Measure The Distance/area With Google Earth
the same feature a while ago. This virtual measure tool will work on Android or Google Chrome with Google Earth. On Google Earth, you can measure the area of the county or distance between two regions Just mark the starting point and endpoints with two mouse clicks. Google will tell you the distance between them.
You can measure the area and perimeter or a region or property with Google Earth. As you see the second screen, with few taps, you can mark a rectangle and Google Earth will display the marked area perimeter and Area instantly. Pretty neat and quick solution to measure the distance.
Google rolled out the virtual tape on Google Map and Google Earth that can be used to measure the distance perimeter or the area of land with few taps right from your Mobile phone or desktop. Even though this measurement is not highly accurate, still a good measure for those who want to get an approximate measurement of a property area or the distance between two spots on a region.
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How To Measure The Roof Using Google Earth
There are many great benefits to using Google Earth to measure your roof but nothing is as good as using DIYs satellite roof measurement. The first of which is that you dont even have to go up on the roof. This can make it even safer to do your measuring and it also removes a level of guessing to your calculation.
To begin with, youre going to go to the app on your mobile device, or you will need to go to Google Earth on your laptop or desktop computer. There are many options here and youll want to select the one that allows you to enter the address. You can also zoom the map and click on the starting point of the roof you wish to select. After youve done this, you can click along the outer edge of the roof that you wish to calculate the area for.
Roofing Measurements Using Google Earth
Each time you add points, the area will update and there is a box below that will convert this into acres, meters, kilometers, miles, and finally, square feet. It will also give you the perimeter of the shape of the roof.
Using this tool will be very helpful for you in finding out the acreage or the tract of land of your property. It will also give you the square footage of your roof and any other areas that youre wanting to estimate. You can even embed this tool on a website that you own.
Read next about how to measure the metal roof.
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How To Measure Distances With Google Earth
Before we get into how to measure distances in Google Earth, first a warning about accuracy. Volumes have been written on this topic, and the upshot is that positional accuracy in Google Earth isnt perfect, especially over long distances. For most amateur users and uses, though, itll be good enough.
You will find that measuring the distance between two points on Google Earth is easy.
If you want to remove the last point you set, select Undo. You can also click and drag any points youve already set.
Units of Distance in Google Earth
Google Earth will automatically choose the unit of measurement that makes the most sense for the distance you have measured. Alternatively, you can toggle between several units of measurement.
Select the dropdown arrow next to the distance, and choose your measurement unit. Options range from metric units like centimeters, meters, and kilometers, to imperial measurements like inches, feet, yards, and miles. You can also opt for nautical miles or even Smoots.
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How To Measure Your Roof Area From The Ground
A more accurate way to calculate the area of the roof than using Google Earth is to get outside to estimate the roof pitch and the base area of the property. Using these two figures, we can get a good idea of the shingle roofs square footage and estimate your asphalt shingles needs and costs. This DIY technique can be helpful, especially if you are not comfortable getting on your roof, or if you have limited access to it.
Ground measures only work well for a gabled roof, since there are usually just two main rectangular pitches to calculate area for. For more complex roof shapes, like hip roofs, youll need to work with a roofer or measure from on top of the roof itself to calculate its total area.
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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One: Printing A Top View Of Roof With Google Earth
You should start measuring by printing out a top view of your home. To do this, simply line up your house and click on the top corner to print.
Be sure to print multiple angles and views. The more roofing details you provide, the more accurate your estimate will be. These additional angles will also show the supplier if there are any additional valleys, peaks, entryways, or window hangs that may be needed.
Select Your Measuring Tools
Now youre almost ready to start measuring.
At the top left, click on Tools. In the drop-down menu, check the box next to Ruler. This opens a box with a little menu across the top. Click on Polygon.
The default unit of measurement should be feet and square feet. If it isnt, or if it is but you want a different unit, you can change it by clicking on the little unit fields there.
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How Does Roof Measuring Software Work
Although roofing contractors would undoubtedly want roof measuring software to do ALL the work for them, software like that unfortunately do not exist! The good news is that using roof measuring software makes the job a whole lot easier than measuring plans by hand or measuring existing roofs in-person.
So how exactly does roof measuring software work? First, youll upload your construction plans into the software. Next, you use the softwares tools along with your computer mouse to point and click the outline of the roof. Youll also enter some important info such as the rise and run of each section of roof. All this info lets the software calculate the total roofing area and complete a roofing takeoff to give you the material quantities for the job.
How To Measure A Roof Using Google Earth
Its actually a simple process to get the ballpark square footage of a roof with Google Earth. Using Google is great for a rough estimate, but when youre ready to order the materials you should take accurate field measurements of the job. In order to make things easy for you we have created a step by step guide and even created a video.
To begin, go to Google Earth and click to Launch Earth. Search for your homes address and youre ready to go!
To get multiple views of your roof, you can:
- Use the scroll wheel on your mouse to zoom in and out.
- Left click and drag to move the image around.
- Rotate the camera by clicking on the scroll wheel and dragging on the mouse.
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The Fastest Safest And Most Accurate Ways To Measure Your Roof For Shingles
Congratulations on beginning your new roof project! If youre wondering how to measure a roof, what roofing materials to order, or whether your roofing contractor is properly estimating your requirements, our roof measurement guide is here to help. On this page, we provide you with three different ways to measure roof area for shingles or a new metal roof.
The first way is the simplest, especially if youre good with a computer. Well show you how to get a rough estimate of the roofing squares youll need just with Google Earth. The second approach allows you to measure your roof from the ground. This can be especially helpful if you have a dangerous roof and would prefer to keep yourself safe. The third way to measure your roof is from on top of the structure itself. The advantage of this option is that its the most accurate, but it involves a little more geometry and math than the other options.
Let’s get measuring.
Two: Begin Measuring Your Roof
NOTE: The measurement tool wont be as accurate with slopes as it is with straight runs. Its best to angle the camera and get various measurements to see which is closest in comparison to surrounding measurements.
Its always best to go outside and check a few measurements to make sure what youre estimating on Google Earth is in the ballpark.
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Why Get Roof Measurements From A Satellite
Aerial roof measurements save you from having to get up on a ladder and risk life and limb for a few scribbles on a piece of paper, but theres so much more to it than that. This is the BEST and MOST ACCURATE way to measure your roof.
- Youll Save Hours: No baking in the hot sun all day as you fight your roof for positioning. A few clicks and youre done. Use those hours to plan your DIY project instead.
- Youre in Control. Not the Contractor: If you pay a contractor to take measurements, theyve got all the leverage. Theyll choose labor and materials and make you pay for overhead expenses .
- Get Accurate Measurements AND Estimates in Minutes: Satellites are more accurate than the most experienced contractors hands. Youll get EXACT measurements of your roof with no human error. Well even provide an estimate for costs based on the average roofing materials.
- Its 100% Safe: Did we mention no ladders, measuring tapes, heights, or hot sun? Yeah, this is way safer!
Measure Distances And Areas In Google Earth
You can measure distances between locations and along paths. You can also measure the size of polygons that you draw in Google Earth.
Notes:
- Measurements may not be 100% accurate, especially in areas with 3D terrain and buildings. For best results, measure using a top-down view.
- Measurements dont account for changes in elevation.
On the right, youll see the length.
Notes:
- To measure the area of a location, connect to your first point to close the shape. Youll see the area on the right.
- To see these instructions and get more assistance, click Help .
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Measuring The Roofs Pitch
The incline or pitch of a roof can be easily measured with a level, tape measure, and a pencil. The roofs pitch is the number of inches the roof rises in 12 inches. Therefore, mark off 12 inches on the level and place it down horizontally against the roof rafter.
Next, measure vertically from the 12-inch mark on the level straight up to the underside of the rafter, as illustrated below. That measurement is the number of inches the roof rises in 12 inches.
Some homes will have roofs with multiple pitches. Porches and dormer windows, for example, can have a different pitch from that of the rest of the house. For an accurate surface area measurement you should make note of these additional structures.
Using the table below, lookup the pitch/es and make a note of the number/s in the multiplier column. This multiplier number will be used to multiply the surface area calculation that SketchAndCalc will provide.
Measure The Area/distance With Google Map On Android/iphone
You can measure the area or the distance of the land by using your Google Map on Android or iPhone. The same procedure that we mentioned on top is applicable to the Google Map App. However, since this is a dedicated app, there are slight changes in the menu.
To go ahead, you have to open the Google Map app on the Mobile phone and long tap on the location you want to set as the starting point. Now you can drag the map and tap on the second point where you want to measure.
We used the Google map app to measure the distance between Miami and the Bahamas and Google Map displays around 147 miles. You can keep moving on the Google Map app to select the next point or circulate with taps to measure the area of a property.
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How To Measure Your Roof With Google Earth
Using your computer to get a ballpark estimate of your roof area is easy and fast. However, using satellite imagery may not be an ideal solution if your structure is in a very remote location that hasnt been 3D scanned. Thats because well need to grab an accurate representation of your roofs pitch for measuring purposes. From above with a 2D image, everything looks flat. If you were to just measure your roof area from directly above, you wouldnt be accounting for its pitch, or slope.
Consider two homes with the same base area square footage, but one of them has a much steeper roof pitch than the other. That structure would need to be taller, and there would be a lot more roofing material to account for. If youre just measuring from above in 2D, both of these structures might look identical. If you dont account for roof pitch, youre going to underestimate your materials requirements, which could be a costly mistake.
Satellite technology has progressed a lot in the past few years. With , you can easily find your address and a 3D replica of your structure, including your roofs pitch. Lets get to it.
Once you load the site, youll be presented with our beautiful planet:
While you can switch to 2D mode by clicking the button in the lower right, youll want to stay in this 3D view so you can get a good view of your roofs pitch.
How To Measure Elevation In Google Earth
Google Earth makes it really easy to find the elevation of any place on the planet. Simply select a point on the map, and the elevation will display in the lower-right corner of the map.
How to Measure Your Houses Height on Google Earth
Now that you know how to measure elevation, you can use that knowledge to calculate the height of your house provided that Google Earth is rendering the building in 3D.
This exercise comes down to three steps:
Measuring 3D Polygons with Google Earth Pro
If youre using Google Earth Pro, you can go about this a different way.
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Roof Measuring Software Is A Type Of Construction Software That Helps Roofing Contractors Quickly Measure Construction Plans And Determine The Roof Dimensions
How to measure a roof using google earth. Also find the length between the endpoints of your slope. On your computer, open google earth. How to measure a roof with google earth page 4.
The numbers are not going to be 100% accurate, which is especially true if trees are in the way of your roofline, or google has had a difficult time determining where your 3d structure ends. Here you want to enter the address of the rooftop you want to measure and click on search. Put the cursor on the n, hold down the left mouse button, and move the n around the little.
These instructions only apply to the new google earth. Learn how to measure distances in google earth pro. Desktop/laptop users can click on the images to enlarge them.
The good news is there is a way to measure your roof in a safe and accurate way, all from the comfort of your home: When a part of the roof is marked or selected, you get the measure of the area selected. Using google is great for a rough estimate, but when youre ready to order the materials you should take accurate field measurements of the job.
Google maps area calculator tool. To make sure the roof fills up as much of the image field as possible, you can rotate the roof using the rotate tool in the top right corner of the image field. As long as you keep in mind that these are only the most basic of guidelines, youre going to be okay in your calculations.