How to price a roof job by voice

To price a roof job by voice, say the roof area in square feet or squares, the pitch, layers to remove, waste percentage, penetrations, ventilation, underlayment, access, and disposal — then your rates or your lump sum. Voice Estimate extracts the literal numbers you spoke; server code converts area to squares, applies waste, and rounds bundles, while the language model never does the arithmetic and the app never invents a rate.

Area alone does not describe a roof

Square footage is only the start. Measure each plane from the roof itself when you can, and say where the number came from — tape on the roof, blueprint, or an aerial estimate — because the source changes how much confidence the quantity deserves. If all you have is the building footprint, say so: pitch multiplies surface area, and a 2,000 sq ft footprint at 7/12 is a much bigger roof than the same footprint at 4/12.

Then describe everything that changes the labor and the order: layers to remove, the decking condition you can see, valleys, hips, dormers, and penetrations such as pipe boots, chimneys, and skylights, flashing condition, ventilation scope — ridge vent footage — drip edge, stories, dumpster access and placement, disposal, and the magnet sweep at the end. Cut-up roofs with hips and valleys waste more material than simple gables; the waste percentage you speak should reflect the roof you actually walked.

Decking you can't see is not a guess you absorb. Name it as an exclusion with a per-sheet rate priced after inspection, and it becomes a change order the customer agreed to in advance instead of a fight halfway through the tear-off.

A voice script you can use

“Estimate a 2,000 square foot asphalt shingle roof with ten percent waste. One layer tear-off, synthetic underlayment, new drip edge, ridge vent, and replacement pipe boots. Decking repairs are excluded and priced after inspection. Lump sum is 14,800 dollars.”

The app extracts 2,000 square feet, 10% waste, and the $14,800 lump sum as the literal values you spoke. Server code computes the squares and the planning quantities behind them; the decking exclusion lands with its change-order terms, not buried in a note. Review the draft before sending — the words the transcript heard are the words the estimate carries.

Worked example: 2,000 square feet

Two thousand square feet is 20 squares; a 10% waste allowance makes 22 squares of planning quantity. At three bundles per square for standard architectural profiles, that order rounds to 66 bundles; synthetic underlayment at 10 squares per roll means 2 rolls. Those are quantities to plan against, not prices — the rates on the estimate are yours, spoken or entered, never invented by the app.

To see this takeoff inside a complete filled-in estimate — priced line items, exclusions, terms, a signature line — see the roofing estimate example.

Common mistakes on roof estimates

• Quoting the footprint instead of the roof. The building's ground dimensions are not the roof area: pitch multiplies the surface and overhangs sit outside the walls. Say which one you measured, or the squares — and the bundle order behind them — are quietly wrong from the first line.
• One waste factor for every roof. A 10% gable allowance on a hip-and-valley roof comes up short on bundles, and the shortage is yours to fix mid-job. Hips, valleys, and dormers mean offcuts; 15% is the honest number on a cut-up roof.
• No decking language. Every tear-off can reveal soft or delaminated sheets. An estimate silent on decking either eats the repair or starts a dispute — a per-sheet rate with written approval costs two sentences.
• Treating tear-off as free. Layers, dumpster placement, access across landscaping, and the magnet sweep are all labor and all priceable. Say them in the recording so they land on the estimate instead of disappearing into "tear-off."
• Skipping the ventilation and flashing scope. "New ridge vent" without footage, or flashing work left unnamed, invites a mismatch between what you priced and what the customer expected. Name the feet, the boots, and the drip edge.

What to review before sending

• Measurement source, pitch, waste, and complexity
• Tear-off layers, disposal, access, and protection
• Decking allowance and change-order terms
• Ventilation, flashing, warranty, and permit scope
• Your entered price and acceptance terms