How to Price a Siding Job: Squares, Waste, Tear-Off, Margin
Price a siding job by measuring every wall and gable, subtracting only the large openings, converting the area to squares (one square is 100 square feet), and adding a waste factor of about 10% for a simple box and 15% or more for a house with many gables, dormers, and corners. Cost the siding, house wrap, trim, corners, soffit, and fasteners at what you actually pay, then price tear-off, disposal, staging, and install labor as separate lines at a loaded rate for the hours the crew really works. Add overhead and divide by one minus your target margin: Price = (materials + loaded labor + disposal + equipment + overhead) ÷ (1 − target margin). The panels are rarely what sinks a siding bid. The trim, the tear-off, and the rot behind the old siding are. CRMb costs those hours from your crew's punch-ins and prices material at real average cost, so the next siding bid starts from what the last one actually took.
Siding looks like a pure area job. Measure the walls, multiply by a rate per square, and send the number. That shortcut works on a ranch house with four flat walls. It falls apart on the house most customers actually own: two stories, a couple of gables, a bump-out, eight outside corners, a garage, and thirty windows that each need trim. Every one of those adds linear feet of material and hours of cutting that a square-footage rate never sees. This guide builds a siding price from the measurements up and shows where the margin leaks.
The seven things every siding job costs
A siding price is the sum of seven costs, then a margin on top:
- Siding panels or boards, bought by the square.
- Wrap and flashing: house wrap, tape, window and door flashing.
- Trim and accessories: starter strip, J-channel, inside and outside corners, utility trim, window and door trim, mounting blocks for lights, outlets, and hose bibs.
- Soffit and fascia, when they are in scope, priced by the linear foot.
- Tear-off and disposal: removing the old siding, hauling it, and the dumpster.
- Install labor: the crew's hours, loaded with taxes, insurance, and benefits.
- Equipment and overhead: scaffolding or pump jacks on a two-story, plus the share of rent, trucks, software, and office time this job has to carry.
Miss any one of these and the job can look profitable on paper and lose money in the field. The materials markup guide covers how to mark up what you buy; this guide is about counting all of it first.
Step 1: measure walls and gables, then convert to squares
Measure the perimeter of the house and the wall height to the eaves. Perimeter times height gives the rectangular wall area. Then add the gables: each triangular gable end is half the base times the rise (½ × base × height). Measure bump-outs, dormers, and garage walls separately; they are easy to miss from the driveway.
Subtract only the large openings, such as a garage door or a sliding patio door. Leave the small windows and doors in the area. The siding you cut out around them is mostly scrap anyway, and leaving them in quietly offsets part of the waste.
Divide the net area by 100 to get squares. Then add waste:
- About 10% for a simple rectangle with few corners.
- About 12% to 15% for a typical two-story with gables.
- 15% or more for complex rooflines, many dormers, or a pattern that wastes more per cut.
Round up to whole squares or whole cartons. Running short on the last wall means a second trip and, on some colors, a batch that does not quite match.
Step 2: cost wrap, trim, and accessories by the linear foot
This is the step most siding bids skip, and it is where a large share of the material cost hides. Walk the house and count:
- Outside and inside corners: the number of corners times the wall height.
- Starter strip: the full perimeter at the base of the walls.
- J-channel and window trim: the perimeter of every window and door, plus the eaves and rakes where siding meets the soffit.
- House wrap: the full wall area plus overlap, by the roll.
- Fasteners, tape, sealant, and mounting blocks: a line of its own, not a rounding error.
A house with thirty windows can carry hundreds of linear feet of trim. Price it from the count, not from a percentage of the panel cost. When you turn the count into an order, a material takeoff that becomes a purchase order keeps the quote and the order from drifting apart.
Step 3: price tear-off, disposal, and rot as their own lines
Removing old siding is work the customer can see, so put it on the quote where they can see it. Price tear-off by the hours your crew actually takes per square, add the dumpster or haul fee, and add the time to pull nails and inspect the sheathing.
Rot is the line that turns a profitable siding job into a loss. You do not know what is behind the old siding until it comes off. Write the quote so you are protected:
- State that the price assumes sound sheathing.
- Price sheathing replacement as a unit rate, per sheet, installed.
- Say in the scope of work that damage found during tear-off is billed at that rate after the customer approves it.
When you do find rot, handle it as a change order with a photo and a signature before the crew replaces it. That one habit saves more siding margin than any rate increase.
Step 4: cost install labor from real hours
Price labor from hours, not from a guess at a rate per square. Break the job into phases (tear-off, wrap and flashing, trim, panels, soffit and fascia, cleanup) and estimate crew-hours for each. Then multiply by a loaded labor rate, not the wage. The labor burden rate guide shows how to add payroll taxes, workers' comp, and benefits to the wage.
Material changes the hours. Fiber cement and engineered wood are heavier than vinyl, need different blades and dust control, and usually take a crew longer per square. Price a material change as a labor change, not just a panel swap. The labor hours estimating guide covers how to build these estimates from your own past jobs instead of a rule of thumb.
Step 5: add equipment and overhead, then price to a margin
A two-story job needs staging: scaffolding, pump jacks, or a lift. Rented or owned, it is a cost the job carries. Then add overhead, the share of your trucks, insurance, office, and software this job has to cover. The overhead rate guide shows how to turn your monthly overhead into a rate per labor hour.
Finally, price to a margin, not a markup. A 30% margin is not the same as a 30% markup, and confusing them leaves money on every job. The markup vs margin guide explains the difference. To price to a margin, divide total cost by one minus the margin.
A worked example: vinyl siding on a two-story house
A two-story house, 40 feet by 30 feet, walls 18 feet to the eaves, two gables on the 30-foot ends with an 8-foot rise. The customer wants vinyl siding, with the old siding torn off and new soffit and fascia on the two long eaves. These figures are an example; use your own prices and hours.
Measurements
- Walls: perimeter 140 ft × 18 ft = 2,520 sq ft
- Gables: 2 × (½ × 30 ft × 8 ft) = 240 sq ft
- Gross area: 2,760 sq ft
- Large openings: garage door 112 sq ft + patio slider 42 sq ft = 154 sq ft
- Net area: 2,606 sq ft
- With 12% waste: 2,919 sq ft, ordered as 30 squares
Materials
| Line | Cost |
|---|---|
| Vinyl siding, 30 squares at $130 | $3,900 |
| House wrap, 3 rolls at $180 | $540 |
| Starter, J-channel, corners, trim | $850 |
| Fasteners, tape, sealant, mounting blocks | $180 |
| Soffit and fascia, 80 linear ft at $9 | $720 |
| Materials total | $6,190 |
Labor (crew of three, loaded rate $48 per hour)
| Phase | Crew-hours |
|---|---|
| Tear-off and nail pulling | 36 |
| Wrap and flashing | 24 |
| Siding panels | 96 |
| Soffit and fascia | 24 |
| Cleanup and walkthrough | 12 |
| Total | 192 hours = $9,216 |
Everything else
- Dumpster: $550
- Pump jack and scaffold rental: $400
- Overhead at $22 per labor hour × 192 hours: $4,224
The price
- Total cost: $6,190 + $9,216 + $550 + $400 + $4,224 = $20,580
- Target margin 30%: $20,580 ÷ (1 − 0.30) = $29,400
- Gross profit: $8,820
That works out to about $11.28 per square foot of net wall, or $980 per square ordered. Now notice what a quick per-square rate would have missed. The trim, wrap, and fasteners are $1,570, a quarter of the material. Tear-off and cleanup are 48 of the 192 hours. Strip those out and the bid comes in thousands low, with nothing left for the rot the crew may find on day one.
Add a line on the quote for sheathing replacement at a unit rate, and the customer knows the price of the unknown before you start.
Per square, per square foot, or by the job
Most siding contractors talk in squares, and most homeowners think in total price. Use both:
- Estimate internally in squares and hours. It keeps you honest about trim and labor.
- Quote the customer a total by line: tear-off, siding, trim, soffit and fascia, disposal. A line-by-line quote reads as fair and makes it easy to remove soffit and fascia if the budget is tight.
- Offer options when the material choice is open. A good, better, best quote with vinyl, insulated vinyl, and fiber cement lets the customer choose without you lowering the price of any one of them.
Small siding jobs: one wall, storm damage, a repair
Small jobs need a minimum charge. A single damaged wall still needs a trip, setup, color matching, and cleanup, and those costs do not shrink with the area. Set a minimum that covers a half day of crew time plus the trip, and price the repair on top. The same idea applies to a single gable or a garage: price the setup, then the work.
Collect a deposit, then order the material
Siding is a large material buy, and special-order colors may not be returnable. Collect a deposit before you place the order. The deposit guide covers how much to ask for and how to write it into the quote. If material prices move between the quote and the order, the material price increases guide shows how to protect the job with a price-validity window.
Send a quote the customer can approve on the spot
The best time to win a siding job is right after the walkthrough, while the customer still remembers the conversation. Build the quote from your measurements, send it as a link, and let them accept it from their phone. The professional quote guide lists every part a quote should carry. After the job, compare what you priced with what it cost in a post-job profitability review, and feed the real hours per square back into your next bid.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you measure a house for siding?
Measure the perimeter and the wall height to the eaves, multiply them, and add each gable as half the base times the rise. Measure bump-outs and garage walls separately. Subtract only large openings such as garage doors, then divide by 100 to get squares and add a waste factor.
What waste factor should I use for siding?
About 10% for a simple rectangular house, 12% to 15% for a typical two-story with gables, and 15% or more for complex rooflines with many corners and dormers. Round up to whole squares or cartons so you do not run short on the last wall.
How much should I charge per square for siding?
There is no single right rate, because trim, tear-off, height, and material change the cost of every square. Build the price from your own material costs and crew-hours, add overhead, and divide by one minus your target margin. Then divide the total by the squares to see your rate per square, not the other way around.
Should tear-off be a separate line on a siding quote?
Yes. Tear-off and disposal are real work with real hours and a dumpster bill. A separate line shows the customer what they are paying for and keeps you from absorbing it inside the siding price.
How do I price rot found behind the old siding?
Write the quote to assume sound sheathing, set a unit price per sheet replaced, and state that damage found during tear-off is billed at that rate after the customer approves it. Document it with photos and a signed change order before the crew does the repair.
Does fiber cement cost more to install than vinyl?
It usually takes more crew-hours per square because the boards are heavier and need different cutting and dust control. Price the change in material as a change in labor hours, not just a different panel cost.
Getting started with CRMb
Price your next siding job from measured numbers. Measure walls and gables in squares, add waste, count trim by the linear foot, price tear-off and rot as their own lines, cost install from the hours your crew actually works, add overhead, and send a quote the customer can approve from their phone.
CRMb brings the CRM, scheduling, average-cost inventory, purchasing, quotes and invoices, and job costing on real punched hours into one app, on Mac, iPad, and the web. Start your 14-day free trial and bid your next job on numbers you can trust.