How a Roof Calculator Will Make Your Life Easier?

Roof Repair - Nov 21,2012 - No Comment

As a home-owner, a roof calculator will help you while trying to figure out the best way to arrive at a roofing estimate or plan your roof repair. You will be able to quickly and easily determine how much roofing material you need for a specific kind of roof using the roof calculator tool.

Most online roof calculator apps have a simple set of boxes to fill in with details. You will need to measure your roof and have details such as your roof area to plug into the appropriate fields. Since roofs are of different sizes and shapes, this can be a tricky task. You will need to take a series of measurements. If your roof is unusually shaped, try and break it down for measurement into squares, rectangles and triangles, and calculate the area using simple formulae.

Once you type this in and click a button, the script will automatically and instantly let you know how many bundles of shingles you may need to roof it, or how many rolls of roofing are required. If you plan to use roofing felt, then the computation will show how many rolls are necessary.

The size of a roof is presented in “squares”. A square is 100 square feet. Shingles usually come in bundles that will roof one third of a square. This means if you have a roof of 10 squares, you will use approximately 30 bundles of shingles. Roofing felt rolls are available in strips of 3 feet in width and 36 feet in length, and will cover around 1 square.

While only a rough estimate, using a roof calculator will make it easy and fun to figure this out. And it beats the alternative of making a wild guess, or even getting started without a clue and then over-running your budget massively. If you are not still sure about how many tiles or shingles you will need, then contact an expert (or fill in a roof estimate form) and a person more experienced with these things can help you out.

Roof calculators have made things easier for D-I-Y roof repair enthusiasts. But roofing is usually better left in the hands of experts. Apart from knowing how best to handle difficult tasks and working under challenging environments (such as on sloping roofs), they are also able to get sizable discounts on materials and labor. A roof calculator will tell you how much material you will need. But if you calculate regular charges, and then compare them against what a professional can offer you, there will usually be major cost savings to enjoy.

How Does a Roof Calculator Work?

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Prices estimated by a roof calculator will be approximate, and depend upon geography, cost of living and real estate rates in your location. The kind of roofing contractors you hire for the project will also impact the projected cost, as will the need for insurance and the quality of materials used.

Pricing estimates are usually averaged rates of regional estimates received from different parts of the country. The rates my differ by $30 to $50 a square depending on which state you live. The experience and skill level of your roofing contractor will also influence the estimate. Sometimes you’ll get a very cheap quote, but it may come from a contractor who is out of work and in urgent need of work. It’s also possible that such a contractor might be uninsured, increasing your risk as house owner.

New and inexperienced contractors will quote lesser rates as they gain work experience on the job. It may be that the contractor isn’t aware of actual costs and may be losing out on profit. But on the other hand, it could be that he’s using poor quality material or similarly inexperienced sub-contractors, which can lead to your roof leaking shortly after installation. A roof calculator can thus be a guard against getting cheated.

Limitations of a Roof Calculator

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Roof calculators are useful tools. But they are not infinitely powerful or remarkably accurate. Most roof calculators are planned to include all major kinds of roofing materials. Price ranges that are provided may have a small margin of error. Generic and specialty roofing will have variables that differ in cost across geographic locales, as well as based upon the kind of roof they will be used on. A degree of disparity between what you compute and what your roofing contractor presents to you is only to be expected.

The type of roofing to be installed will also skew the accuracy of a roof calculator. For instance, with shingle roofing a contractor may be able to use existing chimneys or flashing, while for metal roofing this will need to be removed and replaced. So the estimated costs calculated with a roof calculator will be off, because they cannot automatically factor in these variations.

Tear off costs will also differ by the type of roofing previously installed. Flat roofs cost more to tear down than shingle roofs. The process is more complicated for flat roofing, and disposal of the waste is another expense. So a generic roof calculator will be reasonably good at making roof estimates, but not 100% reliable in all respects.

Roof Replacement Calculator – Finding The Cost Of Replacing Roofs

Roof Shingles - Jun 27,2012 - No Comment

A roof replacement calculator helps find the approximate cost of replacing practically any residential roofing project. Remember that price of roofing changes with the type of roofing chosen, the area of roof, pitch of the roof and any complexities associated with the roof like dormers, chimneys, hips and so on. The more complex a roof the higher the cost of replacing it.

Factors Taken Into Consideration

The more difficult roofs need to be worked on by skilled professionals with specialized skills, experience. They need special tools, insurance to cover any liabilities and cover workers compensation claims. The roof replacement calculator usually takes into account all these factors when arriving at final approximate number.

Values To Enter

Here are the values that need to be fed into the roof replacement calculator – the roof area as measured from the ground, the pitch of the roof, the difficulty level of the roof, roofing material of choice, does the existing roof need to be removed and disposed. Using these number the tool gives a quote that will give you a general idea about what to expect when going for roof replacement.

Other Roofing Calculators Tools

There are several specialized tools to calculate the quantity of roofing materials to order, the roof pitch calculator, the roof area calculator and so on. These tools are available as apps on smart phones like iPhone and Android phones. These are available in the professional versions too and can be bought for a small fee. Using this tool you can pre-set roofing material prices, labor costs, roof difficulty options, number of skylights, chimneys and vents to get easy to access answers when at client location. These are great tools for roofing contractors who can instantly calculate the numbers and present it to the client for faster decision making.

A Professional’s Friend

The roof replacement calculator has many benefits especially for a roofer. They can expect increased sales due to the almost instantaneous roof estimation that you can provide – estimate any roofing job in just a few minutes after measuring dimensions and pitch of roof and give the client instant roof repair estimate. Plus it gives the roofer much useful information like total cost of roof materials needed for the project, cost of labor, estimate of roof area, length of roof ridge and hips if any.

The roof replacement calculator needs certain vital inputs from the roofer to compute the cost of roof replacement. The length and width of the roof have to be input in feet, the roof pitch (select from the options provided), enter the complexity of roof factor, (if it is a simple gable roof then complexity is stated as simple, if it has skylights or dormers, towers or any complicated shape then it is complex to very complex roof). Select from the provided menu to enter the value in the box provided, select the roofing material you wish to use and arrive at the value of the roofing price. It is simple to input different type of roofing material to compare the cost difference between different roofing types.

Removal And Disposal Costs

If your roof already has 2-3 layers of shingles on it, then you need to completely rip them off before installing the new roof. The rip off and disposal of old roofing material will cost you in labor and disposal to safe and designated disposal spots. This figures can also be computed using the roof replacement calculator at your disposal.

Assumptions Made

All the pricing figures given out by the roof replacement calculator is based on the assumption that you will employ a professional and trained roofer who follows all the safe and correct industry standards and follows the rules set down by local and building authorities. It assumes that your roofer has the required insurance and liability coverage for workers. It also assumes that the roofer uses all safety equipment when working on complex and steep roofs.

Using The Tool

To use the tool measure the length and breadth of the building. Make sure you take into account any overhang of the roof edges/eaves to get accurate floor area of the roof. Keep a pen and paper ready to note all the lengths and breadths that you measure. Better to sketch to rough scale the roof of your home and note all the measurements on it. Measure it all in feet. If you a low pitch roof where it is possible to walk on the sloped roof then you have to input “low” in the pitch box of the calculator, if the slope is medium risky, where you can walk on the roof but it can be risky then input medium in the roof replacement calculator, if it is too steep to walk in then input “steep” in the tool.

To estimate the complexity of the roof, again take a look at the roof and count the number of sides. If you have only two sides only then it is simple gable roof, if there are four sides then it is hip roof and it is considered complex which needs more roofing material and time to do than a gable roof. If you have lot of roofing elements like hips, chimneys, dormers etc then the complexity and wastage factor of roofing material also increases. So, the cost also increases for roof replacement.

When using the roof replacement calculator you need to keep in mind the location and the local prices of roofing materials and labor costs. You can pre-set these numbers and save it for use when at the client location.

Benefits of Roofing Cost Calculators

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Online roofing cost calculator scripts are growing increasingly popular. As smart phones with apps are ubiquitous, professionals are using them to help home owners with roofing cost calculations and estimates. And so developers are creating ever more effective and accurate tools and applications that can be downloaded onto mobile phones.

Roofing contractors can take these roofing cost calculator apps on site to the home or construction site and use them to compute estimates on the spot. This can be of incredible value in closing sales and convincing hesitant prospects to go ahead and undertake a project that might otherwise have been put off to later.

Home owners too benefit from having a roofing cost calculator handy with them while discussing deals with contractors. If you haven’t yet made up your mind about having the roof done, then running quick roof estimates can help give you an idea of what’s in store if you do. After all, you can never be too well informed.

Another article you must consider reading is “Roofing Cost Calculator – Find The Cost Of Roofing Using This Tool“

Roof Calculator – A Useful Online Tool For Roof Estimates

Roof Repair - Aug 01,2011 - No Comment

A quick and simple way to profit from a free online roof calculator is by employing it to generate roof estimates and compute roofing prices. No matter whether you’re installing an asphalt roof or one with clay tiles or a metal standing seam roof, you’ll first need to determine how much you may have to pay to have it built.

Free online tools like roof calculators are very useful for home owners and roofing professionals like contractors. A roof calculator can reliably estimate the cost of a roofing project when used correctly. You can input factors like roof materials, labor expenses involved in tearing down the current structure and getting rid of all the waste material, as well as the profit a roof contractor may expect to make. Using a roof calculator for budgeting purposes can be of great value to home owners looking to have a new roof fixed or a roof repair for leaks.

So Who Can Benefit From a Roof Calculator?

A roof calculator will come useful for home owners but also for many other roofing pros. People like house inspectors, insurance agents and adjustors, real estate salespersons and the kind use a roof calculator in their jobs. The tool lets them compute roof estimates quickly, and clients love them for the prompt response. Using a roof calculator is simple and fast. You just type in figures into the boxes, click a button, and the magic happens right under your eyes. That’s why roof calculators have caught on and there are many services that even give away a cellphone app that can be used anywhere.

Some savvy roofing contractors and services have created web based roof calculator tools that can be embedded on other websites of affiliates. This generates new leads for their roofing business through potential clients who use their calculators. For the owner of any roofing website, such a tool is helpful in engendering visitor loyalty and delighting their audience. This becomes a true win-win situation.

Roof Calculators Have Some Limitations

Roof calculators are indispensable tools for roofing professionals. But that doesn’t make them infallible or omnipotent. Many roof calculators are designed to cover most major types of roof materials. Prices that are calculated do vary slightly and have a small error rate. Generic and specialty roofing estimates will also differ a bit depending upon location and unique needs. A small degree of variation between what you compute using a roof calculator and the estimate presented to you by a roofing contractor is natural and to be expected.

There are many more ways to benefit from a roof calculator, and they are outlined in this short report that you can read here.