Video Highlights
0:11 Tools you will need
0:18 How to measure the pitch
0:31 How to determine the rise
We have previously discussed measuring your roof pitch from on top of your roof, today I am going to go over measuring your roof pitch without even having to climb all the way on top of the roof. The tools I will be using are a square and a level.
To measure your roof pitch:
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Set your ladder on the side of your house so that you can safely access the down slope edge of the roof. You will not need to get on the roof for this step, just make sure that you can touch the edge of the roof from the ladder. As you face the house, the roof should slope up from the left to right, not away from you.
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Hold a framing square up against the roofline so that the long end of the “L” points toward the center of the roof and the short end points toward the ground. Essentially, you are forming a right triangle with the long and short sides of the framing square – the roof edge forms the third side.
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Position the framing square so that the long end meets the edge of the roof at the 12″ mark.
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Level the square horizontally.
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Read the measurement on the short end that is standing up vertically from the roof.
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:::Remember::: Rise over run. The rise is the measure on the vertical leg; the run is the 12″ measurement on the horizontal leg. So if the vertical measurement is 6, the roof has a 6/12 pitch.
Roof pitch relates to the slope and inclination angle of a roof in building construction. The primary purpose of a pitched roof is to redirect rainwater. In general, the pitch of the roof is proportional to the amount of precipitation. Houses in areas of low rainfall frequently have roofs of low pitch while those in areas of high rainfall and snow have steep roofs.
I hope you have found this information to be helpful and if you are still looking to learn more on class a chimney systems and how to install them, make sure that you view our helpful how-to videos and articles in our Chimney Pipe Learning Center.