How To Choose A Roof Pitch

Roof pitch is often expressed as a ratio between rise and run in the form of x 12.

How to choose a roof pitch.

Have a look at the shed roof designand shed roof constructionpages to see the construction stages for shed roofs of other pitches and types. To see how pitch impacts the look of a garage and changes cost click the design center button on our pole barn kits page. A roof pitch is the slant of a roof or how steep a roof s slope is. Roof pitch is simply the slopecreated by the rafter.

At that point measure down from the exposed butt end back to the roof surface. Will a new roof project accomplish this goal. Deciding on the correct roof pitch for your home very much depends on the style of house you are building or renovating and to a lesser extent your local area. Roof pitch refers to the amount of rise a roof has compared to the horizontal measurement of the roof called the run.

There are some pros and cons to high and low roof pitches. That is to say the roof pitch expressed as a ratio tells you how many inches the roof rises for every 12 inches of depth. Place the butt end of the level against the edge of the roof and extend it into the air balancing it until it becomes level. If the wind force is low the roof pitch may be 30 45 degrees.

So let s say a roof rises 6 inches for every 12 inches in depth towards the peak. Pulling it all together. The pitch of your roof is determined by the measurement of the vertical rise by the horizontal run. Let s clear things up.

The roof pitch or the slope of your structure s roof defines how many inches your roof rises for every 12 inches of horizontal space. Divide the results by the number of 12 inch segments in your level. If there is heavy snowfall in the area where the house is built during the cold season you should build a roof with a large angle of slope. Roof pitch is determined by ridges walls and rafters inside the roof.

Photo courtesy of certainteed corporation. On roofs with a high gradient the snow will not stay long. In this case a high roof is beyond competition. Choosing a new roof and materials.

Instead it requires professional plans and big structural changes to a house. Simply put lower roof pitches require less materials consequently they are more cost effective. From natural materials like slate and wood to manmade products such as asphalt sheet metal and plastic polymers there are more types and styles of roofing to choose from today than ever before. It can be assessed in two ways either as the angle the rafter makes with the horizontal or the proportion between the rise and the run of the roof.