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How To Measure Roof For Shingles From Ground

What If You Have A Steep Roof

HOW TO measure a roof length with the PD-E laser distance measurer

To measure a steep roof, use one of the following alternate methods:

Method 1

Calculate the roof length by measuring the exterior walls plus the overhang for the length of the house parallel to the ridge.

Next, throw a rope over the ridge and mark it where it meets each eave. This will give the width dimension to use in figuring your area. This should be done on each roof section containing a horizontal ridge.

Method 2

Determine the roof area by using a mathematical formula that accounts for the roof length, total span, and roof pitch:

  • Determine your roof pitch by using a pitch gauge or a smartphone app .
  • Measure the length of the roof surface, including overhangs.
  • Measure the span of the roof, including overhangs.
  • Multiply the length x the span. The result will be the plane area. Use the chart below to calculate the total area of the roof.
  • Calculate the total roof area Plane Area x Correction Factor = Roof Area
  • What Kind Of Roofing Do You Use For A Hip Roof

    Hipped roofs often include design elements such as gables to highlight a porch or entryway area, or skylights or crow’s nests to add additional storage space or living space under the roof. They can be made from most common roofing materials, such as tiles, metal or metal bricks, bricks or concrete.

    Next Divide Your Total Area By 100 To Calculate The Number Of Roofing Squares You’ll Need To Buy

    How to measure a roof for shingles. This can make it even safer to do your measuring and it also removes a level of guessing. Then each measurement is recorded on the diagram, applicable to that roof surface. How to manually measure a roof.

    Record these values as roof rise over run, with the vertical measurement listed first and the horizontal second. Measure the width and length of each plane of the roof , and then multiply those numbers to get the correct figure for the square footage of that area. Conversely, you could measure the roof from the ground using a very rough approximation.

    Record the measurements on your sketch of the roof. In such a case, you need to take measurement of. How to measure a roof for shingles.

    In the united states, a run of 12 inches is used, and pitch is measured as the rise of the roof over 12 inches. Place the end hook of the tape on the corner and run it all the way to the opposite corner of the house. On this page, we provide you with three different ways to measure roof area for shingles or a new metal roof.

    This was before i started using these two calculations. So if your roof is 20,000 square feet, that means youll need 200 squares to coat it. The next step is to measure the pitch of the roof deck.

    How To Calculate Shingles For A Roof di 2020 (Dengan

    Slate Roofing Metal roof, Roof colors, House styles

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    One: Get Up On Your Roof Safely And Take Initial Measurements

    Sketch out the shape of your roof on graph paper. In this example, youd only need to measure overall width and length, the central ridge, and one of the hips . If you have a more complex roof shape with dormers, take all the measurements you can and prepare to use your eraser to refine the image of your overall roof structure. Make sure you have solid footing and if possible, use fall protection to keep yourself safe. Be mindful of hazards like ridge vents. Note the lengths in feet:

    Measure The Base Area Of Your Property

    How to Measure and Estimate a Roof Like a Pro?

    Now, use that tape measure again and take the distance from the edge of one of the eaves to the other edge along the same wall. Record that figure in feet. That will be the roof base width.

    Then, measure the distance of the other side of the structure from the edge of the eave to the other. That will be the roof base length.

    Multiply those figures together to get an estimate of the base area for the roof structure. For example, if your roof base width is 35 feet and your roof base length is 60 feet, the total base area would be 2100 square feet.

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    Assessing Different Types Of Roof Damage

    If youre checking in on your roof consistently, may begin to notice warning signs of storm damage that can tell you roof damage has occurred. In some cases, roof storm damage may require you to safely get onto your roof an inspect it for trouble. Here are the types of damage that your roof can suffer:

    What Kind Of Roofing Do You Need For A Gabled Roof

    Unsubscribe at any time. Clay or concrete shingles, bituminous shingles, metal shingles, and cedar are some of the roofing materials you can use for a gable roof. While a 40° angle or a 10/12 slope is recommended for snow-covered areas, using metal shingles or vertical joints can help prevent leakage if the roof is sloped or sloped.

    Read Also: What Is The Average Square Footage Of A 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.

    Calculating The Area From The Building’s Square Footage

    Installing Roof Shingles
  • 1Find the square footage or square meterage of your home. You’ll need this information to estimate the area of your roof. You can find this information online on real estate websites or on your house or building title.XResearch source
  • Keep in mind that this estimation won’t include any areas like garages or enclosed patios that the roof covers. You may need to measure these rooms by hand to figure out the area.
  • To figure out the area of a square or rectangular room, measure length and width and multiply them together to get the area. Add that to your square footage total.
  • 2Measure the pitch of your roof in the attic. Mark a length of 1 foot on a long level, starting from one end. Hold the end you measured from against the bottom of a rafter so it’s sticking straight out horizontally and is level. From the 1 ft spot you marked on the level, measure upward to the rafter. The number is the first part of the pitch, while “12 inches” is the second part of the pitch. So if you measured a “5” going up, the pitch is 5/12, or 5 inches every 1 foot.XResearch source
  • You’re basically making a triangle. The level and measuring tape will make a right angle, while the rafter will be the hypotenuse of the triangle.
  • Most roofing calculators will accept this measurement as is, such as 5/12.
  • The pitch is important because it increases the area of the roof by stretching out the height.
  • For example, the slope factor for 5/12 is 1.08.
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    How Does Technology Improve Accuracy

    Technology in the form of areal measurements, taken from satellites, drones, and planes, is often used by professional roofing contractors, and those in the insurance, and construction industries to obtain accurate imagery, and measurements for roofs, and exterior walls of homes and buildings.

    This technology helps to insure accuracy for the purpose of calculating estimates, and saves valuable time to collect such information. Further todays health and safety requirements are making it difficult for estimators to do their jobs in compliance with the law, because of the need for safety harnesses, and support brackets to enter the roof. Particularly steep and tall roofs are difficult to mount, especially when just to supply a quotation.

    The need for basic geometry skills, and the ability to look at complex roof designs and break them down into squares, rectangles, and triangles are must have skills, in spite of todays technology advantage. This is needed when looking at blueprints as an example.

    How To Estimate The Size Of A Roof

    If youre replacing a roof, the first consideration needs to be the roofs size so you can accurately estimate project materials.

    In the U.S., roofs are measured in square footage, and roofing contractors typically quote projects based on the size of the roof in squares. Consequently, gathering the size of the roof in squares and square footage is the first step.

    Get Free Project Estimates

    Find Qualified Roofing Professionals in Your Area

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    How Do You Build A Roof

    How to build a roof: Cut the wall panels and attach them to the masonry so that the beams can be placed. The wall panels on which the beams are supported and fixed must be perfectly square, flat and even. To be square, they must be parallel at each end of the roof and the same distance at all intermediate points.

    How To Measure The Roof Of A Round Building

    How to Measure Your Roof for Shingles

    Towers and turrets are attractive architectural features. In spite of their visual appeal, they can be a nightmare for the do-it-yourself homeowner trying to calculate roofing material requirements and costs. Determining the surface area of a roof on a round building is an exercise in simple high school geometry. All you need is a short refresher on using the right surface area formula

    1

    Measure the outer diameter of the building.

    2

    Measure the amount of horizontal overhang between the building’s outer wall and the roof’s outer edge.

    3

    Multiply the amount of overhang by two to include the opposite side of the building.

    4

    Add the total overhang to the diameter. For example, a building diameter of 20 feet and an overhang of 1 foot on one side results in a total roof diameter of 22 feet.

    5

    Measure the length of the rafters from the peak to the lower edge.

    6

    Calculate the total surface area of the roof using the following formula: pi times the radius times the rafter length, also called the slant height. To find the surface area using the diameter in the previous example and a rafter length of 20 feet, use the following calculations and use 3.14 as an approximation for pi:

    Radius = 22 / 2 = 11.

    Surface area in square feet = 3.14 * 11 * 20 = 690.8.

    7

    Rafter length squared = 20 * 20 = 400.

    Radius squared = 11 * 11 = 121.

    So 400 121 = 279.

    References

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    How To Measure A Hip Roof For Shingles

    Hip roofs have four faces or sides, so they are different from common peak roofs. Heres the guide to measure shingles on the hip roof:

  • Get on the roof area and determine the size of each side on the hip roof.
  • Triangular sides: size the length of the roofs bottom edge and the ridge points length directly to the bottom edge
  • Parallelogram sides: size the length of the roofs bottom edge, the length of the roofs top edge, and the ridge points length directly to the bottom edge
  • Measure the size of each sides area, divide the numbers by 2, then multiply the ridge lines length directly to the bottom edge.
  • Triangular sides: multiply ridge points length directly to the bottom edge by the bases length
  • Parallelogram sides: add the bottom edges length to the ridge lines length first.
  • Find the total hip roofs area in sq ft unit by adding each sides area.
  • Once you get the total area in sq ft, multiply the number by 0.05 or 5%. This meant requiring extra material for the roofing that may happen due to calculation error or material damage.
  • As the last step, add the extra amount of material to the total amount of the material as the amount you need to purchase.
  • Install Step And Dormer Flashing

    It’s possible to reuse existing step flashing and dormer flashing, but the best way to get a watertight seal is to tear off the siding in those areas and install new flashing. Start by running self-stick underlayment at least 6 in. up onto the walls. This provides an additional barrier if water does get past the flashing. Cover the front wall first and then work your way up the side wall. Overlap the sidewall underlayment around the corner onto the front wall about 1 in. or so.

    Install the shingles right up to the front wall. Cut a couple of inches off the vertical portion of the dormer flashing, and run the horizontal portion past the side wall that same distance. Nail the dormer flashing to both the wall and the shingles.

    Make a 1- to 2-in. cut with a tin snips at the bend in the first step flashing. Run a bead of sealant on the corner edge of the dormer flashing, and then run that step flashing past the dormer flashing the same distance you made your cut. Bend the step flashing around the corner onto the dormer flashing with your hammer.

    Install your next row of shingles over that first step flashing, then cover that row with a step flashing, and so on. Nail the step flashing to the wall toward the top of the flashing at the end that’s closer to the peak, so the next step flashing in line will cover the nail. Don’t nail them down through the shingles. For information about flashing around chimneys, see Installing Chimney Flashing.

    Read Also: How Do You Measure Pitch On A Roof

    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.

    What Are Roof Shingles

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    Roofing shingles are watertight and wind-resistant seals that protect the roof from environmental damage. They are individual roof coverings that overlap one another when placed on the roof.

    Many shingle installations are placed on top of an underlayment material such as asphalt felt paper which prevents leaks from rain and snow. In addition to having a variety of styles, colors, and textures, roofing shingles vary in price. On average, most homeowners pay between $8,000 and $9,000 for shingle installation.

    Depending on the location, the availability of design varies per state. The type of shingle is considered before construction because the roof pitch and construction method varies. You can choose almost any kind of shingle to match your homes roofing design and increase the aesthetic of your home.

    Also Check: What Is The Most Durable Type Of Roof

    Gutters Vents Skylights And More

    Roof damage isnt limited to broken roofing material. Gutter damage or a broken seal around a skylight can cause just as much of a headache as a lawn full of shingles.

    From the ground, look at your gutters to see if theyve loosened, broken off from the roof or are full of debris. If a gutter cant effectively take water from the roof to its intended destination on the ground, it could gather around your homes foundation. If your gutters are still attached but full of debris, the debris could gather on the roof leading to the deterioration of roofing material and leaks.

    If your home has a chimney or skylights, ask a qualified professional to check the sealed edges around them to make sure water cant make its way in. A professional should also check any exhaust fans or vents to make sure they can release air appropriately and arent blocked or clogged.

    Finding The Total Roof Area

    Once the area of the roofs footprint is known, the overall roof area can be found by accounting for the roofs pitch. The pitch of the roof is the rise over a 12-inch run. Use our roof pitch calculator to find the pitch of your roof.

    Next, multiply the footprint of the roof by the multiplier below for your roof pitch to find the overall roof area.For example, a 4/12 pitch roof that is 100 square feet:

    100 × 1.054 = 105.4ft2

    Roof Pitch Area Multipliers

    Multipliers for common roof pitches that can be used to find the total area of a roof.

    Pitch

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    How Can I Make My Shed A Flat Roof Exterior

    Use 2×4 brackets for the sides of the roof. Drill knockout holes in 2 1/2 set screws to hold them in place. Use T111 boards for the sides of the shed. Use 8d nails to attach the panels to the wall frame. Use a 2×6 lumber for the overhangs. You can adjust the size of the overhangs according to the size of the locks.

    Finding The Size Of The Roof In Squares

    Pitch Gauge

    Roofing contractors estimate projects and materials by the square, so it is crucial to find this measurement to estimate the amount of material needed accurately. A square simply refers to a 10 x 10 square of roofing. This is simply 100 square feet of roof.

    To find the squares, divide the overall roof area by 100 and then round up. For instance, if the roof is 1550 square feet, then it is 16 squares.

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