by Martie Lownsberry

Created on: May 04, 2009

If you are considering have your home re roofed you are going to want to shop around for contractor who is the most experienced and can offer you the best deal. This probably means you will want to make some initial inquires and get a ball park figure as to what material and labor will cost. To do this you need to have at least a rough idea of the pitch of your roof. As pitch is a major factor in labor costs for re roofing your home. The steeper the pitch, the more time involved, and therefore the costlier the labor. So before you pick up that telephone and start trying to get any figures on how much your re roofing project is going to cost, you need to determine the pitch of your roof.

While measuring the pitch of your roof is actually a fairly easy task, most directions on how to do it are complicated and confusing, If you are like most people, your knowledge of construction in general is limited, and your knowledge of roofing is more so. So, I am going to explain how to measure the pitch of your roofs in terms that will be easy to understand.

The pitch of your roof is determined by how much it rises, for every 12 inches of run. I know that sounds complicated and I had a difficult time getting my mind around it too. But once you understand, it is quite simple. However, I discovered that understanding comes better with actual doing. So let me describe to you how to measure the pitch and you will see what I mean.

There are really two general ways to measure the pitch of you roof. One is from the ridge, the other is from the underside of the overhang. While measuring from the ridge will give you a general idea of your roofs pitch, it is less accurate and more dangerous that measuring the pitch from the overhang. The danger lies in the fact that to take this measurement you actually have to get on your roof and climb to the ridge itself. If your roof has a fairly steep pitch it can be hard going and of course climbing on a roof is never the safest thing to do. It is also less accurate as, their may be more than one layer of shingles on your roof which will make the measure of the pitch off for each layer of shingle.

So for both accuracy and safety sake, let me explain how to measure your roof from the overhang. You will need a ladder, a twelve inch level and a measuring tape. Go to the side of your house with the ridge is directly in front of you, and the roof angles off to either side. Place your ladder against the side of the house, near the lowest part of the

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