How To Measure For Roofing Shingles
It is very important that you learn how to measure for roofing shingles to make sure that you know exactly what quantity of materials you are going to need to complete the job. You need to make sure you do so before you contemplate running off to purchase all the products that you are going to need. The last thing you will want is to have to dash off half way through the installation to buy more roofing materials. Making sure you know how to measure for roofing shingles is the first step towards carrying out a good and organized job.
The worst thing you can do in any type of building job is to be poorly prepared because doing so could have a negative affect on the quality of the work and the time taken to complete it. Financing any roofing job can become expensive so taking the time to measure up and calculate the amount of roofing shingles and other materials that you will require for the job can save you a lot if money. You don’t want to be stuck with a load of shingles that you are not going to use. The actual process of measuring and then calculating what you will need is a very simple exercise.
You will need to determine the square footage of your roof. It is worth keeping in mind that a single square shingle will cover 100sq feet of roof. Now I don’t mean 1 single shingle literally. When you purchase them as a single square they will come with three bundles. Each of these bundles will contain 27 shingles. In total there are enough to cover 100sq feet so keeping that in mind a professional contactor will use this knowledge when calculating the quantities required to complete the job. A lot of people make the mistake of just simply measuring the perimeter to calculate what they will need. This is fine with a flat roof but you’ll need to do more to calculate what is required when measuring a sloping roof.
You will have to figure out what the slope of the roof is, otherwise known as the ratio. To do so all you need to do is measure the amount of vertical rise in inches in relation to the number of vertical inches. This will give you the slope or ratio of the roof. So to calculate what you need simply measure the perimeter of the roof including the overhangs and multiply it by the conversion factor which was determined by the slope/ratio. Also, don’t forget that you’ll need to buy shingles for the ridge/hip areas of the roof as well. For every 5ft ridge you’ll need a minimum of 4 shingles. Learning how to measure for roofing shingles will ensure you that you buy the exact amount of materials that you require.
2 Responses to “How To Measure For Roofing Shingles”
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I am needing to know the way to measure the roof to come up with how many square is needed. Also would like to know is there 3 bundles to a square ? Is a square a 100 x 100 !
Yes Randy, 100 sq feet is 100 x 100. 3 bundles of roofing shingles would cover an area of 300 sq feet.