This is part 2 of our Roof Pitch guide. In the first part, we’ve review what is a roof pitch and how tou can use it to measure and estimate roof size and roofing price.

Roof pitch is essentially a measurement of roof slope / roof steepness, and is used by US and Canadian Roofing contractors when measuring roofs.

Check out these two helpful guides, that can be of interest to roofers and homeowners alike:

• How To Measure a Roof
• How To Estimate Roofing Cost

How to calculate roof pitch using level and a tape measure:

To get the roof slope with a level, you will need to get up on the roof, or working of a ladder, place one end of the level so it touches the roof, and the other end is in the air, away from the roof surface. Make sure it is leveled horizontally. Now measure the distance between the level’s end which is in the air, and the roof bellow it, placing a tape measure straight down, until it touches the roof.

Let’s say the distance you get using the tape measure, between level and roof is 12 inches, and your level is 2 feet. Your roof pitch will be 12 in 24 or 6 in 12 (divide both numbers by to, to get to the 12″ base run). If you get 10″ rise in 24″ run, then your roof pitch is 5 in 12 or simply 5, and so on.
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The best phone for roofers is Samsung Galaxy Note – it has 5.3″ screen, stylus (S-pen) note taking, great camera, and it’s super fast! Watch this “quick” video to see how Galaxy Note stacks up against iPhone and HTC Inspire 4G, and how I use it in my daily roofing work (video is 10 minutes long):

Updated Jan 25, 2012 – Galaxy Note will be available on AT&T on Feb. 18 (rumored release date) for $299 + tax, with 2-years contract. Your monthly bill on AT&T will be over $100.

However, I recommend getting the unlocked European version, and using Galaxy Note on Straight Talk with a $45 Unlimited plan – unlimited minutes, 4G web and SMS text messages!

Straight Talk (ST) is essentially an AT&T network, so you get the same coverage and save at least $50 / month. To get Galaxy Note to work on Straight Talk, basically all you do is buy an ST Nokia e71 phone for $49, pull out the SIM card and put it into the UNLOCKED (European) Galaxy Note – and enjoy great cell coverage, speed and savings!

Read more details about this at the end of this article.

Why Roofing Contractors need Smart Phones:

In the 21 century, if you as a contractor cannot communicate with your clients, suppliers and employees in real time – and I don’t just mean phone calls – you are behind the curve, and your competition is beating you. You NEED a smart phone!

As for me, I felt the need for a true smart-phone ever since I became a roofer (no – not those ridiculous and useless HP / Compaq PDAs or Windows 6 phones). Since I am a geek and a roofer, I look at smart phones from a perspective of both – a roofing contractor and a phone geek. Three years ago I felt a real need for a smart phone.
Following a friend’s advice, I got a Nokia E71 on AT&T. Unfortunately, AT&T really crippled this phone and also the small non-touch screen limited it’s internet capabilities, making it rather useless for what I was looking for – an ultimate phone for full internet access, easy email communication, ability to send and receive pictures, PDF and DOC files (to review the roof blue prints and photos of roofs).

Two months later I got rid of Nokia and got an iPhone 3GS, which at the time met ALL my requirements and had REAL competition. Existing Android devices (at the time – summer 2009) were not ready for me. Later that year, when Nexus one came out, it pretty much matched the iPhone 3GS and surpassed it in some areas, but I was already under contract, and did not want/need to switch.

My iPhone 3GS and Inspire 4G side-by-side (both running our Roofing Calculator App)

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Restorative coatings are among the best solutions for advancing the life of your roof.

Why use roof coatings?

A fair amount of research has gone into the development of roof coatings. Several facts have come out of the research regarding their characteristics. One of the most desirable qualities is their ability to expand and contract with the roof, while staying intact. Another is their facility to deflect UV rays, the most influential environmental impact a roof has to endure, followed closely by excellent water repellent qualities. They seal the roof in a way that taped and mechanically fastened roof seams cannot.

Moreover, owners of buildings with flat roofs find themselves in dire circumstances when leaks occur. It’s often next to impossible to find a leak on a flat roof, because it’s not perfectly flat and there is no attic to reveal the location where water first penetrates the surface. The suggested solution lies in taking steps before leaks occur with these coatings, resulting in extending the life of the roof beyond its expected life cycle. It will also facilitate necessary replacement, as needed.
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This roof estimating guide is a continuation of our two-part series for roofing contractors, on how to measure and estimate roofing prices. See part one of this guide to learn how to measure a roof.

Calculating roofing materials and estimating roof prices:

For the purposes of this guide, I will use asphalt shingles as a default roofing material, but the same principals can be applied to a metal roof, slate, etc. Cedar shingles/shake will be slightly different as the waste factor is higher.

Calculating roofing materials First – you need to know how many sq. ft. or squares of shingles you will need. You should take your total roof square footage and divide it by a 100 – this will give you the number of roof squares. Round the number up to the nearest square. Most shingle roofs will have 5-10% waste factor, and if during roof installation you use most pieces, waste can be reduced to as little as 2-3 percent. If you have valleys / dormers and side-wall flashing, use 15 percent waste factor. See our roofing square guide, to learn how roofers and builders measure roofs.

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In our previous article, we reported on a large price increase for roofing shingles, that took place in 2011. Due to these price increases, the overall roof installation costs have also gone up, as roofing contractors have to pay more for the shingles and roofing accessories. We updated our main roofing calculator (which estimates overall roof installation price) and roofing shingles calculator, which estimates the cost of roofing materials and accessories needed to replace your roof (including shingles, roof underlayment, drip-edge, nails, ridge vent and ridge cap shingles, etc.).

We’ve already updated our roofing materials calculator about a week ago, and now we rolled out the update for the main roofing calculator.

Summary of price updates for Roofing Calculator:

Base installation price for 30 year architectural shingles went up by $25 per roofing square – this accounts for $19 increase in shingles prices and about $6 / square increase in accessories cost. Base price now is $275 per square, installed.

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It’s been widely reported and discussed on various roofing forums that roof shingles manufacturers are drastically raising the prices of their roofing shingles and accessories that go along. Some roofers report getting letters from their roofing suppliers that shingles prices are going up as much as 30%. Keep in mind that in the spring of every year, most roofing manufacturers raise their prices by 3-8% on average, so this new increase in the cost of roofing materials is something out of the ordinary.

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Most common roof leaks and how to fix them

Most small roof leaks can be fixed fairly inexpensively by yourself or if you hire a roofing contractor to do it for you. Most roof leaks are also very typical, so unless you have a really cut-up / complicated roof, finding and repairing a roof leak should not be a big deal.

A typical roof repair job will cost you about $50 in parts / material costs, plus your time and risk of falling off the roof. It will cost about $200-300 for you to hire a roofing contractor to repair these roof leaks, and there are roofing contractors that specialize in just roof repairs.

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Most homeowners do not start thinking about their roof until it starts leaking. It’s understandable, but if your roof is already leaking, and you can see it inside your house – it means that the roof has been slowly leaking for a while, and the damage is probably more extensive than what you see.

We understand that roofing is not the most exciting topic, and unless you are faced with certain roofing issues, you will not be much interested in roofing. However, once those roof issues arise, you will want to know as much about your roof issues as possible.

This is just the place for homeowners to learn about roofing!

In this Roofing Guide for Homeowners you will find information on how to prevent roof leaks if possible, how to deal with roof leaks, how to repair simple roof leaks, how to choose the longest lasting roofing materials for your home, how much a new roof should cost, how to choose a roofing contractor, and many other roof related topics. We separated this guide into three separate sections:

• Roof Leaks Prevention and Roof Repair
• Choosing Roofing Materials and a Roofing Contractor
• Roofing Prices Guide
• Miscellaneous Roofing Articles for homeowners

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Being a roofing contractor is both difficult and rewarding. However to be a successful roofing contractor, you need to take care of so many things all at the same time, that it often becomes overwhelming. Between fierce competition from established roofing outfits and illegal / uninsured contractors who drop the roofing prices for everybody, and rising roofing materials prices as well as other costs of doing business, you need to stay on top things, and ahead of your competition.

In this guide you will find many helpful resources and information, which can make your everyday tasks of running a roofing company, easier and more streamlined, so you can actually do the roofing part, and not spend all your time chasing dead leads, or getting a competitor’s roofing quote in your face, that is a half of yours, and wandering how you keep on loosing business, when your prices are more than fair.

Note – we recommend that you read the “roofing business marketing guide” in the new roofing contractors section, whether you are a seasoned roofing contractor or just starting out in the business, as it contains information that we used to make leads coming in without having to pay for them.

We’ve logically divided this roofing contractor’s guide into three sections (click on link to jump to desired section):

• Technology for roofing contractors – tools, software, social media, online marketing – these are all essential tools, that when implemented efficiently, will streamline your roofing business and allow you to concentrate on installing roofs.
• Info for new roofing contractor – from establishing your roofing company, to getting work, to running and managing the business – in this section you will find answers to many of your questions, which I had to learn through trial and error method, and you shouldn’t repeat many of my mistakes.
• Info for established roofing contractors – though you’ve been roofing for many years, there is always new tricks you can learn to make your business more profitable, and for some old school roofer, rejuvenate your company from stagnation. As they say, an old dog can always learn new tricks

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Roof pitch is an essential metric when it comes to choosing the right roofing materials and accessories for your new roof. Of course you will most often go with what’s aesthetically pleasing for you, and fits the budget. However, it is very important to consider the pitch of your roof, before making the decision on roofing materials.

Many roofing materials are designed for certain slope of the roof and will not work properly, if at all, if the correct roof pitch is not met. Most common example is with asphalt roofing shingles and most types of metal roofing, which are designed for a minimum of 3 in 12 pitch roofs.

Everything below the 3 roof pitch, is considered a low slope roof, and requires a special low-slope of flat roofing material, to work properly without any roof leaks. Therefore asphalt shingle roofs will not work on low-slope roofs, despite the fact that they are still getting installed in violation with manufacturer’s minimum roof pitch requirement, and thus voiding the warranty.

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