Skip to content

Roofing Calculator

Calculate roof area, shingles, bundles, underlayment rolls, and ridge cap pieces based on roof pitch. Includes waste percentage and cost estimates.

Roof details

Updates as you type
Mode
What do you want to solve for? ?
Roof shape
Shape ?
Two sloping sides meeting at a ridge.
Material
Roofing material ?
Footprint
Length ?
ft
104080120
Width ?
ft
104080120
Roof pitch
Pitch ?
Waste & cost
Waste % ?
%
0101525
Material cost ?
$ / sq ft
Labor ?
$ / sq
$0$250$500$800
Tear-off & disposal ?
Display (optional)
Currency

Formula

A = L × W × mpitch × mshape × ( 1 + w )
A
Total roof surface you need to order
L × W
Ground-level footprint of the building
mpitch
Pitch multiplier — √(1 + (rise/run)²). A 4/12 roof = 1.054; a 12/12 roof = 1.414.
mshape
Shape multiplier. Gable / hip / shed = 1.00; L-shape adds 8% for the valley.
w
Waste allowance (as a decimal) for cuts, mistakes, and spares
Worked example — your numbers
  1. Footprint L × W =
  2. Pitch multiplier mpitch =
  3. Shape multiplier mshape =
  4. Roof surface =
  5. With waste () =
  6. Material units =
Pitch-multiplier reference
PitchMultiplierAngleFeel
1/121.0034.8°Nearly flat
2/121.0149.5°Low slope
3/121.03114.0°Low slope
4/121.05418.4°Low / standard (walkable)
5/121.08322.6°Standard (walkable)
6/121.11826.6°Standard (walkable)
7/121.15830.3°Steep
8/121.20233.7°Steep
9/121.25036.9°Steep
10/121.30239.8°Very steep
11/121.35742.5°Very steep
12/121.41445.0°Very steep

We assume 3 shingle bundles per 100 sq ft square, 400 sq ft per underlayment roll, and 3 ft per ridge-cap piece. Metal panels, standing seam, and tile swap the primary unit but keep the same area math. The shape multiplier is a rough adjustment — a building with many valleys, dormers, or irregular wings will generate more waste in practice.