What this document is, and what it is not
A roof report is a measurement of the roof, delivered as a file: ESX for Xactimate®, XML for Symbility®, or a PDF that opens in any browser. It is ordered from the property address and lists the roof's area, the number of facets, the pitch, and the length of every ridge, hip, valley, rake, and eave.
It is not a damage report. It does not say whether hail hit the roof, whether a leak started at a nail pop, or whether the roof needs to be replaced. Those are judgment calls the adjuster or the contractor makes during the inspection. The report only answers 'how big is this roof and what shape is it,' the same question a tape measure and a pitch gauge would answer, just delivered faster and to a fixed format.
The numbers on the page, translated
| Term on the report | Plain-language meaning | Why it matters to you |
|---|---|---|
| Squares | 1 roofing square = 100 square feet of roof surface | This is the number materials and labor are priced against, not the footprint of the house. |
| Facets | Each flat plane of the roof, a simple gable has 2, a hip roof with dormers can have a dozen or more | More facets usually means more cutting, more waste, and more flashing detail, which is why two roofs of the same size can cost differently. |
| Predominant pitch | The slope of the main roof plane, written as rise over 12 (like 6/12) | Steeper pitches take more material for the same footprint and are often billed with a steep-slope labor add. |
| Ridges, hips, valleys | The lines where roof planes meet at the top, at an angle, or in a trough | These lengths drive how much ridge cap, hip flashing, and valley metal the job needs. |
| Rakes and eaves | The sloped edge (rake) and the horizontal edge (eave) of the roof | These lengths set the drip edge and starter-strip quantities. |
| Waste percentage | Extra material added to the measured area to cover cuts and overlap | It is normal for the ordered material total to be higher than the raw measured area; this line is why. |
Why the total is bigger than 'length times width'
The roof surface is longer than the footprint underneath it because it is tilted. The steeper the pitch, the more true surface area sits over the same ground space. That relationship has a fixed formula: pitch multiplier equals the square root of (rise squared plus run squared), divided by run.
Once you have the multiplier, roof area equals footprint area multiplied by the pitch multiplier, and squares equal that area divided by 100. A homeowner does not need to run the formula, but seeing it once explains why a 2,000 square foot footprint is never a 20-square roof once the pitch is factored in.
| Pitch | Multiplier (rise/run formula) | 2,000 sq ft footprint becomes |
|---|---|---|
| 4/12 | 1.054 | 2,108 sq ft, about 21.1 squares |
| 6/12 | 1.118 | 2,236 sq ft, about 22.4 squares |
| 8/12 | 1.202 | 2,404 sq ft, about 24.0 squares |
| 12/12 | 1.414 | 2,828 sq ft, about 28.3 squares |
Estimating platforms such as Xactimate® apply this same pitch-to-area relationship when they convert a footprint into a priced roof area; the report simply hands over the already-measured numbers instead of asking the platform to assume a pitch.
Handing the report to a homeowner: what to say
- Open with the total: 'Your roof measures out to about X squares, which is why the estimate is priced the way it is.'
- Explain facets in one line: 'Your roof has X separate planes; that's why there's more cutting and flashing than a simple roof this size would need.'
- Name the pitch and stop there: 'Your roof is a 6/12, moderately steep; that's factored into both the material count and the labor rate.'
- Point to the ridge, hip, and valley lines only if the homeowner asks about flashing or ridge cap cost specifically; most homeowners do not need these read aloud.
- Close with the boundary: 'This report measures the roof. It doesn't decide what caused the damage or what gets paid; that's a separate conversation with the adjuster.'
What the report deliberately leaves out
The report does not state a cause of loss, does not grade the condition of the roof covering, and does not recommend a repair or replacement. It also does not set the price; it sets the quantities that a price gets applied to. If a homeowner asks why the number on the report does not match the number on the estimate, the answer is almost always waste percentage, code items, or line items the estimator added on top of the raw measurement, not an error in the report itself.
If a measurement genuinely looks wrong, for example a garage counted as living space, the correction path is a revision request through the delivery email, not a second full order. Route that request to whoever placed the order.
Where to get one
For contractors who want to hand a homeowner a clean, address-based report rather than re-explaining a hand sketch, order a roof report by address and choose the PDF format for the homeowner copy and the ESX or XML format for the estimating platform. Published terms and formats are listed on the Sketch My Roof roof measurement reports facts page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does my roof report show more area than my house's footprint?
What is a facet, and why do I have so many?
Does the roof report decide whether my roof needs to be replaced?
Why doesn't the material total match the measured square footage?
Can I request a correction if something on the report looks wrong?
Sources
- Report formats: ESX for Xactimate®, XML for Symbility®, PDF; ordered by property address, no subscription, revisions available from the delivery email: Sketch My Roof roof measurement service facts (as of August 2026)
- Published residential formats and pricing referenced for homeowner-facing PDF and estimator-facing ESX/XML: Sketch My Roof residential order page (as of August 2026)
- Estimating platforms apply pitch factors to convert footprint measurements into priced roof area: Xactware Help Center (as of August 2026)
- Symbility® claims platform accepts structured measurement files as part of estimate workflow: CoreLogic Claims Documentation (as of August 2026)
