A Plain Glossary of Roof Estimate Terms
By MATCHWORK™ Roofing & Exteriors ·
A roof estimate is a list of lines. Each line has a name, a quantity and a price. The names are the hard part, because the roofing trade and the insurance trade each have their own. This is what the words mean, in the order they tend to show up.
Four groups of words: the paperwork (estimate, scope, supplement, reinspection), the money on a carrier's estimate (RCV, ACV, depreciation, deductible, O&P), the parts of the roof from the deck up, and the storm words (test square, bruise, crease, the matching rule). Every term is one short paragraph.
The Paperwork
Estimate
A written list of the work, the quantities and the price. A contractor writes one. A carrier writes one. They do not always agree, and the difference is found line by line, not in the totals.
Scope
The work itself, before any price is attached. “Tear off one layer, replace the decking that is rotted, install ice barrier, underlayment, starter, shingles, ridge cap, flashing and vents.” A good estimate and a good scope say the same thing.
Line item
One row on the estimate. One material or one task, with a quantity and a unit.
Proposal
What MATCHWORK™ hands a homeowner for a retail roof: the scope, every material by name, and the price, before anything is signed.
Measurement report
An aerial measurement of the roof, with every slope, ridge, hip, valley, eave and rake dimensioned. Quantities for shingles, starter, ridge cap and ice barrier come from this report, not from guesswork.
Date of loss
The day the storm happened. Public weather reports are matched to this date.
Proof-of-damage report
Our photo report: numbered, captioned photos of every item of damage, the test-square counts, and the public storm reports for the date of loss.
Supplement
An addition to the carrier's estimate for work that was missed or measured short. Each added line goes with the photo, the measurement or the code section that supports it. A roof can need more than one, because some conditions only show when the old shingles come off.
Reinspection
A second inspection by the carrier after the first one missed damage. The homeowner asks for it in writing, with the contractor present. We draft that request and are on the roof for it.
Money Words on a Carrier's Estimate
RCV, replacement cost value
What it costs to replace the damaged item with a new one today.
ACV, actual cash value
The replacement cost minus depreciation. On many policies this is the first check.
Depreciation
The amount held back from the replacement cost for the age and wear of the old roof.
Recoverable depreciation
Depreciation the policy pays once the work is finished and documented. When the roof is done, we send the carrier the final invoice and completion photos so it can release this amount. Many policies set a time limit to collect it. Check yours.
Non-recoverable depreciation
Depreciation the policy never pays. Some policies pay roofs at actual cash value only. The summary page of the carrier's estimate usually shows which kind you have.
Deductible
Your share of the loss, subtracted from the claim payment. It is part of the roof's cost, not something a contractor can make disappear.
Overhead and profit, O&P
A line some carrier estimates add for the general contractor's cost of running the job. Whether it appears depends on the carrier and the job. We note whether it is on the estimate.
Roof Parts, Top to Bottom
Square
One hundred square feet of roof. A 2,400 square foot roof is 24 squares. Shingles are priced by the square.
Pitch
The slope of the roof, written as rise over 12 inches of run. An 8/12 roof rises 8 inches for every foot. Steeper roofs take more labor and more ice barrier.
Waste
The extra shingle needed for cuts at hips, valleys, rakes and around penetrations. Written as a percentage. A cut-up roof wastes more than a simple one.
Decking, sheathing
The plywood or boards the roof is nailed to. Checked after tear-off. Soft or rotted boards are replaced before anything covers them.
Tear-off
Removing the old roofing down to the deck. “Layers” is how many old roofs are stacked up there. A second layer changes the labor and the dump cost, so it is photographed at the roof edge and goes on the estimate.
Ice and water barrier, ice barrier
A self-adhering waterproof membrane at the eaves, in valleys and around chimneys, skylights and pipes. The Residential Code of Ohio, section 905.1.2, runs it from the lowest edge of the roof to at least 24 inches inside the outside face of the exterior wall, measured up the slope, and at least 36 inches up from the eave on roofs 8/12 or steeper.
Underlayment
The synthetic sheet that covers the rest of the deck under the shingles. A second barrier when water gets under a shingle.
Drip edge
Metal at the eaves and rakes that protects the deck edge and directs water into the gutter.
Starter, starter strip
The first course along the eaves and rakes, made so the first row of shingles is sealed at the edge where wind tries to lift it. It is its own material, not leftover shingle.
Hip and ridge cap, ridge cap
Purpose-made cap shingles that close off the hips and ridges. Also its own material.
Field shingle
The shingles on the open slopes, as opposed to starter and cap.
Flashing
Metal where the roof meets something else. Step flashing runs up a wall one piece per course, woven in with the shingles. Counter-flashing covers the top of chimney flashing. Apron flashing sits at the bottom of a chimney or wall. Step flashing is nailed through with the shingles, so tearing off the shingles bends and punctures it. The Residential Code of Ohio, section 908.5, requires existing flashings, edgings and vents to be replaced where they are rusted, damaged or deteriorated.
Pipe boot, pipe jack
The flashing around a plumbing vent pipe.
Soft metals
Vents, flashing, gutters, downspouts and the fins on the air conditioner. They dent at lower hail energy than shingles, so they help confirm a storm.
Ventilation, intake and exhaust
Intake at the eaves or soffits, exhaust at or near the ridge. Planned as a pair so air moves through the attic. More in our ventilation guide.
Remove and replace, R&R
A line that pays to take the old item off and put a new one on. Detach and reset pays to take an item off and put the same one back, such as a satellite dish. Replace alone pays for a new item without the removal.
Storm Words
Test square
A 10 foot by 10 foot square chalked on each slope direction. Every shingle inside it is checked by hand and the hail hits are counted. This is the method adjusters and engineers use.
Hail bruise
A hail hit on a shingle: granules knocked loose in a roughly round spot, soft under the thumb because the mat beneath is fractured. See hail impact vs. blistering.
Crease
A line across a shingle where wind lifted it and folded it back. The mat is broken along the crease even if the shingle lies flat again. See our wind guide.
Matching rule
Ohio Adm. Code 3901-1-54(I)(1)(b): “When an interior or exterior loss requires replacement of an item and the replaced item does not match the quality, color or size of the item suffering the loss, the insurer shall replace as much of the item as to result in a reasonably comparable appearance.” It applies to policies that pay replacement cost. It is where the name MATCHWORK™ comes from.
Match test
The closest available shingle laid on your roof next to the originals and photographed from the roof and from the yard. Done by MATCHWORK™, on the roof. See the match test.
Product identification
An independent lab identifies the manufacturer and product of your shingle and reports whether it is still made. The lab does not decide whether a mark is hail. That is answered on the roof.
Adjuster
The person the carrier sends to inspect the roof and write the carrier's estimate. We meet them on the roof with the measurement report and our counts.
Public adjuster
Someone a homeowner can hire to handle the claim itself. MATCHWORK™ is not one. We are a roofing contractor. We inspect, document, write the scope and put the evidence and the rule in front of your carrier. You get a copy of everything we send.
Sources: Ohio Administrative Code rule 3901-1-54; Residential Code of Ohio sections 905.1.2, 908.5 and 908.6; Haag Engineering, the test square method.
Related guides
A Word That Is Not Here?
Send the estimate. We read it line by line and tell you what each line means and what is missing.
Send Us Your Estimate