How To Calculate Your Roofing Square Footage

Admin June 29, 2022

To get at a rough estimate for the cost of installing a new roof, all you need to do is determine the roofing square footage of your home's roof.

To get a more accurate assessment of the roof's overall area, it is best to measure the dimensions and areas of each element of the roof separately

Calculating Roof Pitch

Roof pitch is the ratio of a roof's vertical rise to its horizontal run, expressed as a percentage. Although it is often likened to slope, it differs somewhat. It is advisable to know your roof pitch first before calculating roofing square footage. Roofing pitches in the United States are measured using a run of 12 inches (1 foot) and the roof's rise over 12 inches. A 7/12 roof pitch, for example, denotes a 7-inch vertical increase for every 12-inch horizontal rise. Outside of the United States, a degree angle is the most common measurement.

The roof's cost, size, and materials influence the roof's pitch. In addition to affecting walkability, higher roof pitches are more common in places with heavy rain or snow.

Tips for Measuring Your Roofing Square Footage

1. Determine your house's building footprint

Using your home's roofing square footage will only give you an approximation of your roof's size. That's why you need to know the dimensions of your house.

A person of average height will walk between 2 and 2.5 feet long stride. You may measure your home's footprint by stepping off the roof's proportions and counting the number of steps you take to acquire its length. After that, you'll be able to leave your house without tripping over anything.

To calculate your home's footprint, you'll multiply the length and width of your house.

Length x width = your home's footprint

This method of estimating your home's footprint is inaccurate, but it might give you a rough estimate of its size. When calculating a house's size, remember that a house's square footage does not equal the roof's square footage.

2. Consider this if you have a steep slope or a complicated roof.

When figuring up your roofing square footage, don't forget to consider its composition. The result will vary when multiplying your home's footprint by its steepness and complexity.

A simple gable roof, for example, requires you to increase the roof footprint by 1.3 to obtain the square footage.

To get the square footage of a hip roof with a modest slope, multiply the roof's footprint by 1.4.

The square footage of a steep or complicated roof is calculated by multiplying the roof's footprint by 1.6.

3. Calculate your roofing square footage.

Learn to figure out your roof's square footage after considering its slope and complexity. You may use the following calculation to obtain an idea of how many square feet your roof has:

(length of home) x (width of home) = (footprint of your home)

(footprint of your home) x (slope and complexity) = (square feet of roof area)

This is what your calculation will look like if you have a walkable gable roof and a home that is 56 feet long and 28 feet wide:

56' (length) x 28' (width) = 1,568’ (footprint of your home)

1,568' x 1.3 (for an easy up and over, walkable gable roof) = 2,038 (square feet of roof area)