How much do ridge vents cost, and how much should a ridge vent cost?
Short answer. Shingle-over ridge vent material is relatively inexpensive, commonly a few dollars per linear foot, so the vent for a typical 30 to 50 foot ridge is a small part of the cost. The installed price is driven by labor, new hip and ridge cap shingles, and whether a slot must be cut, which is why a stand-alone job commonly runs several hundred dollars and a ridge vent added during a reroof costs much less.
The pieces of the price
- Vent material: rigid sections or rolls, sold by the piece. Baffled, filtered vents from shingle manufacturers cost a bit more than basic roll vents but tend to perform better.
- Hip and ridge cap shingles: sold in bundles that cover a limited run, and often pricier per bundle than field shingles.
- Nails: longer coil nails specified for ridge vents.
- Labor: removing old caps, cutting or widening the slot, installing the vent, and capping it. Steep pitch and two story height add time.
- Related work: closing old box vents or gable vents and patching the roof where they were.
What a fair price looks like
For a stand-alone ridge vent on a typical North Georgia home, many quotes fall from a few hundred dollars up to around $1,000, more for long, steep, or tall ridges. During a full replacement, the ridge cap is coming off anyway, so the added cost is mainly the vent material and slot cutting. Prices vary by contractor and roof, so compare written quotes that list the vent product and linear feet.
Red flags
- A quote that does not say which vent product is used or how many feet.
- No mention of intake. A ridge vent without soffit intake is money poorly spent.
- Plans to keep box vents or a power fan alongside the new ridge vent.
See roof replacement cost in Georgia and ridge vent vs box vents.