How Do You Measure Roofing Squares

A home s roof is measured in squares.

How do you measure roofing squares.

In cases where a roof has a complex shape such as in the image to the right measuring the dimensions and areas of each part of the roof to calculate total area will result in a more accurate measurement of area. Each square is 100 square feet. If your roof is 5 000 square feet you will have 50 squares. So if the base is 5 feet 1 5 m and the height is 4 feet 1 2 m then you re equation would look like this.

If this distance measures 4 inches you have a 4 in 12 pitch. 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 calculate the size of the roof you need to measure the size of the roof as if it were flat account for roof pitch calculate square footage and finally determine how many squares of material are required for the roof the calculator above can handle all of this simply enter the length width and pitch and it will determine the size of the roof in 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.

Things you will need steel tape measure. Multiply the number of roofing squares for a medium pitch roof by 1 12 to 1 25 or by 1 3 to 1 42 for a high pitch roof to get the square roof area. The length l times the height h of a triangle is twice its area a2. 8 inches and you have an 8 in 12 pitch.

The calculator cannot account for complex shapes based on a measurement of square footage alone. How to measure a roof. 1 roof square 100 square feet. 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.

The base is the bottom edge of the roof while the height is what you measure from the base to the top of the triangle in a straight perpendicular line from the bottom edge of the roof. Make a sketch of your roof before you go out to measure it.