A takeoff is the bridge between your roof and your invoice. Done well, it locks the price, the schedule, and the warranty before the truck ever rolls. Done poorly, it produces the dreaded mid-job change order — the moment your $18k roof becomes $24k because nobody measured the valleys.
The 11 line items we measure
- Field squares — the main shingle surface, measured with a wheel and verified against satellite imagery.
- Hip and ridge linear feet — drives ridge cap shingle count and ventilation product spec.
- Valley linear feet — determines ice & water shield rolls and metal valley pan if open-valley.
- Rake and eave linear feet — drives drip edge order; rakes and eaves get different profiles.
- Penetrations — every vent, pipe boot, skylight, and HVAC curb counted and photographed.
- Step and counter flashing — measured at every wall-to-roof intersection.
- Decking inspection notes — sheathing condition, expected replacement squares, fastener pattern.
- Pitch — average and steepest plane; drives labor rate, fall-protection plan, and material waste.
- Stories and access — single-, two-, or three-story; ground access for material staging.
- Tear-off layers — single, double, or shingle-over-shake; doubles the dump cost.
- Specialty details — chimney crickets, dead valleys, low-slope tie-ins; these are where surprises hide.
Why satellite-only takeoffs miss money
Satellite measurement tools (EagleView, HOVER) are excellent for field squares and rough ridge counts but consistently miss three things: penetration count, decking condition, and dead-valley geometry on complex roofs. We use satellite data as a starting point and always send a tech on the roof before the contract is signed.
Change orders we accept — and ones we don't
Decking replacement above the budgeted square count is unavoidable; you can't see rot through 30-year-old shingles. We budget 2 squares of decking on every job and bill at a published per-square rate for anything beyond. What we don't do: change-order for items a thorough takeoff would have caught (penetrations, ridge length, valley footage). If we missed it, we eat it.
