How much does a turnkey roof cost
We break down the estimate item by item on a specific house and honestly show which part of the total can be calculated in a minute and which has to be clarified from the drawing.
On a house with a 120 m² footprint, a turnkey roof under composite tiles will cost at least 4.2 million ₸, and that is the lower bound — without the materials of the roof build-up. That is from 23,500 ₸ per square metre of roof. For comparison: the same roof under profiled sheeting starts at about 11,500 ₸/m². The range is huge because “turnkey” means different things to different people — below we look at what exactly it should include.
The first thing to ask: what does “turnkey” include
The phrase is not regulated in any way. One crew means the whole roof from the wall plate to the gutter, another only laying the covering on ready rafters. The price difference between these two “turnkeys” is two to three times, and that is where most unpleasant surprises come from.
A complete roof has seven layers, and the covering is only the top one:
- Roof covering — tiles and accessories
- Battens — the covering is fixed to them
- Counter-battens — a ventilation gap; without it the space under the roof gets damp
- Waterproofing — a membrane that drains condensation
- Insulation — the thickest layer if the attic is lived in
- Vapour barrier — keeps moisture from the house out of the insulation
- Rafter system and wall plate — the load-bearing base of everything
Plus the gutter system, snow guards and chimney flashings. If some of these items are missing from a contractor’s offer, it hasn’t disappeared — it will simply be billed later separately.
What our calculator counts exactly and what it doesn’t
Let’s be straightforward so there are no inflated expectations. The calculator on the home page counts the top part of the build-up: tiles, accessories and installation of the covering. That is about two thirds of the estimate, and these figures are exact — they come from open price lists and the engineer’s coefficients.
It does not count the rafter system, insulation, membranes, battens and gutters. These depend on the timber cross-section, insulation thickness and the structure of the house — they can’t be calculated correctly from the area alone. The engineer confirms them from the drawing.
Example: a house with a 120 m² footprint
Take a gable roof — the most common and cheapest option. The roof area comes to about 180 m²: the footprint is multiplied by roughly 1.5, a correction for pitch and overhangs. The material is KAZROOF Standart at 7,960 ₸/m².
Part one — the covering. Calculated exactly
| Tiles, 193 m² including 7% waste | 1 536 280 ₸ |
| Accessories, 18% | 276 530 ₸ |
| Covering installation, 5,500 ₸/m² | 1 061 500 ₸ |
| Total | 2 874 310 ₸ |
Part two — the load-bearing base and the build-up. Market rates, “from”
| Work | Rate | For 180 m² |
|---|---|---|
| Rafter system | from 3,500 ₸/m² | from 630,000 ₸ |
| Wall plate | from 2,100 ₸/m² | from 378,000 ₸ |
| Counter-battens | from 700 ₸/m² | from 126,000 ₸ |
| Waterproofing and vapour barrier | from 700 ₸/m² | from 126,000 ₸ |
| Thermal insulation | from 560 ₸/m² | from 100,800 ₸ |
| Labour total | from 1,360,800 ₸ |
These are rates for labour only. Timber, insulation, membranes and gutters are extra; their cost depends on the timber cross-section and insulation thickness.
What it comes to
The covering plus labour on the load-bearing part — from 4,235,110 ₸, that is about 23,500 ₸ per square metre of roof. And that is the lower bound: the build-up materials are not included yet.
For reference: the Almaty market quotes “from 11,500 ₸/m² turnkey” for a roof of profiled sheeting — the cheapest covering. Our figure is twice as high, which is expected: the tiles alone cost several times more than profiled sheeting.
The calculator shows the exact part of the estimate — covering, accessories and installation — for your area and shape. Then the engineer adds the load-bearing part from the drawing.
Open the calculator →What moves the price most
Roof shape. Not the area but the number of joints. On a complex multi-gable roof accessories grow from 18% to 38% of the tile cost — a quarter more on the estimate for the same house. We covered this in detail in the article on roof types.
Covering material. Between profiled sheeting and composite tiles the difference is several times. What to choose and when paying more is justified — in our breakdown of composite versus metal tiles.
A lived-in attic. A mansard means full insulation, a vapour barrier and a ventilation gap. A cold attic is several times cheaper: waterproofing is enough there.
Pitch and height. The steeper and higher the roof, the larger its area for the same house and the more expensive the labour — scaffolding and safety gear are needed.
What you must not save on
- The rafter system. An undersized timber section or wider rafter spacing is not a saving but a postponed failure. Fixing it means removing the entire roof.
- The ventilation gap. Counter-battens cost next to nothing compared with the estimate, but without them the insulation gets damp and stops working within a couple of seasons.
- Valleys and abutments. Leaks start there, not on a flat slope. This is where the crew’s skill shows.
- Fasteners. Screws with poor-quality washers leak after a few years, and replacing them means going over the whole roof again.
It is wiser to save on the covering class than on what is under it: the covering can be replaced later, the rafters practically cannot.
How to get an exact figure
- Calculate the covering in the calculator — that is two thirds of the estimate, and you get it right away.
- Decide whether the attic will be lived in: that determines whether insulation is needed.
- Ask the contractor for an estimate with a line-by-line breakdown, not a single sum. Each of the seven layers should be on the list.
- Compare two or three offers line by line. A difference in “turnkey” prices is most often explained not by greed but by half the work being left out of the bracket.
If the house is still at the foundation stage, it is still worth calculating the roof now: it comes last in the sequence but not in money, and it is the item most often underestimated in a construction budget. The earlier stages are calculated in advance by the same logic: the same team runs Almaty Beton, which has a breakdown of how much concrete goes into the foundation of a two-storey house.
No call and no phone number: covering figures first, contact details only if you decide to continue.
Calculate a roof →Frequently asked questions
Under composite tiles — at least 4.2 million ₸, about 23,500 ₸ per square metre of roof. This is the lower bound: it includes the covering, accessories, installation and labour on the load-bearing part, but not the materials of the roof build-up.
The rafter system and wall plate, vapour barrier, insulation, waterproofing, counter-battens, battens, roof covering with accessories, and the gutter system. The covering is only the top of the seven layers.
The notion of “turnkey” is not regulated in any way. For one crew it includes everything from the wall plate to the gutter, for another only laying the covering on ready rafters. Ask for an estimate with a line-by-line breakdown, not a single sum.
Labour rates are open price lists of Almaty roofing contractors for September 2026, given as a “from” guide. Tile prices and the waste and accessory coefficients come from our calculator. The exact bill of materials for your project is confirmed by an engineer from the drawing.