What a new roof
or repair costs in Cork.
Guide prices for 2026, what pushes them up or down, and how to put one quote beside another.
A roof price is a range, then a number.
Anyone who names an exact price for your roof before seeing it is guessing. The honest order is a range first, drawn from similar jobs, and a fixed figure only once somebody has been up and looked. The table below is the range. Every figure in it is plus VAT.
The rest of this page covers how the range narrows: what matters on Cork roofs, what the survey puts in your hand, and how to hold two quotes up against each other. Searching for "new roof Cork cost" tends to turn up one-line answers. This is the longer one, because a roof is not a one-line job.
Weathered slates: age and condition decide between repair and replacementThe common jobs, with their ranges.
Plus VAT. These are guides, not quotes.
| The job | Guide figure, plus VAT | Time on site |
|---|---|---|
| Fixing a leak | €400–€2,500 | A day to three days |
| Chimney stack work | €800–€3,500 | One to three days |
| Rebuilding a valley | €1,200–€4,500 | Two to four days |
| Storm or emergency call-out | €1,500–€8,000+ | One to five days |
| Flat roof, laid in EPDM or GRP | €90–€140 per m² | Two to five days |
| Whole concrete tile roof | €8,000–€18,000 | Four to ten days |
| Whole natural slate roof | €12,000–€28,000+ | Five to fourteen days |
| Restoring a period house roof | €15,000–€35,000+ | One to three weeks |
These ranges describe 2026 and are not a quote. VAT is on top of every one. What the roof is made of, how steep it is, how we can reach it and what the timbers are like all push a real price up or down. The figure you pay is the one fixed in writing after the survey.
Anything that is not in the table, whether that is unusual lead work, a rooflight cluster or a commercial unit, is priced after a survey. It is not guessed at.
Six things that change the figure.
Size and pitch
More roof means more material and more days on site. A steep pitch slows the work and calls for more safe access.
The covering
Natural slate, concrete tile and a flat membrane each cost differently as material and take different lengths of time to lay.
Access
Narrow lanes, steep streets and terraces with no room at the front can mean extra scaffold or a lift. That is common in the older, hillier parts of the city.
What is underneath
Soft battens, perished felt and damp rafters show up once the covering is off, or from the attic beforehand. The survey looks for them.
Chimneys and valleys
Every place where one part of the roof meets another needs lead and care. More of them means more work.
Timing
A roof leaking now costs more to put right than one repaired before the leak, because the damage indoors grows while you wait.
Why a Cork roof is not a generic one.
Salt air near the harbour and the coast shortens the life of metal parts, so a roof there may need its fixings and flashings looked at sooner than one inland. Persistent wet weather keeps moss alive on north-facing slopes, and moss lifts tiles and holds water against the covering.
The housing stock shifts the price as well. A slate roof on an early-1900s terrace usually costs more per square metre to work on than a tiled roof on an estate house, because access is harder, the roof is more likely to have been patched, and the details at the chimneys are more elaborate.
What you get for nothing.
The survey is free and carries no obligation. You come away with the following, whether or not you go ahead.
- Photographs of the slope, the ridge and the places that leak
- A look at the attic timbers, felt and battens from underneath
- A plain account of what is wrong and what is only ageing
- A fixed price in writing, with the exclusions listed
- The guarantee that would apply, before you decide
Read them line by line.
Put the quotes side by side and put the same questions to each of them.
- Is scaffold or other access included, or left to you?
- Are battens and membrane replaced, or reused?
- Is lead included at the chimney and the valleys?
- Does the price cover taking the old material away?
- Who writes the guarantee, and for how long does it run?
- Is VAT included, or added at the end?
Included in every job
Quoted separately
Questions on cost.
How much does a new roof cost in Cork?
For 2026 the guide is the concrete tile and natural slate rows in the table above, plus VAT, with tile at the lower end and slate at the upper. Size, pitch and what is found under the old covering decide where a particular house lands, which is why the price is only fixed after a survey.
Can I get a price over the phone?
You can be told where a job usually falls in the table. A figure you can rely on needs someone to see the roof, because the same house can be a small repair or a re-felt depending on what lies beneath the slates.
Why do two quotes for one roof differ so much?
Usually they are not pricing the same job. One may reuse the old battens while the other replaces them, or one may include scaffold and lead while the other leaves both out. Lay the quotes side by side and compare them line by line.
Is VAT in these figures?
No. Every guide figure on this page has VAT on top.
Is a repair always cheaper than a re-roof?
For the single job, yes. Over ten years it depends on the roof. When the felt and battens have failed across a whole slope, a run of repairs can add up to more than doing it properly once.
What does the survey leave me with?
Photographs, a plain account of what is wrong and what is simply old, a fixed price on paper and the guarantee that would apply. You get all of it whether or not you go ahead.
A price for
your roof.
Tell us about the roof and we arrange the survey. The fixed price comes back in writing. Or talk to someone: