Roofing Shingle Calculator
Estimate shingles for a gable or hip roof from the house size and pitch, or from a known roof area. Includes starter strip, ridge cap, drip edge and nails.
How it's calculated
Roofing is ordered by the square, which is 100 sq ft of roof. The calculator adds the overhang to the house size, multiplies the plan area by the pitch multiplier to get the sloped area, then adds waste: about 10% for a gable and 15% for a hip.
Most architectural shingles come 3 bundles to the square. Starter strip runs along every eave and rake, at about 110 lin ft per bundle. Hip and ridge cap is figured at about 25 lin ft per bundle. Hip lengths are calculated from the run and the rise, not guessed.
Worked example
A 50 × 30 ft gable house with 12" overhangs and a 6/12 pitch has 52 × 32 × 1.118 = 1,860 sq ft of roof. With 10% waste that is 20.5 squares, or 62 bundles, plus 2 bundles of starter and 3 of ridge cap.
Field notes
- Count every valley, dormer and chimney as extra waste. Complicated roofs run 15–20%.
- Buy all bundles from the same lot to avoid color variation.
- Order a few bundles extra rather than paying for a second delivery.
- Check whether your shingle line has its own matching starter and cap product.
Common questions
- How many bundles of shingles are in a square?
- Three for most architectural and 3-tab shingles. Some heavy designer shingles run four or five.
- How much waste should I add for shingles?
- About 10% for a simple gable, 15% for a hip roof, and more for roofs with many valleys and dormers.
- How many squares is a 2,000 sq ft house?
- Roughly 25–30 squares for a one-story house, depending on pitch and overhang. Use the house size, not the living area.