TL;DR
Roof pitch is the slope of a roof expressed as inches of vertical rise per 12 inches of horizontal run, so a 6/12 roof climbs 6 inches per foot. The number drives material choices and code minimums: asphalt shingles need 2/12 with special underlayment and 4/12 for standard installation, while lower slopes require membrane or metal systems.
What it means
Roof pitch is the slope of a roof expressed as inches of vertical rise per 12 inches of horizontal run, so a 6/12 roof climbs 6 inches per foot. The number drives material choices and code minimums: asphalt shingles need 2/12 with special underlayment and 4/12 for standard installation, while lower slopes require membrane or metal systems. It also sets labor pricing—above roughly 7/12 crews need staging and fall protection—and determines how much attic volume and snow load a roof carries.
Where it sits in the glossary
Roof pitch is part of the Trade jargon group inside the ProFix Directory glossary. Browse every term in this category from the glossary index.
Why Ohio homeowners should know it
This is a term Ohio homeowners encounter when reading contractor quotes, hiring paperwork, or inspection reports. Understanding it well enough to ask one good follow-up question is usually all the protection a homeowner needs.
ProFix Directory keeps definitions short on the index page and saves the longer context — Ohio-specific rules, where the term comes from, and which ProFix tools touch it — for these per-term pages so the term is easy to cite and easy to share.
ProFix tools that touch this term
See also
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