Standard Roof Tile Pitch

The roof pitch is described by the vertical rise divided by horizontal span.

Standard roof tile pitch.

This part is well known as slope in geometry tangent function or stair construction in trigonometry. A gable roof is a traditional triangle shaped roof that can range from a medium pitch to sharp angled roofs. What is the standard pitch for a roof. To calculate roof pitch take the lowest point of the roof and measure the amount of rise for every 12 inches of horizontal movement toward the highest point.

A frame roof is the sharpest gable style roof resembling the shape of the letter a. Traditionally a minimum roof pitch of 20 was recommended in bs 5534 but modern tiles and slates have now been designed for applications as low as 15. It is uncommon to find a roof below 15 but for those very low pitch applications there are interlocking clay pantiles available suitable for use down to 12 5. For example a roof that rises 3 inches for every 12 inches has a pitch of 3 12.

A low pitched roof is easier to put up and maintain but may show very little of its material at ground level. It is a traditional roof shape employed everywhere from tropical huts to nordic ski chalets. Although there is no single standard roof pitch used on all sloped roofs factors such as roofing materials and local climate help to determine the appropriate range of pitches for a given building. Roof pitch is a measurement of a roof s slope expressed as a ratio.

The british standard for tilling and slating provides specific guidance about double lapped slating where calculations and recommendations for pitch and lap of slate are based on.