What is a Roofing Square?

A roofing square is a standard unit used in the roofing industry to measure roof size and estimate material needs. One roofing square covers 100 square feet, or a 10-foot by 10-foot area.

How to Calculate Roofing Squares

Measure Your Roof

• Break the roof into sections.
• Measure each section’s length and width in feet.
• Multiply length by width to get the square footage for each section.
• Add all sections together for the total square footage.

Divide by 100

• Divide the total square footage by 100 to get the number of roofing squares.
• Example: A roof measuring 2,000 square feet = 20 roofing squares.

But roof measurements aren’t always as simple as length × width. Let’s look at why roofing squares are so useful.

Roofs are not flat like floor plans. Roofs with complex shapes, multiple planes, and varying pitches can cover more surface area than a simple footprint.

Using roofing squares makes it easier to estimate total material requirements, minimizing errors and waste.

Additionally, roofing squares account for roof slope (pitch), which impacts the amount of materials needed. Steeper roofs have more surface area, even if the building’s footprint is the same. For example, a high-pitched roof will require more materials than a flat roof of the same base size.

Example: Roof Pitch Impact

A house with a 2,000 square foot base footprint (length × width).

If it has a low slope, use a pitch factor of 1.07:

• 2,000 × 1.07 = 2,140 square feet
• 2,140 ÷ 100 = 21.4 roofing squares

If it has a high pitch, use a factor of 1.36:

• 2,000 × 1.36 = 2,720 square feet
• 2,720 ÷ 100 = 27.2 roofing squares

This example shows how the pitch can increase the material needed by over 25%!

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