When the need for a new roof becomes evident, many homeowners may feel a little overwhelmed. The cost of replacing a roof can be quite expensive. However, before you start quibbling about roofing shingles prices first determine how many shingles you need. To perform a simple calculation of how much it will cost for a roof replacement, you will first need to know the square footage of the roof.

To get the total square footage of the roof, the width of the roof is multiplied by the length of the roof. When measuring, it is always best to measure the width, going from the bottom to the center of the house and then doubling this amount. For example, if the length is 32 feet and the width of one side was 14 feet, the total width would be 28 feet, and 32 and 28 would be multiplied. The total square footage is 896 square feet.

Most roof shingles come in packs that will cover 100 square feet. These are otherwise known as squares. In the above example, if a square covers 100 square feet, you would need 9 squares of roof shingles to cover the roof. To determine the cost of the roof, the cost of a square would then be multiplied by 9. If, for example, the cost of a square was $33.99, the total cost for the shingles would be $305.91.

Of course, this is just the price of the roofing shingles. This price does not take into account the other materials that are necessary for a roof replacement, such as nails, tar paper and ice shield. Calculations can be done from the previous measurements for the cost of these materials as well.

While many people may get stressed out the minute they realize their roof must be replaced, no one should get stressed out until they have determined exactly what it will cost. Installing a new roof is actually going to be a great investment and can easily up the value of a home instantly. Before you get overwhelmed, determine the roofing shingles prices and you may find it's not as bad as you thought.