If this isn t practical then perform the same measurement on the underside of the roof.
Roof slope 3 12.
If a roof slope rises say 4 inches when measured 12 inches along the bottom of a horizontal roof truss the roof slope is said to be 4 12.
Roof pitch is a term describing how steep or flat your roof slope is.
The minimum roof pitch for shedding snow is around 30 or a 6 12 or 7 12 slope although this is not a definite as the material of your roof the direction of the snow and wind are some factors that can affect whether or not snow will slide as roofs of as little as 10 have been reported to shed snow.
Roof slopes are most commonly defined by the rise over run ratio.
What exactly is roof slope.
3 12 roof pitch angle 14 04 degrees.
Roof pitch designations are comprised of two numbers indicating a ratio.
For example if you measure 4 inches the pitch of your roof is 4 12.
Roof pitch defined and explained.
Roofers like to express the roof pitch ratio in inches and for simplicity they always use a run of 12 inches.
To express a slope of 1 3 as a roof pitch you would multiply by 4 4 to produce 12 in the denominator of the ratio.
A pitch over 9 12 is considered a steep slope roof between 2 12 and 4 12 is considered a low slope roof and less than 2 12 is considered a flat roof.
Image 1 12 to 12 12 roof pitch 7 12 pitch.
Roof pitch degree table.
The ratio can be indicated by a division slash separating the numbers such as 2 12 or 7 12.
Simply locate a roof rafter board place the end of the level against the bottom edge and measure from the 12 inch mark vertically to the bottom edge of the rafter.
The fraction 4 4 equals 1 so it doesn t change the value of the pitch and it produces a pitch of 4 12.
However from the wind uplift mitigation perspective a 7 12 roof slope can be considered as a two story building due to the higher overall steepness and profile of the roof.
The table below shows common roof pitches and the equivalent grade degrees and radians for each.
Or the colon can replace the slash as in 2 12 or 7 12.
Most roof s have a pitch in the 4 12 to 9 12 range.
Pitch is the term used to describe the angle slope or slant of your roof.
This will give you the rise over run or pitch.
A roof slope of 7 12 is also good and can provide the additional benefit of helping minimize the effects of wind driven rain.
If a roof rises 3 in a length of 12 this is 3 12 roof pitch.
We included a roof pitch chart below the 7 12 example image and the calculator below that.