How To Find Roof Pitch With Framing Square

How to use a framing square and its etched on tables to figure out roof slope rafter lengths.

How to find roof pitch with framing square.

To accurately calculate the area of your roof you must first determine its slope or pitch. A carpenter s framing square includes some tables stamped right into the tool itself. This will the first point of the rafter measurement line using the results of your rafter length calculation measure from this point along the rafter measurement. Roof pitch affects the actual area of the roof.

Thus a moderate 6 in 12 roof pitch means that the roof rises 6 inches vertically for every 12 horizontal inches it runs. Finding the pitch of a roof is simple with a speed square. Roof framing rafter layout. Find the unit rise say inches per foot of the roof on the top line in the framing square rafter table e g.

From one end of the rafter material using a speed square or framing square mark an x in 12 angle on the rafter and cut it measure down y height from the long point of the rafter cut and make a mark. This article explains how to make quick use of a framing square and its imprinted data to get some basic roof measurement data like roof pitch or slope rafter lengths and end cuts. Square guides are available at most hardware and home improvement centers. So if the pitch of your roof is 7 12 place one stair gauge on the vertical part of the framing square the tongue at the 7 inches 18 cm mark and place one stair gauge on the horizontal part of the framing square the body at the 12 inches 30 cm mark.

A 6 inch rise per foot. It affects walkability as well as drainage and roofs in areas of high rain or snowfall tend to have steeper pitches. Framing square guides are small inexpensive metal attachments to the framing square that are locked in position on the square s edges at the pitch and run dimensions to define the roof angle and make the repeated marking of the rafters much more efficient. How roof pitch is calculated.

Roof pitch is a determining factor for cost of the roof as well as the roof area and the type of materials used. Because of its compact size it is frequently used as a saw guide when cutting framing members as well as a layout tool for quick 45 and 90 degree cuts. The triangle shaped square was invented in 1925 by albert swanson to provide a quick accurate method for marking rafters.