ContractorHandbook

How Many Shingles for a 3,000 Square Foot House?

Roofing squares needed

36.9 squares

A 3,000 square foot footprint, 60 by 50, at a 6/12 pitch with ten percent waste.

It does not stop at a number.

When the figures look right, the roofing material list downloads as a real PDF with your business details on it, built inside your own browser. Nothing you type is uploaded anywhere.

12 in of runrise, inrafter linefootprintroof surfacefootprint x slope multiplier / 100 = squares
A roof is always bigger than the house under it, and how much bigger is right angle geometry rather than an allowance. Square the rise, add 144, take the root, divide by 12, and that multiplier turns a footprint into real surface area before any waste is added.

How that number is worked out

These are the figures this page was built with and every line the calculator produces from them. Change anything above and all of it moves.

  • Building length60 ft
  • Building width50 ft
  • Roof pitch, rise per 12 in6 /12
  • Waste allowance10 %
  • Ridge length, 0 if unknown60 ft

Roofing squares needed36.9 squares

Footprint area3,000 sq ft
Slope multiplier at 6/121.12 x
Actual roof surface3,354 sq ft
Squares before waste33.5
Squares with 10% waste36.9order to this number

The material list this produces

Shingles, bundles (3 per square)111
Synthetic underlayment, rolls (10 sq each)4
Starter strip, linear ft252
Ridge cap, linear ft60
Drip edge, linear ft220
Roofing nails, lb81

Roof pitch compared

Same house, five pitches.

Roof pitchRoofing squares needed
4/1234.8 squares
6/1236.9 squares
8/1239.7 squares
10/1243 squares
12/1246.7 squares

What else matters here

Thirty seven squares is 111 bundles and four rolls of underlayment on the material list.

What this calculator assumes

  • Footprint times the slope multiplier gives the actual roof surface. A 6/12 roof is 11.8 percent larger than the ground it covers, which is the number most people forget.
  • Three bundles per square is standard for both three tab and architectural shingles. Check your brand, a few premium lines run four.
  • Synthetic underlayment is figured at 10 squares per roll, starter and ridge cap at one linear foot per foot.

Questions people ask

How many bundles of shingles for a 3,000 sq ft house?

About 111 bundles at 6/12 with ten percent waste, which is 36.9 squares of roof over a 3,000 square foot footprint.

Is ten percent enough waste on a big roof?

On a simple large gable, yes.

Different numbers?

The roofing calculator takes any dimensions you like and hands back the same list.

Other common sizes

13 more sizes are answered on the roofing calculator page