The five line types, defined
Eave: the horizontal edge at the low side of a roof plane, running along the fascia. Water sheds off the eave, which is why it is the edge that carries drip edge and the starter course.
Rake: the sloped edge that runs up a gable end, from the eave to the ridge. A rake is not horizontal like an eave and it is not a corner where two planes meet; it is the exposed edge of a single plane at a gable.
Hip: an external angle where two roof planes meet and rise together toward a ridge or peak. Hips slope upward from an eave corner. On a hip roof, every plane has a hip on each side instead of a gable rake.
Valley: an internal angle where two roof planes meet and slope downward toward each other, collecting and channeling water. A valley is the mirror of a hip: same sloped-line geometry, opposite drainage direction.
Ridge: the horizontal line at the very top of the roof where two planes meet at the peak. Hip roofs have shorter ridges than gable roofs of the same footprint because hips take up length that would otherwise be ridge.
Step flashing line (not always listed separately, but worth naming here): the line where a roof plane meets a vertical wall, chimney, or dormer sidewall. It is not one of the four classic line types, but it is measured the same way, in linear feet, and it drives its own line item.
Term, line item, unit
This is the mapping that matters when you are building or checking an estimate. Every one of these lengths comes off the report in linear feet (LF); none of them are converted to squares.
| Term | What it is | Line item it drives | Unit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eave | Low horizontal edge of a roof plane | Drip edge, starter course | LF |
| Rake | Sloped edge at a gable end | Drip edge (rake), starter on some specs | LF |
| Hip | External sloped line, two planes meeting upward | Ridge cap (hip and ridge cap is usually one combined line item) | LF |
| Valley | Internal sloped line, two planes draining together | Valley metal (open valley) or valley underlayment (closed/woven) | LF |
| Ridge | Horizontal peak line | Ridge cap (same combined line item as hip in most estimates) | LF |
| Step flashing line | Roof-to-wall or roof-to-chimney intersection | Step flashing | LF |
Ridge cap and hip cap are frequently priced as a single combined "hip and ridge cap" line in Xactimate® and Symbility®, but the report should still separate hip length from ridge length so you can check the total against the roof diagram. See the vendor's own line-item documentation for how your build labels the combined item; menus vary by version, verify in your build.
Why eave and rake get confused, and why it matters
Both eave and rake are edges of a single roof plane, and both are perimeter, which is why adjusters mix them up. The difference is orientation and what happens at that edge. An eave is horizontal and sheds water off the end; a rake is sloped and simply terminates the plane at a gable. Put drip edge quantity on the rake length when the field sheet actually measured eave length (or vice versa) and the total footage is close enough that it rarely gets caught, but the starter course only belongs at eaves, not rakes, so a rake-for-eave swap can add a starter line item that should not be there or drop one that should.
Hip and valley get confused for the mirror-image reason: both are sloped lines where two planes meet, and both use the same length formula off the report. The difference is drainage. If in doubt, check the roof diagram rendering, not just the number: hips point away from each other at the ridge, valleys point toward each other.
How pitch changes these lengths
Eave and ridge lengths are read straight from the footprint and are not affected by pitch, because both lines are horizontal. Rake, hip, and valley lengths are sloped lines, so their true length is longer than their horizontal run, and the amount longer depends on pitch. The standard formula is: pitch multiplier = square root of (rise squared + run squared), divided by run.
Apply that multiplier to the horizontal run of a rake, hip, or valley to get its true sloped length. The same multiplier is used to convert footprint area to roof area (area = footprint x multiplier), so a roof report that shows a higher multiplier for a steeper section will also show longer rake, hip, and valley lines on that section relative to its footprint.
| Pitch | Multiplier | 10 ft of horizontal run becomes |
|---|---|---|
| 4/12 | 1.054 | 10.54 ft of sloped line |
| 6/12 | 1.118 | 11.18 ft of sloped line |
| 8/12 | 1.202 | 12.02 ft of sloped line |
| 12/12 | 1.414 | 14.14 ft of sloped line |
Reading these lines on the delivered report
A roof measurement report totals each line type separately and states the pitch used for the multiplier, so you can trace any hip, valley, rake, or ridge figure back to a footprint run and a pitch. When the ESX imports into Xactimate®, or the XML imports into Symbility®, the roof diagrammer in each program carries the same line-type naming (eave, rake, hip, valley, ridge) so the imported lengths land against the matching line items without manual re-entry. Menus and exact import steps vary by version; verify the roof diagrammer behavior in your build against the vendor's own documentation.
Reports ordered through Sketch My Roof roof measurement reports label each of these line types on the diagram and in the totals, so the length you import matches the line item you are about to price. Desks estimating in Xactimate® can order directly through Xactimate® Integration ordering for Verisk™ workflows.
Checklist before you finalize the line items
- Confirm eave length only appears at horizontal, water-shedding edges, not at gable rakes
Swapping eave for rake misplaces the starter course, which is priced only at eaves on most specs.
- Confirm hip and valley totals match the diagram's drainage direction, not just the number
Two sloped lines of similar length can be a hip on one elevation and a valley on another; the line item and metal type differ.
- Check that ridge length excludes hip length where the report separates them
Combined hip-and-ridge cap line items still need an accurate total footage; double counting or omission changes the quantity.
- Verify step flashing length is captured wherever a roof plane meets a wall, chimney, or dormer
Step flashing is easy to miss because it is not one of the four named roof lines, but it is a distinct line item with its own unit cost.
- Note the pitch used for each section before checking rake, hip, or valley lengths against a hand estimate
The multiplier compounds; a wrong pitch assumption throws off every sloped-line length derived from that section's footprint.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between an eave and a rake?
Is a hip the same thing as a ridge?
Why does a valley need different treatment than a hip?
What unit are these lengths measured in?
Does pitch change the eave length too?
Sources
- Pitch multiplier formula: square root of (rise squared + run squared) divided by run, and resulting multipliers for 4/12, 6/12, 8/12, 12/12: Xactimate® official documentation, roof measurement and pitch reference (as of August 2026)
- Roof diagrammer line-type naming (eave, rake, hip, valley, ridge) and import behavior for ESX and XML files; menus vary by version: Symbility® / CoreLogic claims documentation (as of August 2026)
- Roof measurement reports label eave, rake, hip, valley, and ridge lengths on the diagram and totals for direct import: Sketch My Roof residential order page (as of August 2026)
- Xactimate® Integration ordering for Verisk™ desks: Sketch My Roof Verisk page (as of August 2026)
