If you’re considering getting a new roof, one of the most critical components is deciding when to start your project. And that starts with understanding how long it takes to finish.

Of course, sometimes an immediate need—such as a roof leaking after storms—dictates that choice for you, but generally, many homeowners try to plan ahead for this pricey but necessary renovation.

The answer, however, depends greatly on two points:

  1. What time of year you decide to do your roofing project and
  2. How quickly you finalize roofing color decisions.

In this article, we’ll explain why these points are so critical to your roofing project timeline and go more into what an average timeline looks like.

What is the Average Timeline for Roofing Replacements?

Generally, we give a consistent ballpark of 3 to 4 months for all exterior projects, regardless of whether it’s siding, roofing, or painting. This estimate starts from when a homeowner signs the contract. From there, it goes:

  • 1 to 2 weeks of signing: Pre-construction appointment. This is where homeowners meet with the project manager and receive their thorough timeline walkthrough.
  • 30 seconds to 3 months: Payment or financing. Before any work can start on your home, homeowners must have talked to our accounting team and either paid for the project or financed it out. The speed of this step varies homeowner to homeowner, hence the large range.
  • 1 day to 1 week: Ordering materials and project-related appliances. Once homeowners have decided on the colors or material of their roof, the ordering process itself is quick. Shipping is the longest part!
  • 1 day to 8 weeks: Scheduling crews to work on your project. During summer, our busiest season, subcontractor crews are usually booked 6 to 8 weeks out. This means that once the project has officially started, it still may take 6 to 8 weeks for us to find capable people to handle your installation. However, during the slower months, it’s much shorter—sometimes taking only 1 to 2 days to schedule a crew.
  • 2 to 3 days: Actual on-site roofing installation. If there’s nothing wrong, such as finding rot or miscommunication in the order, the actual installation takes only 2 to 3 days before we’re done.
  • 1 to 2 weeks: Wrapping up a job site. “Wrapping up” doesn’t only mean the obvious things like dumping old roofing materials. It also includes a project manager’s final walk around your home to locate any areas that need to be touched up to ensure your satisfaction.

That’s the full rundown, and now you know that the actual on-site work is far less if nothing goes wrong: new roofs are usually installed in 2 to 3 days. So what builds it up from 2 to 3 days to 3 to 4 months?

The Truth Behind Roofing Replacement Timelines

Like I said earlier, there are two main reasons as to why we give the ballpark of 3 to 4 months for exterior renovations.

  1. What time of year you decide to do your roofing project and
  2. How quickly you finalize roofing color decisions.

#1 Renovating During Busy Season Means Longer Wait Times

It seems obvious, but renovating during our busy season (summer) means that you’ll have to wait longer for crews to be available to work with your home.

During summer, many companies in the home renovation industry are busy—and our project managers are no exception. Project managers handle anywhere from 8 to 15 projects per manager, whereas in the winter the load is usually 5 to 10 per project manager.

(It’s part of the reason we encourage homeowners to schedule their projects during the slower seasons, such as fall and winter.)

Because hiring and training subcontractor crews to our standards takes time, we place more of an emphasis on scheduling projects out. Hence the longer time until the start of your project.

This factor lies out of homeowner control though; there isn’t a way to avoid scheduling delays besides purposefully deciding to start your project during a slower season.

#2 Finalizing Color Decisions Before Precon Keeps Things Moving

However, color decisions are most certainly in homeowner control. In fact, color decision delays are more frequent and longer lasting than scheduling delays. One of our longest delays was up to 9 months.

While we’re happy to accommodate this, it helps both our timeline and yours to decide on your colors and materials before the precon meeting. If you need extra time, no worries—and always talk to our experienced estimators and project managers if you ever need any tips.

If life gets in the way of deciding on a color or material, we get it. All we ask is that you have patience for our hardworking crew and employees when you’re ready to get your project started.

We Want You to Get a Quality Roof Replacement

At the end of the day, both our project managers and crews want the same thing as you: a quality roof replacement that lasts you years.

And while roofing projects don’t take an egregious amount of time to complete, delays in certain areas of the timeline can cause really long delays. To avoid that, keep an open line of communication with your project manager and make your decisions early.

If you’re interested in seeing how we can increase your home value and curb appeal, not to mention safety, with a roof replacement, fill out the form for your free in-person estimate!