How we get prices
Every price we show comes from prices that companies publish on their own websites and prices customers say they paid in public reviews. Nothing is made up, and no company can pay to change a price.
Where the prices come from
We find metal roofing contractors and suppliers near each city from public business listings. Then we read the public pages of each company's own website and note the prices they publish, with the page address and the date we read it.
We also read public reviews of these companies for prices customers say they paid, such as a weekend rental or a monthly rate. We keep one only when the review names the item, the amount and the time period. When a review gives a total for several units, we divide by the number of units. We skip fees, deposits, tips, discounts and anything vague. We do not use reviews older than 3 years, and one company adds at most 3 such prices. Review prices count toward the ranges but never appear as a company's own price, and we never copy review text.
We are collecting the first prices now.
How a range is worked out
- We group prices by type, such as metal roofing, per square foot, standing seam, per square foot, exposed fastener panels, per square foot.
- A price list shared by several branches of one company counts once.
- We drop far-out prices: anything more than 3 times the middle spread (the interquartile range) below the lower quarter or above the upper quarter.
- The range is the middle 80% of what is left (10th to 90th percentile). "Typical" is the middle price, the median.
- We show a range only with at least 3 prices. When a city has fewer, we show the state range and say so.
When a city page goes live
A city gets its own page only when we have at least 5 companies with a phone number near it and at least 3 real prices (or a state-wide range we can stand behind). Until then the city shows as "coming soon".
Company details
Names, addresses, phone numbers, Google ratings and review counts come from public business listings. Hours, services and service areas come from the company's own website or its Google listing, never from reviews. We never copy review text.
Featured companies
A company can pay for a "Featured" label. The label never changes the order of a list, a price or a count.
Something wrong?
Tell us on the add or fix a listing page and we will check it.