What is inside a digital roof report?
Cover, Roof Summary, three diagrams, Order Summary, Materials to Order, area tables and drainage: what each page of a digital roof report holds and how to read it.
A digital roof report is the measured roof on paper: a cover with three headline numbers, a one-page summary, diagrams of every edge, pitch and facet, then the order figures and the tables behind them. Front to back, it goes from "how big is this roof" to "what goes on the truck".
Here is the RoofStruct report page by page, titles as they print. The PDF you export yourself and the report a technician measures for you are the same document; only who traced the roof differs.
| Page | What it holds | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| Cover | Total True Area, Predominant Pitch, Order Quantity | The headline numbers |
| Roof Summary | Waste grid, Global Totals, schematic | Crew handoff, picking waste |
| Diagrams | Lengths, pitches, plan areas per facet | Checking the trace |
| Order Summary | Net True Area, Order Quantity | What to buy |
| Materials to Order | Quantities with their basis | The supplier order |
| Data tables | Area by pitch, flashing, objects, drainage | Pricing and detail |
Cover
Below the address and roof image sit three stat cells:
- "Total True Area" is the slope-adjusted surface in squares, with the square footage underneath marked "measured". No waste, and exclusions are not taken out.
- "Predominant Pitch" is the pitch covering the most roof area, tagged Low Slope, Standard Slope or Steep Slope.
- "Order Quantity" is what to buy, with a sub-line naming its basis, for example "net true area + 10% waste".
Order Quantity is not Total True Area times your waste: it starts from the net area, after chimneys, skylights and other exclusions come out, then adds waste.
Roof Summary
The page you hand a crew lead. Across the top runs a waste grid: 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20%, plus your own figure if it is something else, each with area, squares and bundles. The column marked "Suggested" is the waste you applied, and its bundle count matches the order page exactly.
Below it, the schematic on the left and "Global Totals" on the right: area, perimeter, facets and pitch, every line type, flashing, drip edge, leak barrier, ridge cap, starter and a penetrations count. A compass rose prints only when north is known; an upload with no north set gets none rather than a guess.
The three diagrams
- "Length Diagram" labels every edge with its length and lists the totals by line type along the bottom. Labels are rounded to the whole foot; totals are computed from the unrounded lengths. Add the labels by hand and you can land a foot off; the page says so.
- "Pitch & Direction Diagram" puts a pitch on every facet and an arrow for water flow. It prints only when at least one pitch is set.
- "Area Diagram" labels each facet with its plan (footprint) area. The caption gives the slope-adjusted total; on a 10/12 roof the total runs about 30% above the sum of the labels, by design.
On a report a technician measures for you, an "Aerial View" page can follow the diagrams: north, south, east and west side photos of the house. It prints only when all four were uploaded, never a half-filled page.
Order Summary
The data pages open with the two numbers you order from:
- "Net True Area": whole square feet, squares at one decimal underneath.
- "Order Quantity": the same area with waste, again with squares and the basis sub-line, word for word the cover's.
Under them, a footprint line gives the plan area; with exclusions it shows the arithmetic, gross minus excluded equals net, on both bases.
Example: net true area 2,480 sq ft (24.8 squares), 10% waste. Order Quantity is 2,480 × 1.10 = 2,728 sq ft, 27.3 squares.
Why one decimal on squares? At three bundles a square, 0.3 of a square is nearly a bundle. Round 27.3 to 27 and you are a bundle short.
Materials to Order
One table in buying order: Material, Quantity and Basis. The grey Basis column shows the figure each quantity was divided from, so every row checks itself.
Continuing the example at 3 bundles a square:
| Material | Quantity | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Shingles | 82 bundles | 3 bdl/sq · 27.3 sq slope-adjusted, +10% waste |
| Underlayment | 3 rolls | 2,728 sq ft ÷ 1,000 sq ft/roll |
27.3 × 3 = 81.9, rounded up to 82. Every figure a quantity divides prints rounded up, so your own division on the printed numbers never comes out one short of the count.
Linear rows (hip and ridge cap, valley metal, starter, drip edge, flashings) carry order lengths: slope-adjusted, with accessory waste, rounded up to the foot. The footnote ends with a "Measurement standard rev." line; held against an older report, it tells you whether hips and valleys follow each slope's own fall line, one common reason two numbers differ.
Area by Pitch and the other tables
- "Area by Pitch": each pitch, its facet count, its true area and its share of the roof. Use it to price steep and walkable sections separately.
- "Flat vs Pitched": only when the roof has both, the split you need for membrane against shingles.
- "Area by Label": only when you labeled facets.
- "Flashing by Type": measured lengths, no waste, when the roof has transition, parapet wall or curb flashing. The order lengths are in Materials to Order.
- "Objects & Penetrations" and "Obstructions & Exclusions": object counts, and each drawn exclusion with its area and flashing.
Drainage & Flow Highlights
"Drainage & Flow Highlights" is the last data section: Total Catchment, Total Runoff, Critical Points and Eave Discharges. It comes last because none of it goes on the order; it is for the gutter conversation. A property with more than one structure then gets "Structure Summaries" on its own page.
Where you trip
- Ordering from Total True Area. No waste, exclusions still in. Order from Order Quantity.
- Adding up the Area Diagram labels. They are plan area.
- Rounding squares to whole numbers. The decimal is a bundle.
- Comparing reports across revisions without reading the "Measurement standard rev." line.
Getting one
RoofStruct gives you free, unlimited self-serve measuring and PDF reports, no card, on satellite imagery or your own drone or phone photo. If you would rather have a technician trace it, the reports page covers the ordered version. For what each dimension means, see roof dimensions from satellite; for the tracing itself, how to measure a roof from satellite imagery.
FAQ
Why is the Order Quantity bigger than the Net True Area?
It is the net true area plus your waste percentage; the sub-line names the basis and the waste.
Why do the Area Diagram labels not add up to the total?
The labels are plan (footprint) area. The total in the caption applies each facet's pitch factor.
Why does my report have no Pitch & Direction Diagram?
No pitch is set anywhere yet. Set the predominant pitch or a facet pitch and it comes back.
Is a self-serve report different from an ordered one?
Same document and rounding. A technician traces the ordered one, you trace the self-serve one, and only ordered reports can carry the Aerial View page.
Order from Order Quantity, check the Basis column, and read the decimal on squares.