ItsMyRoof
Glossary
Square, valley, hip, ridge, rake, eave, drip edge, step flashing, boot, cricket. The vocabulary that shows up on every bid, defined.
Actual cash value (ACV)
Replacement cost minus depreciation for age and wear. It is what an insurer pays first on a roof claim.…
Adjuster
The person who inspects the loss and writes the estimate. Carrier adjusters work for the insurer, independent …
Attic ventilation
Balanced intake and exhaust openings that let outside air move through the attic, carrying heat and moisture o…
Bundle
The package shingles are sold in. Three bundles of standard architectural shingle cover one square; heavier de…
Contingency agreement
A contract making the roofing work contingent on the insurance claim being approved — commonly signed at the d…
Counterflashing
A second layer of flashing set into or over a wall or chimney that covers the top edge of the base flashing.…
Cricket
A small peaked structure built on the up-slope side of a chimney to divert water around it instead of letting …
Deck
The structural sheathing — plywood, OSB, or on older homes plank boards — that everything else on the roof is …
Deductible
The amount you pay before insurance pays anything. On wind and hail it is often a percentage of the dwelling c…
Drip edge
An L-shaped metal flashing installed along the eaves and rakes that directs water off the roof edge and away f…
Eave
The lower edge of a roof, usually overhanging the wall, where gutters are hung and intake ventilation enters.…
Fascia
The vertical board that closes off the ends of the rafters at the eave, and what the gutter is normally attach…
Flashing
Sheet metal installed wherever the roof plane is interrupted or meets something else — a wall, a chimney, a va…
Gable
The triangular section of wall at the end of a ridged roof, and by extension a roof with two sloping planes me…
Granule loss
The shedding of the mineral surfacing from an asphalt shingle, exposing the asphalt beneath to ultraviolet lig…
Hail bruise
A soft, dented spot where hail has fractured the mat of an asphalt shingle without necessarily removing granul…
Hip
The external angle where two roof planes meet, sloping downward from the ridge to a corner of the building.…
Ice barrier
A self-adhering waterproof membrane at the eaves, required by code in areas with a history of ice damming, tha…
Ice dam
A ridge of ice that forms at the cold eave when heat escaping into the attic melts snow higher up the roof and…
Low slope
A roof shallow enough that shingles will not reliably shed water, generally under about 2:12, requiring a memb…
Net free area
The actual unobstructed opening of a vent after its screening and louvers are subtracted — not the size of the…
Pipe boot
A flexible collar, usually rubber or a rubber-and-metal combination, that seals where a plumbing vent pipe pas…
Pitch
The steepness of a roof, written as inches of vertical rise per 12 inches of horizontal run. A 6:12 roof rises…
Rake
The sloped edge of a roof at a gable end, running from eave to ridge. It is an edge, not a tool.…
Recoverable depreciation
The portion of a claim an RCV policy withholds from the first payment and releases once the work is completed …
Replacement cost value (RCV)
What it costs to replace the roof with like kind and quality today, with no deduction for depreciation.…
Ridge
The horizontal line at the very top of a roof where two sloping planes meet.…
Roofing square
A unit of roof area equal to 100 square feet. Every roofing bid in the United States is priced in squares, not…
Soffit
The underside of the roof overhang, usually vented, where intake air enters the attic.…
Step flashing
Individual L-shaped metal pieces woven in with each shingle course where a roof plane meets a vertical wall.…
Storm chaser
An out-of-area contractor who arrives after a hailstorm, canvasses door to door offering free inspections, and…
Supplement
A request to the insurer to add scope or cost to an approved claim, filed when the original estimate missed wo…
Underlayment
The water-resistant layer installed over the roof deck and beneath the covering — traditionally asphalt-satura…
Valley
The internal angle where two roof planes meet and shed water into a shared channel.…