Hip Roof Calculator
Enter your measurements
Extra to cover cuts, breakage, and mistakes.
Results
- Roof area1,476 sq ft
- Roofing squares14.76 squares
- Footprint1,200 sq ft
- Slope multiplier1.118
Estimated cost
per roofing square installed (asphalt)
Material range covers three-tab through mid-grade architectural shingles per roofing square; premium impact-resistant or designer shingles exceed this range. Installed price includes tear-off of one existing layer, underlayment, and hip-and-ridge cap; a hip roof's extra hip lines add some cap labor, and steeper pitches, added stories, or a second tear-off layer raise the cost further.
Estimate only — prices vary by region, supplier, and season. Get a local quote before buying.
A hip roof calculator tells you how much roofing material you need for a four-sided hip roof by converting your building's ground footprint and pitch into actual sloped surface area. Because all four sides slope inward on a hip roof, the geometry is simpler than it looks: a hip roof over a given footprint at a given pitch produces the same surface area as a gable roof of the same footprint and pitch. That means the math reduces to one multiplication — footprint times the slope multiplier for your pitch — making this the right roofing calculator for hip roof projects of any size. In practice, asphalt shingles are sold by the bundle (three bundles cover one roofing square, or 100 sq ft of roof surface), so converting area to squares is the essential output. A hip roof has four sloping faces that meet along hip lines plus a short central ridge, so it carries more linear feet of cap than a gable — plan for additional hip-and-ridge cap bundles beyond the field shingles. A 10–15 percent waste allowance is standard for a hip configuration; the calculator defaults to 12 percent to account for the angled cuts where shingle courses run into each diagonal hip.
How it’s calculated
Roof area = Footprint (Length × Width) × slope multiplier for the pitch. Squares = Roof area ÷ 100.
Worked example
For a building 40 ft long by 30 ft wide with a 6/12 pitch and a 12 percent waste factor, the calculator applies a slope multiplier of 1.118 to the 1,200 sq ft footprint, arriving at a roof area of 1,503 sq ft — or 15.03 roofing squares. That translates to roughly 45 bundles of three-tab or architectural field shingles, plus separate hip-and-ridge cap bundles that must be ordered on top of that figure.
Inputs
- Building length
- 40 ft
- Building width
- 30 ft
- Roof pitch (rise per 12)
- 6 /12
- Waste / overage
- 12 %
Result
- Roof area
- 1,503 sq ft
- Roofing squares
- 15.03 squares
- Footprint
- 1,200 sq ft
- Slope multiplier
- 1.118
- Estimated material cost
- $1,578 – $2,554
Materials & pricing near you
Asphalt shingles are sold by the bundle at lumberyards and big-box stores, with three bundles to a square. Three-tab shingles sit at the low end of the price range, architectural (dimensional) shingles dominate most residential re-roofs today, and premium designer or impact-resistant shingles sit at the top. Material prices in the South and Midwest tend to run lower than the Northeast, Pacific Coast, or mountain-state markets. Delivery minimums of 10–20 squares are common, and smaller orders sometimes carry a drop fee. Hip roofs need pre-formed hip-and-ridge cap, which is priced per bundle rather than by the square and is easy to forget when budgeting. No permit is universally required for a like-for-like shingle replacement, but many jurisdictions require one for a full tear-off or any structural deck repair — check with your local building department before starting.
Frequently asked questions
How many bundles of shingles do I need for a hip roof?
Multiply your total roofing squares by 3 to get field-shingle bundles. For the 15.03-square example above, that is about 45 bundles. Hip-and-ridge cap is separate: pre-formed cap bundles cover roughly 20–30 linear feet each (check the product), so measure every hip plus the central ridge on your plan, total the length, and divide by the bundle's coverage to get the cap bundles you need.
Why does a hip roof use the same area formula as a gable roof?
On a hip roof, the triangular end faces that replace a gable's vertical wall sit at the same pitch and cover the same horizontal run as the roof beside them. When you account for all four sloping faces, the total surface area equals the footprint times the pitch multiplier — identical to a gable over the same footprint. The added cost of a hip roof comes from the extra hip-and-ridge cap and the labor to cut and fit it, not from more field area.
What waste percentage should I use for a hip roof?
Most roofing contractors use 10–15 percent for a hip roof. Every shingle course that runs into a hip needs an angled cut, which generates more scrap than the straight courses on a gable. A 12 percent default is reasonable for a single-story home with clean lines; bump it toward 15 percent if you have dormers, valleys, or a steep pitch above 9/12, where cuts and breakage increase.
How do I measure my building footprint from the ground?
Walk the perimeter at grade and measure the exterior length and width, including any bump-outs or an attached garage that falls under the same roof plane. Do not measure up the slope — the calculator converts the flat footprint to sloped area using your pitch. If the building is L-shaped or otherwise irregular, break it into rectangles, run each section through the calculator, and add the squares together.