What is roof pitch?
Roof pitch is a concept used by roofing contractors, architects and other building professionals to identify the slope or steepness of a roof. Roof pitch is measured in inches or units, using a 12 base or run of the roof compared to the rise of the roof. Using roof pitch greatly simplifies the process of estimating a roof, ordering roofing materials and choosing the right roofing product for each roof installation.
Roof pitch is similar to using degrees as a measure of the roof slope, and can be easily converted back and forth. However it is much more convenient for roofing contractors, builders, architects and roofing materials suppliers to use a roof pitch instead of degrees, which makes the whole process of building a house and installing a roof much simpler.
The concept of the roof pitch as a measure of roof slope is mostly used in the United States, UK, and in the former British colonies. The reason for this is that the main measuring units in these countries are inches, feet, yards, etc.
To explain it differently, think of the roof slope rising X number of inches for each 12 inches of horizontal run.
Roof Pitch multiplier table:
Roof pitch multipliers are basically a result of calculating the hypotenuse using the Pythagorean theorem. We provide this table for you to save time and not do the math. If you want, you can still verify these numbers yourself. To apply the roof pitch multiplier, just take the length of your gable side, and multiply it by the number corresponding to your roof’s pitch. This will give you the length of your gables (divided by two sides).
Roof Pitch Multipliers:
| 3 pitch – 1.03 | 4 pitch – 1.06 | 5 pitch – 1.085 |
| 6 pitch – 1.12 | 7 pitch – 1.16 | 8 pitch – 1.21 |
| 9 pitch – 1.25 | 10 pitch – 1.31 | 11 pitch – 1.36 |
| 12 pitch – 1.42 |
You can also use our handy Roof Pitch Calculator to quickly get your roof pitch measurement by entering roof dimensions (gable side) and roof rise (distance between the base of the roof and the peak of the roof). This calculator will also provide roof size and approximate cost to install asphalt shingles roof.
Why do you need to know the roof pitch?
Roof pitch, converted into pitch multipliers, helps roofing contractors / estimators measure the roof size and estimate roofing prices. Roofing estimators or homeowners are often not able to climb up on the roof or the roof is too steep or high up, and it is dangerous to measure sloped roof runs, such as length of the gable, from the roof. In this case the roof pitch is used to get an accurate estimate of real roof size without actually getting on the roof.
By knowing your roof’s pitch, you can easily estimate your roof size, and compare roof prices from different roofing contractors, as well as know how much the contractor is charging per square of roofing.
Read part 2 of this guide: How To Calculate Roof Pitch
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