Glossary

Every term on a roof measurement report, defined

26 definitions — squares, pitch, hips and valleys, waste factor, take-off — each written to stand on its own. If a report says it, this page explains it.

ACDEFGHIMPRSUVWX
A
Azimuth — also: orientation, facing
Azimuth is the compass direction a roof plane faces, in degrees from north. It matters for solar layouts, snow load and weathering; reports carry it per plane. What is in a report
C
Confidence score — also: imagery quality score, data-confidence score
A confidence score is a rating some measurement providers attach to a report to show how much to trust it, usually driven by the quality and age of the imagery over the roof and how clearly the roof edges show. Roof Manager does not currently display a confidence score or imagery-quality score on its measurement reports: a member of our team reviews every report before it is released, and you can request a re-trace. What is in a reportFAQ
D
Drip edge
Drip edge is the metal strip installed along the eaves (and, on shingle roofs, the rakes) that directs water off the roof deck and into the gutter instead of behind the fascia. Roof Manager reports the eave footage and the rake footage as separate lines because they take different parts: on a tile roof the eave gets drip edge and eave closure while the rake gets rake tile or gable trim. What is in a report
E
Eave — also: eaves edge
An eave is the horizontal bottom edge of a roof plane where water runs off into the gutter. Eave length sets drip edge, starter strip, ice-and-water shield and gutter quantities. Roof Manager traces eaves as the perimeter of each roof section. What is in a report
F
Footprint area — also: projected area, plan area, flat area
Footprint area is the flat, top-down area a roof covers, as seen from directly above on a satellite image. It is always smaller than the real surface because slopes tilt away from the camera; it is corrected to sloped area using the pitch of each plane. What is in a report
G
Gable roof
A gable roof has two sloped planes meeting at a ridge, with a triangular wall (the gable) at each end. Its sloped edges are rakes; it has no hips. It is the simplest roof to measure and typically carries the lowest waste factor. See rake
H
Hip
A hip is the sloped outside corner where two roof planes meet, running from the ridge down to an outside corner of the eave. Hips are covered with cap shingles like ridges, and a hip roof has no gable ends. Reports list hip length separately from ridge length because both use cap material but hips are cut on a diagonal. What is in a reportFAQ
Hip roof
A hip roof slopes down on all four sides, so every edge at the top is a ridge or a hip and every bottom edge is an eave. Hip roofs need more cap material and more cutting than gable roofs, which raises the waste factor. See hip
I
Ice and water shield — also: ice & water, self-adhered underlayment
Ice and water shield is a self-adhering waterproof membrane applied at eaves, valleys and penetrations before shingles go on, to stop ice-dam and wind-driven-rain leaks. In Canada it is required by the National Building Code; reports size it from eave and valley lengths. What is in a report
M
Material take-off — also: take-off, bill of materials, BOM
A material take-off is the itemised list of materials and quantities a job needs: shingle bundles, underlayment rolls, starter, ridge cap, drip edge, ice-and-water shield and nails. Roof Manager builds it from the report’s areas and edge lengths with the waste factor applied. What is in a reportSample report
P
Pitch — also: slope, rise over run
Pitch is the steepness of a roof plane, written as inches of vertical rise per 12 inches of horizontal run: a 6/12 roof rises 6 inches per foot. Pitch drives the pitch factor, the waste factor, walkability and labour pricing. Roof Manager derives pitch per plane from elevation data and prints it on every segment. What is in a reportFAQ
Pitch factor — also: slope multiplier, pitch multiplier
The pitch factor is the multiplier that turns footprint area into sloped area for a given pitch: the square root of (rise² + 144) divided by 12. A 4/12 roof has a factor of 1.054, a 6/12 is 1.118, an 8/12 is 1.202 and a 12/12 is 1.414. What is in a report
R
Rake — also: gable edge, rake edge
A rake is the sloped edge of a roof plane at a gable end, running from the eave up to the ridge. Rakes take drip edge and, on many roofs, starter strip; they are measured separately from eaves because they are cut on the slope. What is in a report
Ridge
A ridge is the horizontal line where two roof planes meet at their highest point. Ridge length determines ridge cap and ridge vent quantities. Reports list total ridge length in linear feet. What is in a report
Ridge cap — also: hip and ridge shingles, cap shingles
Ridge cap is the shingle material that covers ridges and hips. It is ordered by the total ridge length plus hip length on the report, in linear feet or bundles. What is in a report
Roof measurement report
A roof measurement report is the document a contractor or adjuster orders before quoting: total footprint and sloped area, pitch per plane, the length of every ridge, hip, valley, eave, rake and wall flashing, an annotated aerial diagram and a material take-off. See a real one at /sample-report. What is in a reportSample reportPricing
Roof plane — also: facet, roof face, segment
A roof plane is one flat, sloped surface of a roof, bounded by ridges, hips, valleys, eaves and rakes. A simple gable roof has two planes; a complex roof can have twenty or more. Reports list each plane’s area and pitch. What is in a report
Roofing square — also: square, SQ
A roofing square is 100 square feet of roof surface. Roofers price, order and quote in squares: a 2,400 sq ft roof is 24 squares before waste. Roof Manager reports state the sloped (pitch-corrected) area in both square feet and squares. What is in a reportFAQ
S
Satellite roof measurement — also: aerial roof measurement, remote roof measurement
Satellite roof measurement is measuring a roof from high-resolution overhead imagery instead of climbing it: the roof outline and every ridge, hip, valley, eave and rake are traced on the image, the pitch is set for each roof plane, and a geodesic engine computes areas and lengths. At Roof Manager a member of our team does the tracing and a person reviews every report. On properties with high-quality imagery, Roof Manager measurements can achieve 98.5% accuracy against an on-roof tape measure. Accuracy depends on the quality and visibility of the available imagery. Roof Manager delivers a report in 1–3 hours for $10 CAD after 2 free reports. How it worksWhat is in a reportSample report
Sloped area — also: pitch-corrected area, true area, surface area
Sloped area is the true surface area of the roof after each plane’s footprint is multiplied by its pitch factor. It is the number materials are ordered against, and the headline figure on a Roof Manager report. What is in a reportFAQ
Starter strip — also: starter shingles
Starter strip is the first course of shingle material laid along the eaves (and often the rakes) under the first visible course, sealing the edge against wind uplift. It is ordered by eave-plus-rake length. What is in a report
Step flashing — also: wall flashing, sidewall flashing
Step flashing is the overlapping L-shaped metal pieces installed where a roof plane meets a vertical wall, such as a chimney side or a second-storey wall. Reports measure roof-to-wall lengths in linear feet so flashing can be ordered. What is in a report
U
Underlayment
Underlayment is the water-resistant sheet (synthetic or felt) laid over the roof deck under the shingles. It is ordered by sloped area, so a roof’s pitch-corrected square footage sets the number of rolls. What is in a report
V
Valley
A valley is the sloped inside corner where two roof planes meet and channel water downward, the mirror image of a hip. Valleys need underlayment or metal valley flashing along their full length, so reports measure them in linear feet. What is in a reportFAQ
W
Waste factor — also: waste percentage, waste allowance
The waste factor is the percentage added to the measured sloped area to cover cut-offs, overlaps and mistakes. Simple gable roofs run 10–12%; cut-up roofs with many hips and valleys run 15–20%. Roof Manager reports carry a configurable waste factor and show material quantities with it applied. What is in a reportFAQBlog post
X
Xactimate F9 — also: Xactimate roof line items
Xactimate F9 is the roofing section of Xactimate, the estimating software insurance adjusters use, where roof area, pitch and edge lengths are entered as line items. A measurement report whose sloped area, pitch and ridge/hip/valley/eave/rake lengths map onto those fields can be attached to a storm, hail or hurricane claim. What is in a reportFAQ

See every one of these on the sample report

Open the sample report to see squares, pitch, every edge length and the take-off laid out — or order one on a roof you already know. 2 free reports on signup, no credit card required.

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