Garage roof cost
What is the cheapest way to replace a garage roof?
The lowest outlay is not always the lowest cost over time. Below are the published ranges, the lifespans that go with them and what to compare between quotes.
The short answer
Felt on boards that are still sound sits in the lower of the published ranges, but it also carries the shortest published lifespan. For a typical single garage (6m x 3m), Which? Trusted Traders price felt at £1,400 to £3,500 and rubber with new boards at £1,950 to £4,000, both excluding VAT (November 2025). The lower outlay saves money only if the roof underneath needs no extra work.
4 min read · Part of Garage roofs
Published prices side by side
Cost guides disagree, because each one prices a different garage and a different covering. Read the ranges as a spread, not a target, and never as a price for your own roof.
| Source | What it prices | Range |
|---|---|---|
| Which? Trusted Traders | Felt, single garage 6m x 3m | £1,400 to £3,500 |
| Which? Trusted Traders | PVC or rubber EPDM, new boards | £1,950 to £4,000 |
| MyJobQuote | Garage roof replacement, 2026 | £750 to £3,500 |
Which? gathered its prices in November 2025 from a survey of 11 Trusted Traders. Its figures cover labour and materials but leave VAT out, and Which? expects South East prices to land towards the top of its scale. Both counties we cover count as South East for that purpose. MyJobQuote gives no VAT basis for its range, so do not add or subtract VAT from it.
Read across the rows with care. The felt row and the rubber row differ in what lies beneath the covering, because the rubber row includes new boards. That alone explains part of the gap between them, and it is why a figure should never be compared without its assumptions.
Why a lower price can cost more later
Published lifespans differ by covering, and HomeBuilding and Less do not agree with each other, so both are named.
- EPDM rubber: HomeBuilding gives 25 to 30 years, and Less says it typically lasts 30 to 50 years.
- GRP: HomeBuilding gives 25 to 30 years, and Less says 25 to 40 years with minimal maintenance.
- Felt: HomeBuilding gives 10 to 15 years, and Less says torch-on felt lasts 10 to 20 years, depending on quality and installation.
A short-lived felt roof may be a fair choice for a garage you plan to take down or rebuild within a few years. For a garage you will keep for the long term, a longer-lived covering changes the sum, because you pay for the work once instead of twice, and you also arrange scaffold, waste removal and a survey once instead of twice. These are typical figures from third parties, never promises for your roof, and a covering laid badly can fall short of any of them.
Our guide to the best material for a garage roof compares the coverings in full.
What keeps the outlay down, and what does not
Which? prices rubber "with new boards", which shows that the deck underneath is a separate item from the covering. A covering fitted to boards that are dry and sound avoids that work. A deck that has soaked through cannot be skipped, and covering over it only hides the problem for a while. The same goes for rotten fascia or a failed edge: they have to be put right before a new covering can sit on them properly.
Asbestos changes the picture. An old garage roof of cement sheets brings in removal and waste, which MyJobQuote averages at £2,750 for a roof in the UK. Our page on overlaying an asbestos garage roof explains where that route stands, and the disposal rules are on a page of their own.
Scaffold is a fair question on any garage quote, and the written quote should state whether it is included, and whether any of it has to stand on the highway. A repair is lower in outlay than a replacement where the covering is sound, so the first question is whether a repair will hold. Your roof is priced from a survey and given as a single written total.
Comparing quotes like for like
Two quotes can differ widely because they cover different jobs. Put them side by side against the same list before you decide which is lower.
- The same covering, named by type.
- The same deck work: sound boards kept, or new boards laid.
- Whether the old covering is stripped or left in place.
- Whether VAT is included.
- Whether scaffold and waste removal are included.
- Whether it is one total price in writing.
If a quote is silent on any of these, ask what is left out before you compare totals. Keep each quote with its date and its stated assumptions, so that a later question about a gap between two totals can be traced back to a sentence in writing. Ask each firm to say, inside the quote, what happens if the boards turn out to be soft when the old covering is lifted. A fair quote deals with that before the job starts, not afterwards. The repair-or-replace question comes first: where a patch is sound we tell you, and our repair or replace guide shows how that verdict is reached. The garage roofs hub has the rest, including how a survey leads to one written total price.
More questions
Is patching a garage roof lower in cost than replacing it?
A patch costs less on the day, and if the covering and the boards are in good order it can be the right answer. Checkatrade gives EPDM repairs at £120 to £170 per m² and GRP repairs at £130 to £180 per m², on areas up to 3 m². A covering that is near the end of the published span is another matter.
Does the size of the garage change the price much?
Published ranges are wide because roofs differ in more than area: the covering, the state of the deck, access and any asbestos all count. Which? priced a typical single garage of 6m x 3m, and its ranges still span more than £2,000. A survey of your roof gives one written total price.
Tell us what's wrong with the roof.
You'll get one written total price.