Standing-seam metal runs roughly 1.7× architectural asphalt on the same roof, for a 40–70 year service life instead of 25–30. That makes it the cheaper roof per year if you stay in the house. It is usually the wrong call if you are selling within five years, or if your roofline is broken up by many dormers and valleys, because the custom trim bending on a complex roof costs more than the extra life is worth. We will tell you which one you have rather than sell you the bigger ticket.
Do you charge for the Kensington estimate?
No. The inspection, the measurement and the 20+ photo damage report are free and yours to keep whether or not you hire us. There is no inspection fee and no consultation invoice.
More on roofing in Kensington
Roofing in Kensington · Roof replacement · Metal roof cost · Roof leaks & 24/7 response · Roofing in Montgomery County · Remodeling in Kensington
Repair or replace? · Metal vs asphalt · Does insurance cover it? · How to choose a contractor