October 13, 2015 DIY FYI: What is a Roofing Square?

We recently received this question from Sarah B. of Ann Arbor, MI:  

“My roofing contractor told me that the price estimate for my roof is based on the size of my roof, which is 11 square.  What does that mean?”

Answer:

In roofing lingo, the word “square” simply means 100 square feet, or 10 feet by 10 feet. This term is generally used to estimate the amount of materials that will be needed for the roof.  

Because of the large size of a roof, it is simply more convenient to use squares to measure it, rather than square feet when determining the amount of materials needed, such as shingles. Thus, a “square” of shingles equals 100 square feet of shingles.

The size of Sarah’s roof is 1100 square feet, or “11 square”. To determine how many square your own roof is, you would take the square footage and divide by 100. For example, if your roof is 1700 square feet, it is “17 square”.

by See Jane Drill, Copyright 2015, All Rights Reserved