How To Estimate Roof Pitch

How roof pitch is calculated to accurately calculate the area of your roof you must first determine its slope or pitch.

How to estimate roof pitch.

Then in the attic place the end of the level against the bottom of a roof rafter and hold it perfectly level. Generally roof pitch is calculated from the same formula that describes a right triangle. As aforementioned there is no standard pitch of a roof. On the roof hold the level perfectly level and measure the height from the roof to the level 12 inches away from where the level touches the surface this will be the rise.

Roof pitch is the measurement of a roof s vertical rise divided by its horizontal run. It is often compared to slope but is not exactly the same. A roof s pitch is determined by how much it rises vertically for every foot it runs horizontally. Here are a couple examples.

Divide the slope by two to get the pitch. Roof pitch calculator results explained slope the slope of a roof is represented as x 12 where x is the number of inches in rise for every 12 inches of run. Rafter rise run from the pythagorean theorem. To measure the roof pitch you ll need an 18 or 24 inch level a tape measure and a pencil.

If you do need to calculate the pitch an estimate or shortcut is usually more practical than measuring the roof s overall dimensions. Rise run pitch where pitch is expressed in percent. How to calculate roof pitch. You can use the following equations to find the length of the rafter and the slope.

This is very useful information for many purposes especially for roof framing the slope sometimes called pitch is calibrated on speed squares. Thus a moderate 6 in 12 roof pitch means that the roof rises 6 inches vertically for every 12 horizontal inches it runs. First measure 12 inches from one end of the level and make a mark. For a simple gable roof the span wall to wall will be twice the size of the run wall to ridge horizontally.

One method to find the pitch is to climb on the roof and measure the rise for a 12 run.