What Is Roofing Square?
A roofing square is 100 square feet of actual roof surface - the unit in which materials are ordered, labor is bid, and insurance scopes are written. Roof area always exceeds the home's footprint because of pitch and overhangs: a 2,000-square-foot single-story home commonly carries a 2,400-2,800-square-foot roof (24-28 squares) once slope multipliers are applied. Estimators add a waste factor - typically around 10 percent on simple gable roofs and 15 percent or more on cut-up roofs with hips and valleys - for cuts and overlaps. Understanding squares lets a homeowner compare bids on equal footing (a per-square price times a stated square count is auditable; a lump sum is not) and read an Xactimate scope, where quantities appear in squares. Satellite and aerial measurement reports are now standard and generally accurate within a few percent on typical homes.
Also Known As
These are the search terms and phrases that commonly refer to this topic, so you can find it however you describe it.
How Roofing Square Relates to Other Topics
A square is 100 square feet, and roof quotes are priced per square - so comparing two bids starts with confirming both measured the same square count and the same waste percentage, or the cheaper bid may just be the smaller measurement.
Xactimate prices roofs in squares plus a waste factor for cuts, valleys, and ridges - so when a contractor's measurement and the carrier's disagree, the argument is usually over squares and waste, not unit prices.
Squares measure roof surface, and pitch inflates surface: the same footprint gains roughly 12 percent of area at 6/12 and 25 percent at 9/12 - which is why a home's floor area never equals its roof size.
Questions about Roofing Square?
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