Cedar shake roof replacement in New Jersey has no single whole-job total; premium cedar roofing runs $10 to $20-plus per square foot installed, per NHI Contractors NJ pricing, placing it above NJ asphalt and below NJ slate.
Because the per-square-foot figure scales with roof size, fire treatment, and deck repair, the honest answer is a price range plus a free written estimate measured to your roof.
How Much Does Cedar Shake Roof Replacement Cost Per Square Foot in NJ?
Premium cedar roofing in New Jersey runs $10 to $20-plus per square foot installed, per NHI Contractors NJ pricing, which is the only attributable cedar cost figure rather than a flat project total. Roof size, slope, and access set where a given cedar roof lands inside that range.
Cedar's position among NJ roofing materials places it above asphalt and below slate. NJ asphalt runs $5.50 to $11.00 per square foot, per Josten Roofing NJ pricing, and NJ slate runs $10 to $30 per square foot, per NJ roofing guides, so cedar sits as a mid-to-upper material on a per-square-foot basis.
What Drives the Cost of a Cedar Roof?
Cedar type and fire treatment move the per-square-foot figure first, because hand-split cedar shake costs more than sawn cedar shingle. Shake is the thicker textured wood roof, and fire-retardant-treated cedar adds the pressure-impregnation cost over untreated cedar, per Cedar Shake & Shingle Bureau material guidance.
Tear-off and deck repair add cost, because N.J.A.C. 5:23-6.4 prohibits roofing over wood shake and requires full removal of the cedar covering plus replacement of any deteriorated plywood or OSB, per the NJ Rehabilitation Subcode. A full tear-off exposes the deck for inspection, so the decking found rotted beneath the old cedar adds to the scope.
A ventilated nailing base adds material and labor over a flat-deck install, because the base holds at least 1.5 inches of drying air space beneath the shakes, the ventilation that extends cedar service life, per Cedar Shake & Shingle Bureau install guidance. That base is part of why a cedar install carries more labor than a simpler covering.
Why Does NJ Cedar Cost More Than the National Average?
New Jersey cedar ranges sit 10 to 40% above national figures, because labor accounts for roughly 60 to 70% of a wood-roof install total and NJ code is stricter, per Modernize and HomeGuide. The high labor share means a cedar roof's price tracks regional installation cost more than the wood itself.
The honest cost answer is a measured estimate, since the gold carries no single whole-job cedar total and the per-square-foot figure scales with the specific roof. Newark Quality Roofing provides a free written estimate that sets the scope, labor, materials, and timeline before any work begins, replacing a guessed total with figures measured to your roof.
Cedar shake roof replacement is priced per square foot — $10 to $20-plus installed, per NHI Contractors NJ pricing — adjusted for cedar type, fire treatment, deck repair, and NJ's 10-to-40% labor premium, so a roof-specific written estimate is the only accurate total.