Solar Roof Pre-Installation Costs Increase Total Roof Cost by 20%

[MXDogCrate]

Hi Everyone...

We were originally asked if we could absorb $3,500 for pre-installation preparation. Now, when asked to approve the design and payment details, the cost of pre-installation is $8,950. We spoke to the rep and he said the extra cost is for skip sheathing (308 sheets at $25/sheets + labor).

It's bumped the cost of the entire roof by just shy of $10,000 (20% more than the original quote).

Has this happened to anyone else?

TIA

 

[GoGoGoMach5]

Hey MXDogCrate,
Was this cost added after the in-person site survey? We've gotten our initial plan cost, but we know we'll have to pay extra as half our roof does not have sheeting. After having our roof inspected, we found out the back roof had asphalt shingles added on top of the (original?) wood shingles.

Thanks!

 

[woferry]

Skip sheathing suggests you have a shake roof I think, as I understand it the skip sheathing was required so that the bottom of the shakes could have air to dry out and not rot/get moldy. My base roof was shake (with composition over it) so they had to add the OSB sheating on top of my skip sheathing to have an uninterrupted base for the underlayment and mounting brackets. 308 sheets of OSB sounds like a really big roof, I doubt mine even took 100 since they're 4x8 sheets AFAIK. On my (v2) invoice it was a line for "Full Roof Deck Replacement", which was $4200 for my 2100 sq/ft roof, that may have been purely materials since the installation costs were lumped together (one of the down-sides to dealing with sub-contractors rather than Tesla employees I'd imagine is higher labor costs for special items, the subcons have to make their money somehow), though my figure works out to well over $25/sheet, so maybe my line included the labor also (or perhaps they're not using 4x8 sheets now and the per-sheet cost is less but it takes more of them?). They didn't break out the number of sheets on my invoice, so I can't make a direct comparison.

Personally, I'd question the 308 sheets unless your roof is like 6000+ sq ft, or really complicated (where they might have to use lots of partial sheets), though I'd expect your overall roof cost to be quite a bit higher if those were the case). Maybe they flubbed the math or made a typo or something?

 

[MXDogCrate]

Hey MXDogCrate,
Was this cost added after the in-person site survey? We've gotten our initial plan cost, but we know we'll have to pay extra as half our roof does not have sheeting. After having our roof inspected, we found out the back roof had asphalt shingles added on top of the (original?) wood shingles.

Thanks!

Yes, exactly. The cost was added after the in-person site survey. We expected to pay some more ($3,500), but 20% more was a lot more and I don’t have a gauge as to whether this is a reasonable cost for the work. Trying to figure out how to research this.

 

[MXDogCrate]

Skip sheathing suggests you have a shake roof I think, as I understand it the skip sheathing was required so that the bottom of the shakes could have air to dry out and not rot/get moldy. My base roof was shake (with composition over it) so they had to add the OSB sheating on top of my skip sheathing to have an uninterrupted base for the underlayment and mounting brackets. 308 sheets of OSB sounds like a really big roof, I doubt mine even took 100 since they're 4x8 sheets AFAIK. On my (v2) invoice it was a line for "Full Roof Deck Replacement", which was $4200 for my 2100 sq/ft roof, that may have been purely materials since the installation costs were lumped together (one of the down-sides to dealing with sub-contractors rather than Tesla employees I'd imagine is higher labor costs for special items, the subcons have to make their money somehow), though my figure works out to well over $25/sheet, so maybe my line included the labor also (or perhaps they're not using 4x8 sheets now and the per-sheet cost is less but it takes more of them?). They didn't break out the number of sheets on my invoice, so I can't make a direct comparison.

Personally, I'd question the 308 sheets unless your roof is like 6000+ sq ft, or really complicated (where they might have to use lots of partial sheets), though I'd expect your overall roof cost to be quite a bit higher if those were the case). Maybe they flubbed the math or made a typo or something?

Thanks, woferry. Very helpful feedback.

Yes, it is added as “Roof Deck Replacement” (but not “Full”). Your roof definitely looks simpler than mine, though there’s no way our roof is 6,000 sq ft. I’ve attached a picture.

Should I get a quote from another roofer for the skip sheathing only?

Your feedback is much appreciated.

 

[jboy210]

Thanks, woferry. Very helpful feedback.

Yes, it is added as “Roof Deck Replacement” (but not “Full”). Your roof definitely looks simpler than mine, though there’s no way our roof is 6,000 sq ft. I’ve attached a picture.

Should I get a quote from another roofer for the skip sheathing only?

Your feedback is much appreciated.

Your estimate should have a line item that details the square footage of your roof.

But looking at the roof, even if it was 3,500 sq feet I could see them using a lot of 4 X 8 sheets with all those different slopes. Your roof has about 13 different sloped areas. Mine has about 6. Also, if your roof was shake it may not have had under sheeting of plywood. Mine was tile so already had the sheeting under the tiles. Any tile roof (ceramic, solarglass, etc) must have this solid layer of plywood sheeting since water can get past the tiles, and this sheeting is where they attach the waterproof layer (tar paper, or Firestone underlayment in the case of the solarglass roof).

So it may be a combination of size, material, and complexity driving the costs up.

If you want, you can review this google doc I created tracking the process of our solarglass roof install. It has links to the photos and videos from our install. The separation of the underlayment from tiles is shown in Day 6.

 

[MXDogCrate]

Thanks, jboy210. Much appreciated.

The sheets are indeed 4 x 8 and the total area of the roof is 2,464 sq ft.

I do wonder if they’ve miscalculated even with all the sloping.

Would you be able to tell me approximately how much your Roof Deck Replacement was?

TIA

 

[jboy210]

Thanks, jboy210. Much appreciated.

The sheets are indeed 4 x 8 and the total area of the roof is 2,464 sq ft.

I do wonder if they’ve miscalculated even with all the sloping.

Would you be able to tell me approximately how much your Roof Deck Replacement was?

TIA

We did not have any roof decking replacement because ours was in good shape. But I think one of the roofing companies we considered before the SolarGlass was available had a $8500 number for replacing it. Our roof is about 2900 sq feet.

You can see the layout of our roof here.

 

[MXDogCrate]

We did not have any roof decking replacement because ours was in good shape. But I think one of the roofing companies we considered before the SolarGlass was available had a $8500 number for replacing it. Our roof is about 2900 sq feet.

You can see the layout of our roof here.

Thanks!

 

[MXDogCrate]

Now Tesla is saying they misquoted the skip sheathing. It is now:

$77 for 100 sheets including labor

A contractor is telling me the retail cost of OSB or CDX is $14 and $19 retail.

This is not inspiring confidence.

Still not understanding how they got to $8,950.

 

[jboy210]

Now Tesla is saying they misquoted the skip sheathing. It is now:

$77 for 100 sheets including labor

A contractor is telling me the retail cost of OSB or CDX is $14 and $19 retail.

This is not inspiring confidence.

Still not understanding how they got to $8,950.

I would ask them for details on the work to be performed. Might be some additional work beyond nailing OSB up there needed to prep the roof.

 

[GoGoGoMach5]

$77/sheet is a good deal compared to the quote I got for roof replacement. They quoted me $125/sheet. I'm in LA county. I agree with jboy and get an itemized list. It would be nice to know what that extra $1250 is for. I'm currently waiting for a third revision on our plan. Hoping to get to your point in the process soon.

 

[MXDogCrate]

Thanks for the feedback, jboy210 and GoGoGoMach5.

The extra $1,250 is an additional cost for removal of for two layer of roof, comp shingle over the wood shake.

That brings the total to $8950.

I'd still would like them to break down labor and materials as I'm being told the materials cost is much less.

 

[jboy210]

Thanks for the feedback, jboy210 and GoGoGoMach5.

The extra $1,250 is an additional cost for removal of for two layer of roof, comp shingle over the wood shake.

That brings the total to $8950.

I'd still would like them to break down labor and materials as I'm being told the materials cost is much less.

Glad they provided some information.

 

[MXDogCrate]

I am, as well, but it does make me uncomfortable that they are just rejiggering the components to get to $8.950. 308 sheets x $25 or 77 sheets x $100. It would have been more reasonable to receive a breakdown instead of a request to approve a 20% increase over the original quote. Again, even $3,500-$5,000 would be in the realm of expectation setting.

This changes the payback dramatically.

 

[ra88it]

Pray that your electrical panel doesn’t need an upgrade when they go to install the TEG+PW.

Yes, construction costs will likely go up while going along with the project. It gets overwhelming.

 

[MXDogCrate]

Would they have not identified that after the on-site inspection?

 

[MXDogCrate]

We had a roofer come out to give us an estimate for a new composite roof with no solar.

The estimate is $14,120 not including permits by a reputable roofer who's been in business for over 40 years.

So the $8,950 quoted is 64% of a total roof job. Wondering if Tesla would partner with this roofer to do the work, but I know it gets complicated with warranties.

 

[woferry]

And that roofer would have put down OSB with 100% coverage? If not it's hardly a fair comparison.

 

[ra88it]

Would they have not identified that after the on-site inspection?

I can’t tell you how many things were missed after over 50% of a work day being a site inspection.