How To Figure Roofing Material

This metal strip which goes beneath the underlayment protects the edge of the roof from rot.

How to figure roofing material.

With an online roofing calculator you will usually be able to drill down a bit deeper in order to see a fine grained cost breakout on a sq ft basis. 1square of roofing covers 100 square feet of roof a bundle is 1 3 of a square. On a ladder beside the roof place the level a foot or so up the roof hold it level and measure from the 12 inch mark on the level s bottom straight down to the roof. To find the squares divide the overall roof area by 100 and then round up.

Gauge the amount of hip and ridge. 1 roof square 100 square feet. One square of shingles equals 100 square feet. Next you will need to use a roofing materials calculator.

Simply input the surface area of the roof choose from one of the available options and you will get your first roofing estimate. 8 inches and you have an 8 in 12 pitch. The most common roofing materials used in the united states include shingles membrane roofing and ceramic tile all of which have different life spans. On the right you will see dimensions and amounts of needed materials and on the left you will see the prices for each type of material.

Estimating other materials 1. Roofing contractors estimate projects and materials by the square so it is crucial to find this measurement to accurately estimate the amount of material needed. Although ceramic tile roofs are expensive they can have a life span of over 100 years. If this distance measures 4 inches you have a 4 in 12 pitch.

Estimate how many roofing nails you ll need. Once you work through the basic triangle we will review a typical roof and how to apply some simple math to calculate how much material you will need for a roof used in our hypothetical example. At 4 nails per field shingle that s about 320 nails per square. Three bundles of shingles equal one square of shingles.

Shingle roofs typically have a life span of 15 30 years while membrane roofs usually last 5 15 years. Pitch measurement method 1. So multiply the length by the width of the roof and divide that number by 100. Roof pitch is the measurement of a roof s vertical rise divided by its horizontal run.

Measure for drip edge. The length l times the height h of a triangle is twice its area a2. Get the square footage of roof and divide it by 100 and it will give the number of squares you need and for every decimal number over 3 buy a bundle to achieve the amount of material. This is simply 100 square feet of roof.