Roof pitch question.

[Clarence Martinn]

Need help in figuring this one out. Never did a roof before.

Highest point is 5 feet from the ground.

Width is 6 feet,

Low point on the roof is 1 or possibly 2 feet from the ground; depending on how far I want to run the roof.

Can someone tell me what the pitch of that roof would be ?


Length of that section of roof would be 25 feet.

[Paul F Franklin]

370832

Pitch is expressed as rise divided by run. So if rise is 6 feet and run is 12 feet, you would have a 6 in 12 pitch roof.

[Al Launier]

Actual rise of roof is either 4' or 3' since you stated the peak was 5' from the ground & the bottom edge could be either 1' or 2' above the ground. The run is 6' in either case. So the pitch (rise/run per 12), as demonstrated so well by Paul, the pitch is either 8/12 if the lower edge is 1' above the ground, or 6/12 if 2' above the ground .

[Roger Nair]

I was apprenticed in carpentry around 1970. Pitch, as a term of carpentry, has multiple meanings that carry a legacy of confusion depending on who you talk to and how they were trained. The basic definition of pitch is rise divided by span. Early in the 20th century, many of the carpentry manuals and Stanley's how-to's migrated to the math term slope rise over run. So it boils down to, pitch is a description of the whole building and slope is the description of any member without reference to the whole.

[Clarence Martinn]

Is that good enough to install a metal roof ?

[Lee Schierer]

Yes any type roofing could be put on that slope.

[Bill Dufour]

I believe 6/12 is enough to shed snow. If you get much snow you may have to dig out under the eaves or the snow may pile up and push in the walls. If the eaves are so long they almost touch the ground then the snow will slip off and pile up on then ground so that eventually there is nowhere for it to slide off. At that point the roof will not be self clearing and unless built for the load the roof may cave in before the walls do.
Bill
Yes California does get deep snow but most of us prefer to live away from it and just visit the snow on the weekend. Heck we even have a few glaciers in California!