The roof of a home is a very large and important element. While it covers the entire surface of your last floors, its area is actually much different due to the slopes of the faces of the roof. As such, when you need to calculate material for a roof renovation project you need to keep the slopes in mind.
Here is how to measure a roof for shingles.
Start by determining how many planes your roof has. It might have two like an A-frame roof, but it could also be simpler and have just one plane.
In most cases, however, the roof will have four and more planes that intersect with one another. Label each one of the planes and start to calculate the square footage of each. To do so, measure the width and the length of each plane, and multiply these two numbers.
Once you have the square footage of each plane, add all of them together to get the total.
The surface of a roof is measured in squares where a roofing square is 100 square feet.
Therefore, if you want to find out how many squares of shingles you need for a gable roof, you have to divide the square footage of the roof by 100. That is the exact amount of shingle squares you need. Make sure however to add 10-20% of the amount as a waste factor. These are all the shingles that are going to be cut or just broken during the installation process. The simpler the roof is, the lower the waste factor is going to be. In addition, it is best to keep some shingles in your storage in case they break later on, and you need to replace them with the same ones.
You can buy your roof shingles in bundles if you have a large roof to cover. A bundle is a package of roof shingles. Most architectural shingles are packed in bundles of three which amount to one square roofing.
Last but not least, make sure to calculate your underpayment too, in the same square footage as the roof.
If you want to skip the tedious math calculations, get help from a professional contractor. Call us at RH Renovation NYC and we can schedule a consultation and walk you through the process of roof repairs or replacements, from calculations to installing the final shingle on the surface. In addition, we can conduct regular maintenance to keep your structure in shape. Lastly, our team can provide a cost estimate for free before the project starts.
