its not a matter of not expecting to pay labor charges, but more equipping yourself with the enough knowledge on the subject to know whether or not youre getting screwed. for instance, my parents have their roof done for about 1600 bucks. my roof has less slope, and has one more peak. the size is similar. having done my entire roof from tear down to the finishing touches, i can say that i dont think that the few changes were worth a 900 jump in labor, if you figure that the supplies were about the same. that was my knowledge of how to not get screwed, and while it wasnt much, i saved myself a ton of cash doing it myself. was it hard work? yes. was it worth saving 1600 bucks? hell yeah... why didnt i call around more? because im new to the area, and i dont know anyone. i called someone who did the neighbors roof, and did a nice job.