Free roof inspection with deck photos before we talk money - GAF and Owens Corning certified installation
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AfterFast, Reliable Roof Installation Across Highland
A full roof installation in Highland typically runs between $11,500 and $28,000 depending on roof size, pitch, and whether your home falls inside a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone. That range reflects real quotes we’ve written for homes from Baseline Street up to the foothill parcels near the San Bernardino National Forest edge. We’re Mercer Roofing, and we’ve been installing roofs since 2000. If you’re planning a roof installation in Highland, call (743) 200-8347 and we’ll put a written price in front of you before anything gets ordered.
Why Mercer Roofing Is Highland’s Preferred Roof Installation Company
Highland homeowners call us because we treat the fire code as the starting point, not an afterthought. Too many roofing companies quote a Class A shingle and stop there. In Highland’s hillside zones, that’s not a roof. That’s a failed inspection waiting to happen. Our Roof Installation team knows San Bernardino County’s VHFHSZ plan-check requirements because we’ve navigated them on dozens of foothill jobs, and that local knowledge changes what we write into your estimate from day one.
You’ll know exactly who’s coming to your door. Every Mercer technician is background-checked, identity-verified, and arrives in a clean, marked uniform with a photo ID badge. We send the technician’s name and photo to you before they arrive. That’s the Threshold Verified standard, and it’s non-negotiable on every visit to every Highland home.
Grant Whitlock leads our team, and he holds every job to the same written guarantee: if your installation isn’t done right within 365 days, we make it right. Every repair included with your job carries that guarantee too, plus a free second visit if the repair fails. No fine print. No phone tree. A live person answers when you call, 24/7.
Tile Roof in Highland
Tile roofs in Highland are a common sight on foothill custom homes and on some of the more established tracts east of Webster Street, where clay and concrete tile match the architectural character of the neighborhood. Tile carries strong fire-resistance ratings, which matters in VHFHSZ zones, but it’s heavier than shingle and demands a structural check before we order anything. A tile roof installation in Highland generally runs $18,000 to $38,000, with concrete tile on the lower end and clay on the higher end. The pitch of your roof and whether we’re removing existing tile or a wood shake layer will move that number.
What Tile Installation Involves
We remove the existing roof to the decking, inspect every rafter and truss for the load tile demands, and replace any decking that’s been compromised by decades of Highland’s wet winters and 105°F summers. Underlayment goes down next, then the tile itself. On foothill lots in Highland’s VHFHSZ zones, the underlayment spec is not optional, and we write it into the estimate as a line item so you see exactly what the county will require before we order.
When Highland Homeowners Choose Tile
Tile is the right call for homeowners who want a 50-year roof and are willing to pay for it upfront. It’s also the natural choice for homes where curb appeal matters and where a composition shingle would look out of place on a Spanish or Mediterranean exterior. It is not the right call on every roof. We’ll tell you plainly if your rafter spacing makes tile structurally impractical, because we’d rather lose the sale than put a roof on that sagging rafters can’t carry.
Roof Ventilation in Highland
Roof ventilation in Highland is not a bolt-on; it’s a requirement on many foothill parcels in the VHFHSZ where San Bernardino County plan checks mandate ember-resistant venting as part of a Class A roof assembly. Ventilation does two jobs here: it moves the superheated attic air out during 105°F summer days, and it keeps winter moisture from condensing against the underside of your decking during Highland’s cooler mountain-influenced nights. A full roof installation with a properly sized balanced ventilation system typically adds $1,200 to $2,800 to the total job, depending on attic square footage and whether we’re installing ridge vent, box vents, or a combination.
Ventilation and Fire Code in the Foothills
Standard gable vents and uncovered box vents can become ember entry points when Santa Ana winds off Cajon Pass push fire into residential blocks. That’s why the county requires ember-resistant vent covers on new installations in designated VHFHSZ parcels. We spec them on every foothill job, even when the homeowner doesn’t know to ask. It’s the difference between a roof that passes inspection and one that gets red-tagged.
Signs Your Ventilation Falls Short
If your upstairs bedrooms run 10 to 15 degrees hotter than the rest of the house in July, or if you see shingle granule loss concentrated along the ridge, your attic is probably not moving air the way it should. Poor ventilation in Highland accelerates adhesive seal failure on shingles, because the roof cooks from below while the sun bakes it from above. A new roof installed without addressing this will age faster than it should, and that’s a fact every Highland roofer in the valley heat deals with daily.
Trusted Brands We Service in Highland
We install and service manufacturer-recognized shingle brands including GAF, CertainTeed, and Owens Corning. On most Highland installations we recommend architectural shingles from one of these three lines because they hold up better under the thermal cycling common at 1,200 to 1,500 feet elevation. We don’t stock every color and profile in a warehouse, but we order directly through established supply channels in the Inland Empire, which means your shingles arrive in Highland within days of permit clearance, not weeks. On a recent foothill job near the forest edge, we installed CertainTeed architectural shingles in a high-wind nailing pattern with a ridge vent and ember-resistant venting, all from a spec we finalized in writing before ordering a single bundle.
Common Roof Installation Problems We See in Highland Homes
- Non-compliant underlayment on VHFHSZ parcels. Out-of-area contractors install Class A shingles but skip the underlayment and ember-resistant venting the county actually requires. The roof looks fine on day one, but it fails plan check or insurance review, and the homeowner pays twice.
- Aging wood shake and 3-tab roofs. Highland’s 1960s to 1990s tracts are full of original 3-tab shingles and wood shake that were never upgraded to a fire-rated assembly. These roofs often can’t pass inspection today, and insurance carriers are increasingly refusing to renew policies on them.
- Adhesive seal failure from thermal cycling. Summer days above 105°F against cooler mountain nights cause shingles to crack and seals to fail faster here than in lower desert-floor cities. Roofs not nailed to the high-wind pattern required for Santa Ana exposure come apart at the edges after a few hard wind seasons.
- Venting that invites embers. Older homes in the Greenspot Road corridor and along the base of the foothills often have open eave and gable vents that predate current ember-intrusion standards. We see these every week, and they’re a fire risk a re-roof should never leave in place.
Pricing for Roof Installation in Highland, CA
Here’s what we tell Highland homeowners who ask what a new roof costs, and we’ll give you the same numbers on the phone: a standard architectural shingle re-roof on a typical 1,600 to 2,200 square foot Highland tract home runs $11,500 to $18,000. Larger foothill custom homes with multiple roof planes and steeper pitches typically land between $18,000 and $28,000. Tile starts around $18,000 and can exceed $38,000 on a complex roof. Fire-code requirements add real cost in Highland, because compliant underlayment and ember-resistant venting are not optional line items in the VHFHSZ zones, and we write every one of them into your estimate. The price we give you in writing before we order is the price you pay. No change orders, no surprise line items at the end. Call (743) 200-8347 for a free estimate specific to your roof.
We Also Serve Cities Near Highland
Mercer Roofing serves Highland and the surrounding foothill and valley communities, including San Bernardino, Loma Linda, Redlands, and Mentone. If you’re just outside Highland proper, call us at (743) 200-8347 and we’ll confirm coverage on the spot.
Serving Highland, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Highland area and know this community well. Use the map below to see our service coverage - if you’re nearby, we can almost certainly help.
FAQs About Roof Installation in Highland
San Bernardino County’s VHFHSZ plan checks require a Class A roof assembly, which means the shingle, the underlayment, and the venting must all comply as a system, not just the shingle. On many Highland foothill parcels, that means a specific fire-rated underlayment and ember-resistant vent covers. We write that entire assembly into your estimate from the start, because ordering shingles before the county signs off on the spec stalls the job before it begins. Call (743) 200-8347 and we’ll walk you through what your specific parcel requires.
Plan check is the pace-setter. On Highland foothill homes in the VHFHSZ, the county reviews the roof assembly spec before any materials can be ordered, and that review can add one to three weeks. We don’t order a single bundle until we have written clearance, because ordering early risks inventory you can’t use if the county amends the spec. The labor itself moves quickly once materials land. If you want a roof done right here, lead times and plan check set the calendar, and we’ll be straight with you about both.
In most cases, no. Highland’s 1960s to 1990s tracts hold thousands of homes with original 3-tab roofs, and laying architectural shingles over them hides the rot and seals you can’t see. Most manufacturers’ warranties require a clean, sound deck. We tear off to the decking, replace what’s failed, and install a roof that will actually last, rather than one that looks new for two years and fails underneath. Want us to inspect your existing roof before you commit? The estimate is free at (743) 200-8347.
Highland sits at 1,200 to 1,500 feet, gets more annual precipitation than the flat western Inland Empire, and endures extreme daily temperature swings, with summer highs above 105°F dropping into the 60s at night. That thermal cycling accelerates shingle cracking, blistering, and adhesive seal failure. Lower desert-floor cities like Fontana run hot but more consistently, which is less punishing on asphalt. Highland’s cycle is closer to a mountain climate, and roofs here simply age faster unless they’re installed with that reality in mind.
A VHFHSZ roof in Highland needs a balanced ventilation system with ember-resistant covers on every intake and exhaust point, whether that’s a ridge vent, box vents, or a soffit-and-ridge combination. The county reviews this as part of the roof assembly, and we spec it on every foothill job. Proper ventilation also keeps your attic from baking your shingles from below in July, which extends the life of the roof. Call (743) 200-8347 and we’ll include a venting spec in your free estimate.
Mercer Roofing serves Highland with written prices, badge-verified technicians, and a 365-Day Done Right Promise on every installation. Call (743) 200-8347 for a free estimate, and you’ll know the price before we order anything.
Written by Grant Whitlock, Owner at Mercer Roofing, serving Highland since 2000.