Roof Slope Vs Pitch

Remember slope is expressed as a ratio and in inches per foot.

Roof slope vs pitch.

Roof pitch or slope is a measure of vertical rise to horizontal run expressed in inches per foot. A roof that rises 4 inches for every 1 foot or 12 inches of run is said to have a 4 in 12 slope. This can be very effective for certain ranch styles porch rooftops or modern geometric rooftops. Roof slope expressed as rise.

Slope minimums for various roof coverings. If the rise is 6 inches for every 12 inches of run then the roof slope is 6 in 12 the slope can be expressed numerically as a ratio. Picking a low pitch or slope for your roof will give your rooftop a flatter more box like look. The pitch of the roof pertains more to the actual construction of the house whereas the slope is more relevant to the roofing of your house.

Because slope affects how water is shed from a roof surface and determines the limits for using asphalt shingles understanding how to measure the slope of a roof may be valuable to a home inspector. If the slope is 4 12 the pitch for the 24 foot span is 1 6. Last updated july 10 2020. Two most common methods 4 12 or 4 12 are used for marking the pitch of a roof.

Roof pitch is a term describing how steep or flat your roof slope is. The combination of two numbers are used to display or show the roof pitch. The slope ratio represents a certain amount of vertical rise for every 12 inches of horizontal run. A roof with the least pitch would be a flat roof.

To see what the degree equivalents are for standard rise in run roof pitches see our page quick reference. Other than the 45 roof slope which is 12 in 12 none of the standard roof pitches 5 in 12 6 in 12 etc are equal to a whole degree. You can assess this in two ways either as the roof pitch angles which the rafters make with the horizontal or the proportion between the run and the rise of the roof. Roof pitch refers to the slope which the rafter creates.

Pitch and slope do not mean the same thing. And pitch is a fraction derived by dividing the rise by the entire span. The following table shows the roof pitch rise in run equivalents for all roof slopes in degrees from 1 to 72. Slope is the ratio measured in inches per foot.

When someone remarks on the pitch of a roof they are referring to the angle slant or slope of your roof. If the pitch is 1 3 the slope is 8 12. Often you express roof pitch as the ratio between the rise and the run in the form of x 12. Plus since the low pitch requires fewer materials and less work than the steep pitch it comes at a lower cost.

Pitch is thus the ratio of the rise in inches to a 12 inch run and is often expressed using a semicolon for example 6 12.