How To Determine How Many Squares Of Shingles You Need

Can You Roof A House Yourself

Make no bones about itroofing is hard work. Theres no hiding from the elements. You cant be afraid of heights and you need to be pretty fit. Before committing to this how to roof a house project, try this: Get out a ladder and climb up onto your roof. If you cant walk around on it comfortably, hire a pro. If you passed this first test, go to the lumberyard or home center and throw a bundle of shingles onto your shoulder. Imagine yourself carrying that load up a laddermany, many times.

If youre still feeling positive about this how to roof a house at this point, why not give it a shot? You can skip a lot of heavy lifting by having your roofing supplier hoist the shingles onto the roof. Be sure you spread the load evenly across the length of the roofs peak. However, dont have the shingles delivered to the roof if you still have two layers of old shingles to tear offit could be too much weight for your trusses.

After youve obtained a permit and safely stripped the roof clean, nail drip edge flashing flush along the eave.

Cover the rest of the roof with No. 15 asphalt-saturated felt underlayment . Each layer overlaps the lower one by at least 2 in. Follow this step by nailing drip edge along rakes , on top of the underlayment. As you did with the flashing, always lap upper pieces over lower pieces. The felt keeps the roof deck dry before shingles go on, protects against wind-driven rain as shingles fail and increases fire resistance.

Calculate The Square Footage Of Your Roof

After considering the slope and complexity of your roof, youre ready to learn how to calculate the square footage of your roof.

To get a rough estimate for your roofs square footage, youll use this equation:

For example, if you have an easy up and over, walkable gable roof and a house that measures 56 feet lengthwise and 28 feet widthwise, your calculation will look like this:

56 x 28 = 1,568

1,568 x 1.3 = 2,038

Using this equation wont be 100% accurate, but knowing your roofs square footage is a great jumping-off point to learn how much youll have to invest in your replacement. After getting your roofs rough square footage, put that number in our free Roofing Calculator to get an idea on the cost of your new roof.

How To Calculate Shingles

To calculate the number of shingles youll need, youll need first to measure the square footage of your roof, which is covered above.

Once you have the square footage, divide that number by 100. This will tell you how many roofing squares you have. If your roof is 4500 square feet, divide this number by 100 and youll get 45.

Since we know that most shingles require three bundles to make a square, youll multiply 45 times 3 to find out how many bundles you will need. In this case, youll need 135 bundles of shingles.

If you want to take it a step further and calculate the amount of individual shingles youll need for your project, multiply 135 by the number of shingles indicated on the bundle.

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How To Calculate Number Of Roofing Shingles

Fortunately, you don’t have to make a haphazard shingle estimate when planning for your roofing project: your roof size and chosen shingle type will guide the purchase process.

Shingles are sold in prepackaged bundles, not individually. Roofing manufacturers take the guesswork out of how many bundles you need per squareit’s listed in the specifications of each shingle they make. The specs for any given shingle will tell you how many bundles make up a square, how many shingles are in a square, and even the approximate number of nails you’ll need per square.

Often, three bundles of prepackaged asphalt shingles make one square, as is the case with the Timberline® HDZ Shingles. That said, the number of bundles you need can vary depending on shingle design. For example, five bundles of architectural asphalt shingles with artisan-crafted shapes, such as the Grand Sequoia® Shingle, cover one square. Once you know the number of squares of material your roof needs, check the shingle manufacturer specifications so you get your hands on exactly what you need.

If you’re still deciding on the perfect shingle for your roof, play around with the GAF VirtualRemodeler. The free online tool helps you envision how different shingle colors and styles would work with your home’s style. Be sure to keep local building codes in mind as you weigh your shingle options..

Installing Roof Shingles In 11 Steps:

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How Many Shingles Do I Need For 200 Square Feet

Roofing felt is sold by the roll. The average roll of 15-pound roofing felt covers about 400 ft2, or 4 squares, while the average roll of 30-pound roofing felt covers about 200 ft2, or 2 squares. Rolls of felt are 36 wide x 144 long for 15# and 72 long for 30#.

How many feet does a square of shingles cover?

100 sq. ft.A square of shingles is the quantity needed to cover 100 sq. ft. of roof. Shingles are packaged in paper- or plastic-wrapped bundles designed to be light enough for a person to carry, so heavier shingles require more bundles per square.

How do I figure out how many bundles of shingles?

Just measure the length of the ridges and hips and divide by 35 to determine how many bundles of regular or hip-and-ridge shingles youll need.

Hip And Ridge Cap Shingles

Hips and ridges are covered with cap shingles, which are 1-ft. shingle squares that wrap over the hip or ridge. Like regular shingles, they overlap for a 5-in. exposure.On roofs shingled with three-tab or no-cutout shingles, you simply cut standard shingles into caps. You can cap about 35 lin. ft. of ridge or hips with each bundle of three-tab shingles that come three bundles to the square. You can also salvage waste shingle pieces and portions of damaged shingles for use as caps.

For roofs shingled with laminated shingles, multi-cutout shingles, and other patterned shingles, youll have to order hip-and-ridge shingles that are manufactured as companions to the specific shingle product you are using. Theyre sold by the bundle and usually cap 35 lin. ft., but check with your supplier because some products vary. Just measure the length of the ridges and hips and divide by 35 to determine how many bundles of regular or hip-and-ridge shingles youll need.

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How To Measure A Roof And Determine How Many Squares Of Shingles Are Needed

When installing a new roof or paying a professional roofer, the magic number is the number of squares of roofing shingles. A square of roofing is equal to 100ft2 of asphalt shingles. Roofers will typically charge based on the number of squares of roof in need of installation. Other factors include whether the roof can be walked upon without ropes. If a roof does not require cable for workers to be safe, it is called, walkable. And vice versa, non-walkable. If a roof already has a layer of shingles, another layer of shingles can be laid-over the old layer of shingles. The shingle installation is called a lay-over. Obviously a lay-over cost less because the labor and dumping costs are less.

What Is A Square In Roofing

A roofing square is the amount of roofing material required to cover 100 square feet of roof. When calculating the number of shingles you need to cover your roof, youll calculate the area in terms of squares. Therefore if you have 2100 square feet of roof, youll need 21 squares of roof material.

A square of shingles is the number of shingles needed to cover a square of roofing. Whereas a bundle of shingles can vary in square footage, a square of shingles is always 100 square feet. This makes it easier when purchasing roofing materials since manufacturers will package 3 or 4 bundles of shingles to add to an even square.

A square in roofing is always 100 square feet. This refers to the square footage on the roof surface. It doesnt necessarily have to be a perfect square and is a quick way to calculate the quantity of roofing material that youll need for your job.

Youll always need more shingles than youd think to cover a square of roofing. Even if a shingle is 12 wide, some of that is covered by the shingle on top of it. Therefore, only about 6 to 8 of each shingle is showing. Thus, for standard 3-tab shingles, you may end up with 80 or more shingles in one square of roofing.

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How Many Nails Required

After you are done calculating the total square footage, you need to determine the number of nails you will need.

Usually 4 nails are used per shingle. As mentioned earlier, shingles come in three tabs, which means you would need around 1,120 nails/sq.

If you live in a high windy area, then you will need 6 nails per shingle, which brings the count to 1,680 nails/sq.

This calculation is based on 280 shingle squares, according to the gable roof measurement. For the right nailing pattern, refer to the instructions that comes with the shingles.

And this is how you measure your roof area and the number of shingles and nails needed. If you are looking for more informatory articles such as this, then visit Epic Home Ideas.

Calculate Roof Pitch From The Ground In Three Quick Steps

Roof pitch is one of those things that middle school math and geometry instructors can easily point to, and say, See? Learning how to work with rise over run is fun and useful, right? If at any moment you start having PTSD flashbacks to algebra or geometry class, take a deep breath. Well walk you through this slowly in three simple steps. All you need is a tape measure, and possibly a helper to hold it.

Step One: Grab that tape measure, notepad, and pencil and head outside. Find the slope of your roof youd like to measure, and start measuring the distance from the outer edge of the eave to the point at which the plane of the roof slope is barely visible to your eye. Write that number down in both inches. This figure is the horizontal run.

Step Two: Stand directly underneath the gutter or edge of the roof plane you want to calculate the slope for. Measure the distance from your eye to the top of the drip edge of your roof overhang. Write that number down in inches, too. This figure is the roof rise.

Step Three: Take the roof rise figure in Step Two and divide it by the horizontal run from Step One. In the example above, the rise is 60 inches and the run is 120 inches. This reduces down to a roof pitch of 6/12. Well use this figure in just a bit, so keep it handy.

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Two: Split Tricky Shapes Into Squares And Rectangles

Once you have these figures, return to the safety of your home. Notice in the image above that the hip roof is made of two triangles and two trapezoids. Trapezoids are tricky to get the area measurement of, so were going to split each of them into two triangles and a rectangle:

We know enough about the overall measurements of the roof to fill in the missing values. Lets fill the figures in now:

Finding The Total Roof Area

Once the area of the roofs footprint is known, the overall roof area can be found by accounting for the roofs pitch. The pitch of the roof is the rise over a 12-inch run. Use our to find the pitch of your roof.

Next, multiply the footprint of the roof by the multiplier below for your roof pitch to find the overall roof area.For example, a 4/12 pitch roof that is 100 square feet:

100 × 1.054 = 105.4ft2

Roof Pitch Area Multipliers

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Install Step And Dormer Flashing

Its possible to reuse existing step flashing and dormer flashing, but the best way to get a watertight seal is to tear off the siding in those areas and install new flashing. Start by running self-stick underlayment at least 6 in. up onto the walls. This provides an additional barrier if water does get past the flashing. Cover the front wall first and then work your way up the side wall. Overlap the sidewall underlayment around the corner onto the front wall about 1 in. or so.

Install the shingles right up to the front wall. Cut a couple of inches off the vertical portion of the dormer flashing, and run the horizontal portion past the side wall that same distance. Nail the dormer flashing to both the wall and the shingles.

Make a 1- to 2-in. cut with a tin snips at the bend in the first step flashing. Run a bead of sealant on the corner edge of the dormer flashing, and then run that step flashing past the dormer flashing the same distance you made your cut. Bend the step flashing around the corner onto the dormer flashing with your hammer.

Install your next row of shingles over that first step flashing, then cover that row with a step flashing, and so on. Nail the step flashing to the wall toward the top of the flashing at the end thats closer to the peak, so the next step flashing in line will cover the nail. Dont nail them down through the shingles. For information about flashing around chimneys, see Installing Chimney Flashing.

Can Shingles Go In A Dumpster

Yes, renting a dumpster is a convenient way to dispose of your old roofing materials. The bin size you rent will depend on the type and amount of shingles you’re tossing. Use our shingle weight calculator to determine the approximate weight of your debris so our team can help you rent the right container size for your project.

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Draw Each Shape Individually Calculate Each Area And The Total Square Footage Of Your Roof

Now we have eight shapes to find the area of six triangles and two rectangles. Instead of breaking out the old textbooks to calculate triangle areas, we like to use a triangle calculator. It makes figuring out the area of triangles a lot simpler.

In the example above, we have two triangles with sides of 30, 20, and 20 feet. Pop those figures in the three-sides calculator and youll get an area of 198. Since we have two of those triangles, multiply by 2 for a running total of 396 square feet.

We have four remaining triangles, all with dimensions of 15, 20, and 25 feet. That same calculator reveals a result of 150 square feet. Since there are four of those triangles, multiply by 4 to get 600 square feet.

Lastly, we have two rectangles of 15 by 30 feet. This one is easy, just width times height for a total of 450 square feet for each one. Multiply by 2 and their total square footage is 900.

Adding all the areas up yields a total of 1896 square feet . Since roofing material comes in 100 square foot squares, youll need at least 19 of them for your roofing project. Itd be wise to get at least 20 to account for mistakes and waste.

Plan For Waste Factor

The only roof that will generate no waste from cutting is that rare simple gable whose roof length is divisible by the 3-ft. length of a shingle. Other simple gable roofs will require cut shingles at the rakes. From there, the waste factor increases with every obstruction, such as a chimney, and with every hip or valley.

Laminated shingles typically generate less waste than three-tab shingles do because you dont have to maintain a cutout pattern, but its tricky to determine exactly how many square feet of shingles you will be able to salvage. Its best to plan your order using the same waste factor that you would use for three-tab shinglesat worst youll just have a couple of bundles to return.For a simple roof, I generally figure 1 percent as a waste factor. On a complex roof with open valleys, I add 5 percent and sometimes more. Theres no calculation you can use to determine the extra shingles youll need for waste. With experience estimating jobs, youll get a feel for how many extra shingles to order.

Waste is also generated when shingles are damaged, which is inevitable when youre moving shingles around a steep roof slope and some will slide off. You may be able to salvage part of the damaged shingle, but dont count on it. You can also waste shingles when you nail them improperly and have to remove them. You may drive nails too low in the exposure or fasten one off a control line.

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