Choosing your Roof Measurement Provider

There are many choices of roof measurement providers now. Just about every company offering services claims to be accurate, comprehensive and a great value. However, there are real and important differences between the services and you often can’t tell when to trust a roof measurement and when to avoid letting it represent your brand and influence your bid or insurance adjustment. An inaccurate report can cost you heavily:
- Under estimates - harm insurers reputation and cost roofers cash, job delays and reputation
- Over estimates - insurance adjusters lose reputation with insurers while roofers lose projects with non competitive bids.
- Lack of precision leads to higher labor costs and possibly delays and material shortages.

Actual slope in precise degrees

At Rooforders we strive to provide a complete report with the information needed to plan projects in any jurisdiction with any popular roofing system. Equally important, our 3D measurement process is the most rigorous in the industry resulting in precise measurements that can make a big difference in estimating a job accurately and not suffering the common consequences of using inaccurate roof measurement reports. Our measured error rate is very low. However, we always recommend that customers make on site observations before using measurements from any provider. If an error is found, Rooforders will rework our report at no additional cost.

All roof measurements can be made using Math skills commonly taught at High School level. By combining Geometry and Trigonometry any roof can be accurately measured if imagery from two or three different angles is available. At Rooforders we use these techniques to enter the dimensions of each roof facet into a 3D CAD system and when all facets combine and edges match we have a scale model of the actual roof that could actually be built by any roofer. We use 3D techniques to gather the data and measure the facets and store the data in a 3D model with the actual slope in precise degrees of every facet preserved in the roof model and reports. We are the only Roof Measurement company that uses this comprehensive yet old school approach.

Most providers give quick 2D rough estimates

Other providers use methods that involve quick approximations rather than precise measurements. Most roof measurement providers use 2D methodology. In essence this means they measure the visible outline of a roof from an overhead or orthogonal view. Then they guess at the pitch of the roof facet and use well known approximations to derive facet areas and interior measurements. The error rate for these methods is quite high as pitch is often wrong and even the ortho measurements can be imprecise. Anyone can use this method by combining free online resources such as Google Maps measurement tools. 2D providers have written their own software skins on top of Google Maps harnessing these free tools they include:
- EagleView 2D measurements
- EagleView quick squares
- RoofSnap
- Roofr
- iRoofing
- ACT
- Rooftop Ridge
- RoofScope

3D estimation techniques

Other services achieve higher accuracy by using 3D techniques to determine roof pitch more accurately. Having determined the slope of a roof facet they then assign a pitch value to the facet and use one mathematical value such as the center point of that pitch value to report roof measurements, even editing the observed measurements to conform. We call this methodology 2 ½ D rather than 3D because some of the painstakingly gathered 3D information is thrown away for expedience. The reports are roof approximations rather than accurate models. When you consider that there are 45 degrees for the first 12 pitch values and that very few roofs are actually built to pitch value center points, the loss of precision is almost 4 to 1 relative to Rooforders reports. Providers in this category include:
- EagleView 3D
- Hover

Affordability is also important.

Affordability is also important. At Rooforders as a fast growing provider with premium quality services we strive to win customer loyalty with the best balance of quality and price. At $25 for any residential report whether single or multi-family we offer pricing well below any but a few of the cheapest 2D service providers and far below the cost of the ‘premium grade’ 2 ½ D providers.

A deeper dive displays a key difference between Rooforders rigorous methodology and the approximation methods used by everyone else.

Note that the interior dormers include slopes varied by several degrees. Since all are in the range of 4 pitch the models from other roof surfaces will combine these three facets into one. Their math will use a single value such as 18.43 degrees rather than the actual 17 and 20 degrees. That difference in square footage is relatively minor. However, in most roofing systems the interior slope transition will require both flashing and starter tiles on either side of the transition. The cost to the roofer is obvious:
- Short on tiles
- Short on flashing
- More labor cost than expected.

Rooforders reports are estimated to cost about 0.3% of a typical roofing job. A major insurance company executive told us that our measurements are more accurate than having people climb the roofs. This surprising statement probably reflects the pressure adjusters are under to complete claims quickly and the risks involved with climbing roofs which have been damaged.

At Rooforders we strive to offer the best possible roof measurement service at affordable prices to help our customers achieve their goals faster and more efficiently. Don’t take too much risk with low accuracy services or spend more than needed, choose Rooforders.com today.