Can I Put A Metal Roof Over Shingles
In almost every case, the answer is yes, you can lay down a new metal roof over an existing shingle roof. This is one of the many reasons metal roofs keep growing in popularity their installation doesnt require completely tearing off the existing roof, which is a time-consuming and expensive job.
Roofing: Calculate The Number Of Shingles
Roofing is a very important part of your house because it protects it from water. Without a watertight room water would be allowed to enter and stream down the walls in your house. It’s essential that the roof is in the very best condition.
Pitched roofs are commonly weatherproofed by using shingles, and these are arranged so that they overlap one another. It’s important that you have the right number of shingles on your roof, because if you have too few then it won’t be waterproof. You will then need to go back to the store a second time to buy more. Ordering too many roofing shingles will waste money.
There are a number of calculations that you can use to work out exactly how many shingles you need to correctly cover your roof. These calculations aren’t scary because you don’t need to worry about anything you learned in school.
Step 1 – Calculating the Square Footage
The first thing that you will need to do is work out the size of your roof in square feet. This is very easy, as it’s simply a matter of measuring the length and height of the room. Multiply the length and height of the roof together to work out the number of square feet that you need to cover. Remember to work out the total square footage around the whole of your house. For a simple room this will be very easy. However for larger, more complicated shapes you will need to work slowly.
Step 2 – Working out Number of Squares
Step 3 – Work out Number of Bundles
Roofing Pitch For Square Roof Area
Finally, the more complex part, measuring your roofs pitch.
Low Pitch: 1.07 x Roofing SquaresMedium Pitch: 1.185 x Roofing SquaresHigh Pitch: 1.36 x Roofing Squares
NOTE:We understand a roofs pitch makes this process somewhat tricky. Enjoy Home Advisors free roofing square calculator right here.
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How To Measure Roof Square
- Written by Darren Spears on Jan 05, 2010To ensure our content is always up-to-date with current information, best practices, and professional advice, articles are routinely reviewed by industry experts with years of hands-on experience.Reviewed by
Measuring your roof square is an important step when determining how much roofing material you will need during repair or replacement. No matter how large or small your home is, if you have lived in it 15 to 20 years, or plan to, repairing or replacing the roof is inevitable. Your roof is subject to wear from years and years of being exposed to nature’s elements. Repairing or replacing your roof is an extensive job so accurately calculating the square footage will get you started on the right foot and avoid wasted time, material, and money.
Step 1 – Understand your Roof Surface
A home’s roof is measured in squares. Each square is 100 square feet. If your roof is 5,000 square feet, you will have 50 squares. If you are replacing your entire roof, you will need to purchase shingles in 50 squares to sufficiently cover your 5,000 square foot roof.
Step 2 – Section the Roof
If you have a roof that has different dimensions such as gable ends and hip ends, the sketch of the roof you’ve drawn up will come in handy. You will have to measure your roof in sections and record it on the sketch. This makes measuring simpler and easy to keep up with your total numbers when purchasing squares of shingles.
Step 3 – Consider the Roof Slope
How Many Nails Required
After you are done calculating the total square footage, you need to determine the number of nails you will need.
Usually 4 nails are used per shingle. As mentioned earlier, shingles come in three tabs, which means you would need around 1,120 nails/sq.
If you live in a high windy area, then you will need 6 nails per shingle, which brings the count to 1,680 nails/sq.
This calculation is based on 280 shingle squares, according to the gable roof measurement. For the right nailing pattern, refer to the instructions that comes with the shingles.
And this is how you measure your roof area and the number of shingles and nails needed. If you are looking for more informatory articles such as this, then visit Epic Home Ideas.
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Roofing Square: How Its Calculated And More
Can there be anything more exciting than building your own property? There are so many things that go into building your establishment, be it commercial or residential.
You have to think of the location, the layout, the size and measurement of the rooms, and so much more. The type of roofing you will opt for is another important aspect to take into account. While all of this sounds exciting, it can be equally tedious.
When you leave it to a contractor to choose a roof type for your home, or to replace the roof in your home, you may come across them using the following term, roofing square to describe the size of your roof.
No matter how good you are at math, you may have found that your calculations in terms of how much roofing supplies are required to put up the roofing system in your home are entirely different from what the roofing contractors you hired calculate them.
When it comes to building roofs, there are two important aspects to keep in mind:
- Roof measurements
- Roofing materials estimation
The one word that commonly gets thrown around in the world of roofing construction is roofing squares. Lets look more into what a roofing square is and why and how it matters in evaluating the shingles or roofing materials you will require in the following sections.
How Big Is A Square In Roofing
The calculations above will give you the total number of square feet of the roof area.
As you have noticed in the roofing industry however, the surface of the roof is being measured in squares. This refers to the roof area that measures approximately 100 square feet.
Therefore: 1 Square in Roofing = 100 square feet
Now, in order to determine how many squares are there on the gable roof for example, all you need to do is divide the total square footage by 100.
- Total square footage from Example 2 above: 28,000 sq. ft.
- Number of squares for 2 planes: 28,000 sq. ft. ÷ 100 = 280 squares
This means that both planes of the roof will require 280 squares of shingles. A three-tab shingle, which is most commonly used, is packed in 3 bundles per square.
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Figuring Out The Square Footage Of Your Roof
While it may seem difficult at first, you can divide your roof into 10 x 10 roofing squares, a standard unit of measurement used by roofers.
But first, some terminology you’ll need to know:
- Ridge – Where two sloped roof areas meet
- Valley – Where two sloped roof areas meet , often with a metal channel running along the fold
- Hip Roof – Type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls
- Hip End – The triangle shaped end of a hip roof
Related: Roofing 101: What Are the Different Parts of the Roof Called?
Draw Each Shape Individually Calculate Each Area And The Total Square Footage Of Your Roof
Now we have eight shapes to find the area of six triangles and two rectangles. Instead of breaking out the old textbooks to calculate triangle areas, we like to use a triangle calculator. It makes figuring out the area of triangles a lot simpler.
In the example above, we have two triangles with sides of 30, 20, and 20 feet. Pop those figures in the three-sides calculator and youll get an area of 198. Since we have two of those triangles, multiply by 2 for a running total of 396 square feet.
We have four remaining triangles, all with dimensions of 15, 20, and 25 feet. That same calculator reveals a result of 150 square feet. Since there are four of those triangles, multiply by 4 to get 600 square feet.
Lastly, we have two rectangles of 15 by 30 feet. This one is easy, just width times height for a total of 450 square feet for each one. Multiply by 2 and their total square footage is 900.
Adding all the areas up yields a total of 1896 square feet . Since roofing material comes in 100 square foot squares, youll need at least 19 of them for your roofing project. Itd be wise to get at least 20 to account for mistakes and waste.
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What Are The Factors That Determine The Cost Of A Roofing Square
Various factors go into determining the roof pricing. The size of your roof, the area where your property is located, the roofing material you will be using, and the material quality are the main factors. These are the predominant factors.
But there are other less obvious ones like for instance, the remaining warranty period post replacement, how difficult or easy your roof is to access, whether you need to root out the old roof, your roof contractors expertise level, how soon you want them to carry out the replacement of your roof, and of course, and the what is the current market for roofing materials
What About The Waste Factor Should I Order Extra Roofing Materials
You want to order extra material to account for waste. Waste factors vary.
10%-15% is a good rule of thumb, but your results may be different. More complicated roofs will have a higher waste factor because there are usually more cut shingles around corners, walls, and edges.
It is okay to have a few shingles left over. They can be saved in case there is roof damage later or if repairs need to be done in the future.
So for the 24 square roof example, you would want to add 2.4 squares which equal about 7 or 8 more bundles.
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Total Square Footage Vs Number Of Squares
The number of roofing squares is simple enough to calculate in standard gable roofs. In many cases, all a roofing contractor needs to do to find out the pitch of your roof is measure the length and width of each plane, which form two sides of a triangle. The third side, the roof slope, is easy to find by using the Pythagorean Theorem.
However, some roofs have an intricate mansard or gambrel design that includes ridges, turns, and valleys, not just a plain sloping roof deck. In such projects, calculating the number of roof squares may be more complicated.
How To Measure A Roof For Shingles
August 28, 2019 By Taylor-Made Roofing
Whether youre re-roofing your home or purchasing shingles for a brand-new house, its important to understand that a successful roofing project often requires a significant investment of both time and money. As you begin shopping for materials, you might wonder how to measure a roof for shingles. After all, roofing materials vary greatly in cost and are priced per square foot. To determine the size of your roof, contact a professional roofer who can measure your roof and provide an estimate for the roofing project.
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How Many Shingles Are In A Square
When the time comes to buy shingles for your roof, keep in mind that they are usually sold by the bundle. Each bundle is a wrapped package of shingles with such a weight as to be lifted easily by a person.
The most common is to have three bundles of shingles for a square of roof area. In other words, if you buy 3 bundles of shingles, this will cover one square which is 100 sq.ft of area.
The most usual case when buying standard shingles , there are 29 standard-sized shingles in each bundle.
Summary of the above:
1 Square of Roof = Covers 100 sq.ft area = Need 3 bundles of standard shingles
Keep The Slope And Complexity Of Your Roof In Mind
You have to keep in mind the makeup of your roof when doing the calculation for the square footage. The steepness and complexity will change the number you multiply the footprint of your home by.
For example:
For an easy up-and-over, walkable gable roof, youll multiply the footprint of the roof by 1.3 to get the square footage of your roof.
For a hip roof with a low slope, you’ll multiply the footprint of the roof by 1.4 to get the square footage of your roof.
For a steep and complex roof, you’ll multiply the footprint of the roof by 1.6 to get the square footage of your roof.
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Calculate The Square Footage Of The Roof Area With The Roof Pitch And Base Area
Find your roof pitch from the first step in the following table and multiply the amount you just got by the corresponding roof pitch multiplier. The result is the total roof square footage youll need to get roofing material for.
In our example, the roof pitch was 6/12. The pitch multiplier would be 1.118. So, take the 2100 square feet, multiplied by 1.118 to get 2347 square feet of roofing material. Since roofing material like shingles come in squares of 100 square feet apiece, wed need at least 24 of them. If you have a relatively flat roof , you can simply avoid using a pitch multiplier and make sure to round up on your equipment estimate.
|
Roof Slope |
|
1.414 |
Calculating How Many Shingles You’ll Need
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Can I Replace My Own Roof
The truth is, anyone can replace their own roof, with the help of the many DIY websites. For residential houses, roof replacements typically take two days the first day to remove the old roof, and the second day is to install the new one. A day or two more can be necessary depending on the size of the roof.
How To Measure Your Roof From The Top Of The Structure
The most accurate way to measure your roof is by being on top of the roof itself. You can make sure each roof sections slope area is accounted for. Youll need some graph paper, measuring tape, and a calculator. For our example, well use a hip roof, though you can use this technique to measure any shape roof with varying complexity.
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What Type Of Roofing Is Cheapest
Asphalt is the cheapest of all roofing materials in the market. This makes it a perfect option for homeowners facing budgetary constraints. A shingle measuring one square foot retails for as low as $1. Homeowners with varying preferences can also choose from a wide range of organic and inorganic asphalt roofing styles.
Calculate The Square Footage Of Your Roof
After considering the slope and complexity of your roof, youre ready to learn how to calculate the square footage of your roof.
To get a rough estimate for your roofs square footage, youll use this equation:
For example, if you have an easy up and over, walkable gable roof and a house that measures 56 feet lengthwise and 28 feet widthwise, your calculation will look like this:
56′ x 28′ = 1,568
1,568 x 1.3 = 2,038
Using this equation wont be 100% accurate, but knowing your roofs square footage is a great jumping-off point to learn how much youll have to invest in your replacement. After getting your roofs rough square footage, put that number in our free Roofing Calculator to get an idea on the cost of your new roof.
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