Measuring and Estimating Your Roof.
Numbers can be the scariest thing to deal with, especially if you are not a mathematician. However, in real life, numbers are everywhere. Mostly any task that you should accomplish needs a mathematical calculation.
This is also true if you want to reconstruct the roofs of your house. Your previous shingles may have cracked their surfaces and have deteriorated through time.If you need the help of professional roofers like us, you would need to understand how measuring is done.
Failing to have prior knowledge in measuring your roof can be devastating especially since roofing contractor without experience can still fail to calculate the right area to be repaired. If you know the basics for yourself, you will not be misled. Here are the four simple steps in doing a roof estimate.
1. Calculate your roof area in 2D. Assume first that your roofs are not elevated. Then, calculate the area at this point-of-view. To do this, you must understand what roof squares mean. In our jargon, roof squares is equal to 100 square feet. In that case, a 10×10 feet roof would consist of a single roof square. To get the number of roof squares in your house, measure first your house’s perimeter. We do this by using a measuring tape. Afterward, calculate the area of the roof hanging from the house. The sum of these values will be the raw data.
2. Find the number of roof squares in your raw data. You can do this by simply dividing your raw data to 100. (Remember that a roof square is equal to 100 square feet.) As an example, if your raw data is 1500 square feet, you roof has 15 roof squares.
3. Determine the multiplier. Since the number of roof squares you have is in 2D, we have to translate it in 3D. First, determine what type of roof is installed in your house. Is it a low-, medium- or high-pitched roof? The multipliers for these types are as follows: 1.15 to 1.25 for the low-pitched, 1.25 to 1.4 for the medium-pitched and 1.41 to 1.7 for the high-pitched.
4. Calculate your roof area in 3D. To do this, just multiply the corresponding multiplier of your roof type to the 2D measurements you get. Be sure to know the right pitch type of your roof so that the measurement that you can get is accurate.
Now, with that knowledge known to you, you can now check if your contractor correctly measured your roof. Compare your results with them. I find it safer if my client has a separate calculation in their roof areas since I can validate the calculations that I have made.
Nobody is perfect, but measuring and estimating your roof should be as perfect as possible. If the actual calculation lacks or exceeds with even a single roof square, the whole project is doomed to fail. Your money will be wasted, then, unless you have insurance. Hence, the importance of estimating your roof is highlighted further. Keep your records in your file for future use.
