How to make a calculation of the angle of the roof

Determining a roof’s angle is essential to guaranteeing its stability and effectiveness in discharging snow and rain. The angle, also known as the roof pitch or slope, establishes the steepness of the roof’s ascent from its base to its summit. This measurement is crucial for determining drainage requirements, choosing roofing materials, and even taking aesthetics into account.

The roof’s vertical rise (height) and horizontal run (width) are the two essential measurements needed to determine the roof angle. Typically, these measurements are made from the roof’s highest point to its lowest edge. Once you have these measurements, you can use the arctangent function in basic trigonometry to calculate the angle. With the aid of this function, an angle measurement—usually given in degrees—can be converted from the rise and run.

It’s critical to comprehend why the roof angle is calculated. For example, a steeper pitch can give more attic space and more efficiently shed snow and rain. On the other hand, local building codes or aesthetic considerations may dictate the use of a shallower pitch. The kind of roofing material that is appropriate for the local climate is also influenced by the angle. For instance, steeper roofs may be necessary in areas with heavy snowfall to avoid snow accumulation.

The roof angle can be measured and calculated with the help of several tools. These include even more basic instruments like a level and a protractor, as well as smartphone apps and digital angle finders. Precision is essential because even small computation errors can cause serious problems when building or maintaining a roof. Homeowners and builders can make sure their roofs are long-lasting and functional by knowing how to compute the roof angle accurately.

"Knowing the pitch of your roof will help you determine its angle for both practical and aesthetic reasons. This article provides clear instructions on how to calculate roof pitch using easy-to-follow methods. Homeowners and builders can ensure longevity and efficiency while improving the overall appearance of the building by making informed decisions about roof design, materials, and maintenance by knowing the pitch angle."

Calculation of the slope of the roof of an already built house

Slope inclination angle is typically taken into consideration. due to two factors.

First of all, nobody can promise that the builders will precisely withstand all sizes. And sometimes there can be a big difference.

Second, if the home is made of wood, it will unavoidably be occupied in the initial years following construction. Additionally, as the roof shrinks, its angle of inclination changes as well. This change is difficult to calculate because the shrinkage can range from 1% to 5% or more.

Consequently, it is best to ignore the documentation if you need to know the roof’s slope.

Why do you even need to know the angle of the roof

To determine the entire load on the roof’s slope, one must know the angle of inclination. Additionally, the slope determines a number of subtleties, such as how often crates are used, how big overlaps are, how the arrangement is approached, and whether or not it is possible to use a particular type of material on a slope that is too steep or, on the other hand, too gentle.

This indicates that the existing house’s roof angle must be calculated if your objective is:

  1. Roof overlap with heavier roofing material. The weight difference between different types of roofing reaches 45 kg/m 2, and this is a significant additional load on the rafter system.
  2. Cold roof insulation. This is also an additional weight, although the insulation itself usually plays a role, but a crate for it.
  3. Strengthening the rafter system. If such a necessity in principle arose, then the rafter system no longer holds the load. Therefore, you need to re -make a complete calculation of the rafter system in order to understand what exactly and how to fix it.
  4. Installation on the roof of solar batteries. Depending on the type and performance, the solar panels weigh from 10 to 15 kg per 1 m 2 . Not every roof will withstand such an increase in static load.

Put simply, knowing the angle of the roof’s inclination is nearly always necessary for roof repairs. particularly if they are major repairs.

It is necessary to compute an additional inclination angle in order to verify the builders’ work. Naturally, if you do not wish to add to the army of home owners who are merely listed as numbers in the project but who are, in fact, entirely different.

How to find out the angle of inclination of the roof of the existing house

There are two methods for determining the sizes of existing structures: measuring them or, in the event that measuring the tool is not required, calculation.

Instrumental ways

The roof’s tilt angle is measured using two different kinds of instruments:

Uglomers are instruments made up of two movable planks attached to one side. One of the strips is pressed to the rafters’ lower surface, and the other is pressed to the skate, or rack, where the rafter leg rests, to determine the roof’s slope. This is done seven or eight times using different rafters because it is ineffective to determine the roof angle based just on one dimension—the width of non-captive boards, which are what are typically used as rafters—as this can vary by as much as ten to fifteen millimeters. And this is along the length of one board, not in between.

The measurements that provided the largest and smallest corners are not taken into consideration in order to calculate the angle of tilt of the roof as precisely as possible; instead, the average value is calculated for the remaining corners. For instance, after taking eight measurements of the slope, you obtained the following values:

Slurry, in contrast, is exclusively electronic. Their foundation consists of linen sensors that gauge the slope in relation to the earth’s gravitational field. As a result, the slopes are far more precise and simpler to use—all you have to do is place the device on the rafters to determine the slope’s angle. The slope can be pressed to the lower portion of the rafter leg if the roofing has already closed the rafter system, but in this scenario, the measurement accuracy will be below.

Settlement methods

Measuring the slope of the slopes won’t be difficult if you have an angle or slope. But without these instruments, how can one determine the roof’s angle of inclination? Here, geometry proves to be useful.

Any complexity’s roof can be simply depicted as a combination of rectangular triangles, where:

  • The slope of the roof is the hypotenuse of the triangle;
  • roof height – one of the legs;
  • The horizontal distance between the roof skate and the extreme point of the slope of the slope is the second cattle.

As a result, you must measure the height of the roof using an ordinary roulette h to the skate’s top point and the distance between the skate and the cornice overhang L in order to determine the slope of the roof. Subsequently, the α slope It’s regarded as an easy formula:

Thus, you will obtain the slope’s angle of inclination expressed as a percentage. For instance, the slope will be 40% if the roof is 4 meters high and there is 10 meters separating it from the cornice.

Knowing the slope in percentage is not always sufficient because many construction standards specify the values in degrees. As a consequence, after computing, you must convert the resultant value into degrees. Additionally, there is no straightforward formula for this because the dependence is nonlinear. But there is a straightforward plan:

If the value of the roof’s inclination is known in percentage terms, the diagram illustrates how to calculate the angle of inclination in degrees. To accomplish this, determine which corner of a vertical scale the correct value in a percentage corresponds to the transport.

How to calculate the roof slope of the house

I worked out the completed home. We will now discuss how to determine the roof’s slope in degrees if you are involved in its design. To be more exact, pick up rather than even calculate; however, more on that later.

Calculation of constant load on the slope of the roof

Therefore, you must first gather constant loads on the roof in order to calculate the required angle of inclination of the roof slope. In other words, calculate the combined weight of the roof pie and the roof elements per square meter. Weight is considered:

  • internal and external crate;
  • rafters;
  • insulation;
  • interior decoration;
  • roofing;
  • attic windows and light tunnels with salary;
  • drains;
  • lightning protection;
  • equipment based on the rafter system: satellite and television antennas, solar panels and collectors, aerators;
  • roofing elements: snow retainers, transitional bridges, stairs.

Since the weight of vapor barriers and waterproofing is so small in relation to the mass of other components, it is typically ignored.

Every roof component’s weight is determined using a formula based on one square meter. For instance, only four meter bars will make up one meter two if the crate is constructed from a 50 × 50 mm beam that is fixed with a 200 mm step. Subsequently, the total weight of all the components is calculated to determine a steady load on the roof.

Calculation of variable loads

The temporary loads must then be computed using the standard SP 20.13330.2016 "Loads and influences." This typically only applies to wind load and snow for private residences (see sections 10 and 11 of the document).

Snow load on the roof

The following formula determines the snow load:

SG stands for the snow cover’s standard weight on a horizontal surface. It is equivalent, depending on the construction site:

In the event of an excessively snowy winter, a substantial standard load is typically required to support the roof of a construction site situated on the edge of two distinct snow areas.

The second component of the formula μ is a coefficient that is contingent upon the roof’s form and inclination. It enables you to convert the weight of a load on an inclined slope into the weight of the snow cover on a horizontal plane. Less μ, up to 0, the greater the roof’s angle.

Wind load on the roof

Private home roofs typically experience far less wind load than snowfall. However, it cannot be disregarded because it still nearly always exceeds 10 kg/m 2 and is also dependent on the roof’s angle of inclination.

Using the following formula, calculate the wind load Wm:

W0 is the standard wind load. Similar to snow, it varies depending on the building site:

As you can see, the wind load is measured in kPa units rather than KN/m2, as is the case with snow. This is just two distinct labels for the same value, not an error: One kPa is equal to one kN/m^2.

The coefficient, k (zE), is contingent upon the building’s height and the nature of the surrounding area.

20.13330.2016 is the total in the joint venture. There are three kinds of terrain:

  • A – open terrain: steppes, deserts, semi -deserts, fields, coasts of rivers, lakes and seas without barriers, a city with loose buildings and a height of buildings less than 10 m;
  • IN – an area that is evenly covered with obstacles with a height of more than 10 m: urban areas, forests.
  • WITH – cities with dense buildings, in which there are buildings with a height of more than 25 m.

The table below shows the values of the coefficients k (zE) for various heights:

In other words, the building standards state that a house’s roof that is gentle (less than 30 °) acts as the same snow load as a flat surface. The snow load cannot be included in the calculations at all if the slopes are steep (above 60 °). All of the angles’ values between these extreme points allow for some maneuvering in the slope’s selection, so long as the slopes are sufficiently tilted to significantly reduce the snow load while also keeping the roof from being overly steep.

We provide an example of how to calculate the roof’s inclination angle in degrees while accounting for the snow load. Consider the initial data that follows:

  1. The construction region is the suburbs of Kazan, this is the fourth snowy district with SG = 2.0 kN/m 2 .
  2. The total constant load on the roof is 50 kg/m 2 .
  3. The rafter system can withstand a load of 250 kg/m 2 .

At μ = 1, we compute the snow load.

You must multiply KN/m 2 by 101.97 in order to convert it to kgf/m 2. There will be 203.94 kg/m 2 of snow in total. Even without accounting for the wind load, the place with a constant load yields 253.94 kg/m 2, which is more than the rafter system can handle. In order to lessen the load, the angle must be increased.

In this instance, how can the roof’s angle of inclination be determined? After deducting the constant load from the rafter system’s bearing capacity, we arrive at 200 kg/m 2. To avoid performing multiple calculations of the minimum slope, we will consider the reserve on the wind load right away (20 kg/m 2, totaling 180 kg/m 2).

If you plan to clean the snow-covered roof in the winter, you should also account for one person’s weight; sixty kilograms should be sufficient. The normative snow cover actually only occurs once every few decades, which makes it incredibly uncommon. Because of this, a person who weighs more won’t damage the roof. This point load is human weight; as such, it is not dispersed throughout the roof but rather is included in the weight by 1 m 2 "as it is."

Our result, after deducting everything, is 120 kg/m 2. This is the highest load a snow cap on a slope is capable of supporting. Given this, we will determine what should be μ before calculating the angle of the roof slope:

We now enter this value into the formula to determine the slope’s minimum angle of inclination:

In total, the roof slopes must be adjusted to equal 42.3 ° or more in order to meet the bearing capacity restriction. To ensure a margin of safety, it is preferable to take 45°. The mono load at a 45-degree slope is equal to:

The predominant direction of the wind determines the coefficient C, which is used to calculate the wind load for a single-sloping roof.

In the event that the wind is blowing into the roof slope, the coefficient C Remove from the surface:

The diagram shows a gable roof, but it can also be used to combine the wall and horse in a single-toe roof. The horse and a leeward wall are combined in the first scheme, and in the second, the horse is separated from everyone, so the computations are unaffected.

The wind load calculation for each section of the roof should theoretically be done independently. Additionally, they do this for sizable commercial, industrial, and public buildings. However, as this is not sensible for private residences, the largest coefficient—or the smallest, if it is negative—is actually taken from the table line that has the desired angle.

In this instance, the coefficient C should be taken to be equal to 0.7 and k (zE) – 0.65 because the house is situated in an area with low, loose buildings (type of terrain B) and is higher than five meters but not more than ten meters. Given that Kazan is situated in the second wind area, the normative wind load is 0.3 kPa. The wind load will therefore be equal to:

Prior to determining the roof’s angle of inclination based on the maximum snow load, we placed a reserve equal to 20 kg/m 2 on a windbreaker. There’s no need to recalculate the slope because the calculated load is less than this reserve. It will be necessary to go back a few steps and account for the previously calculated number if the wind load at this point exceeds the value specified in the calculation.

How to calculate the slope of the roof with two slopes

The gable roof’s slope is computed nearly identically. When calculating snow load, there aren’t many subtleties.

Because of the horse, the gable roof frequently has uneven snow distribution. The wind blows snow from one slope, reducing its load, but the blowing portion settles on the second ramp, increasing the snow cover’s normative thickness. Consequently, two coefficients for a single roof appear simultaneously μ, as shown in the diagram:

If the roof slope is between 15 ° and 40 °, this effect will become apparent. In this instance, multiplying the coefficient μ by 1.25 suffices. That is, if the slope is less than 30 °, it will equal 1.25; otherwise, the calculation formula will slightly vary:

Μ with a coefficient of 0.75 typically do not take for private residences. First of all, in order to accomplish this, the wind must always blow from one side only and never change course during the winter. Second, even if the first condition holds true in your area, the project will still need to lay an increased snow load across the whole roof because symmetric gable roofs have symmetric rafter systems.

When aeration devices or transition bridges are installed along the skate of a relatively gentle roof, the second feature of calculating the load on the gable roof and its slope applies. This is not a very good solution because the following scheme is used to calculate the snow load in this scenario:

In other words, using the example from the previous case as a guide, the coefficient μ must be 1.4. Alternately, construct a roof whose slope stays outside of the range: Within the range of 10 ° ≤ α ≤ 30 °, this scheme functions.

There are no gable roof features taken into account when calculating wind load for private homes; instead, everything is treated the same as for a single-to-shuttle.

How to calculate the slope of the roof for a specific roofing

The roof’s allowable angle is influenced by both the roofing and the estimated load. The majority of roofing materials have maximum angle of inclination restrictions and cannot be installed on very gently sloping roofs.

Consequently, you must determine whether it is feasible to install the chosen type of roofing on a slope with such a slope after calculating the minimum angle by load. The following values are provided in the table for popular materials:

Type of roofing Minimum slope of the slope of the roof The maximum slope of the slope of the roof
Slate 25 ° 45 °
Ondulin 5 ° No
Bitumen tile 6 ° No
Falts roof 7 ° No
Ceramic tiles 22 ° (classics) and 30 ° (beaver tail) 60 °
Metal tile 9 ° No
Corrugated board 8-10 ° No
Cement-sand tiles 22-30 ° 60 °

The majority of roofing materials can be installed on slopes that are less steep than what the table shows. However, this is costly because there is a high likelihood of leaks in this instance, necessitating significant overflows and further roof sealing. And this isn’t just additional joint sealing; underneath the roofing, a second roof consisting of rolled bitumen or a premium waterproofing membrane with glued joints is actually required.

Furthermore, similar to self-supporting roofing materials, corrugated board has a maximum allowable load that varies based on the brand and spacing between the bars of the crate. This means that if this material is going to be used to cover the roof, you will need to take into account the roofing material’s weight tolerance when calculating the snow and wind load, in addition to the rafter system’s bearing capacity.

To ensure adequate drainage and stability against weather, a roof’s angle must be calculated. The angle—also referred to as the roof pitch—determines the roof’s slope angle. Measure the roof’s rise and run in order to determine this angle. The run is the horizontal distance between the ends of the roof, and the rise is the vertical distance between the top and base of the roof.

Once you know these values, you can use a straightforward trigonometric formula to find the angle. To find the angle, use the arctangent function (arctan). In particular, θ = arctan(rise / run) can be used to find the roof pitch angle θ. This angle indicates how many inches the roof rises vertically for every 12 inches it extends horizontally. It is commonly expressed in degrees or as a ratio, such as 1:12 or 6:12.

It’s important to know your roof’s angle for a number of reasons. First off, it has a direct impact on the kind and performance of roofing materials that you can use. More water is shed by steeper roofs, which lowers the possibility of leaks and water damage. Roof pitch also affects the architectural style and general appearance of your house. Roof pitches may need to vary depending on the region and climate in order to account for local weather conditions, such as heavy snowfall or intense rainfall.

Last but not least, being able to compute the roof angle gives contractors and homeowners the ability to make knowledgeable choices regarding roof upkeep and design. When building a new roof or evaluating the state of an old one, knowing the pitch angle will guarantee that your roof will continue to look good and perform well for many years to come.

Video on the topic

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The connection of the angle of the roof and the amount of snow on it.

Video lesson on the height and tilt of the roof

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Alexandra Fedorova

Journalist, author of articles on construction and repair. I will help you understand the complex issues related to the choice and installation of the roof.

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