What Kind Of Batteries Does A Roofing Calculator Need?

A roofing calculator is not a math calculator you stick on your roof. It's what those in the roofing industry use to figure out an estimate when you need a new roof. So, the only batteries you need to operate a roof calculator are your brains. Even when using an online roofing calculator, you still need to use your brain for accurate roof measurements.

How To Measure Your Roof: Rise and Run

Most roofs are sloped, so it might be harder to get an accurate measurement for your roofing calculator. So, you have a sloped roof. What do you do? Measure how much slope, or pitch, your roof has.

You'll need a long ladder. Bring a three-foot level and measuring tape with you. About a foot up your roof's lowest edge, stick one little side of the level onto your roof's side so that your leveling tool is the same angle as the ground. Get your measuring tape and figure out how long it is from your level's middle to the roof. Divide it by three if you're using a three foot level or two if you're using a two foot level. Write this down. You have now figured out your roof's rise.

Now get off the ladder and go up to the attic with the level and the measuring tape. Place the little edge of the level against an angled beam or gable. Your level should be sticking at an angle to the floor. Measure the distance from the middle of your level to the roof. Divide by two or three, depending on how long your level is. Write this down. You have the roof's run.

What all this rise and run business is that you need to find out how many inches of pitch does your roof tilt at in a flat foot? So you'll get answers like a pitch of 4 inches in a flat 12 inches, or 4 in 12. This is vital information for your roofing calculator.

There are also special tools you can buy to do all this for you, but that's all they do. You could also hire a roofer to do figure this out, but where's the fun in that?

Now What?

Divide the slope by 12 to get the total square feet that need re-roofing. With that figure, and knowing what roofing material you want, you can accurately estimate how much the cost of a new roof is going to be. Or, you can plug these figures into an online roofing calculator. You can, of course, hire somebody to do all this for you, but they will use the same roofing calculator method as the one described.