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Comment by aphextron | Hacker News Reader

> Cheaper than traditional roof plus solar.

I find that really hard to believe. A new roof runs between 5-10k, and a 3kw solar system can be had for ~5k + labor. Even if they are including a power wall in that price it's still pretty steep.

Edit: It looks like they are actually quoting a 10kw system with 3 power walls (~40kwH storage) included, which at that point sounds about right at $40k. Still far beyond the reach of anyone but the wealthy, but not necessarily a bad deal if you're in the market.

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> new roof runs between 5-10k,

That is incredibly cheap if so. That would be a roof on a small barn around here.

Seems pretty normal where I live. Shingles are like $1/square foot but the labor costs of course vary wildly depending on location.

If you shop around it's abundantly clear that the price of a new roof varies wildly. Some of it is materials. The guy offering 50 year warranty GAF super-premium install who spots loads of potential problems up front and factors them into the cost is going to run much higher. The guy who is just going to hire some rando non-english speaking guys from the 7-11 and toss on the cheapest possible materials without concern about the underlying structure is going to be like a 1/4 of that price.

$5-10k on a median sized single family home is the latter, especially if you're closer to the $5k mark. It is likely that you will have problems with the roof after it is installed, and the warranty is going to be garbage.

> The guy who is just going to hire some rando non-english speaking guys from the 7-11 and toss on the cheapest possible materials without concern about the underlying structure is going to be like a 1/4 of that price.

You’ve met my guy Serge! He’s actually quite good and I’ve used him on two different houses. He probably has twice the experience of the super premium guy in town.

It’s mostly nailing rocky tar sheets to wood, the guy who has done it a billion times (literally?) sometimes might be the better choice over the guy who bought into an exclusive contract with super premium company and went to their special school for the special product.

They might be good, they might not. It's a luck of the draw when you are hiring the guys just standing on the street corner the morning of the install.

Contractors that have their own dedicated install crews cost more, but are much more reliable.

> Who is going to hire some rando non-english speaking guys from the 7-11

You know you didn't have to put non-english speaking in there, right? Totally unnecessary and shows potential racial bias.

(I'm not perfect either, and it bugs me when I say stuff like that too.)

I think a case could be made in some situations that if your employees don't speak English and you don't speak whatever language they speak, you may get poorer construction outcomes. Even if the employees are experiences and smart.

Rolling my eyes here, bud. You’re missing the forest for the non-PC tree.

I met someone who could have been described as a “non-English-speaking roofer.” (Not Latino, fwiw.) He says he was essentially enslaved by the guy running the contracting company, and he had no recourse as no one spoke his language.

That’s the real issue, not phrasing quibbles

My last house was a 1400sqft cape. Removal of 2 layers of shingles, building a cricket next to the chimney, new lead flashing around the chimney was $7k. I got quote from multiple contractors for roughly the same price. It really depends on the amount of roof.

Roofs in my area are 20k for 1200 sq ft. Asphalt shingles. I would love to live in an area where it’s 5-10k.

That's rediculous, in what area?

I paid 30000 euros for roofing for a house a little bigger than that. I would have danced naked on the streets for 20k.

Exactly how is that out of the reach of anyone but the wealthy?

Amortized over 30 years, it's barely over $110 per month and for most homes would bring the electric bill to near zero.

if you have to pay up front it’s way too hard. loans have interest.

It's hard, but not impossible. Your costs are higher than a traditional power company for 10 or 15 years until the panels are paid off, but then your costs are much lower than people with traditional grid hookup.

In terms of investment it doesn't beat the stock market, but you have the side benefit of killing the planet slightly less. You are also hedged against rate increases from your power company.

Assuming you'll be in the same house for 30 years is a big gamble. What if you need to move in 5 or 10 years? You're house value doesn't go up $40k when you put $40k tesla roof on top.

I would bet a tesla roof actually reduces your house value. Imagine the cost of any roof maintenance, or trying to find a roofer who can work on it without just doing more damage.

Labor is a significant part of the cost, both for a roof and for a solar installation. I assume only doing it once is one of the gains in cost-efficiency.

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