How to measure roof eaves for gutters online

Gutter installation is one of the most profitable trades in the home service industry, but the quoting process is notoriously dangerous and time-consuming. Climbing a 30-foot ladder just to pull a measuring tape across the fascia board is how accidents happen.

The good news? You do not need to do this anymore. You can accurately measure the linear footage of any home's roof edge from your computer. Even better, unlike roofing companies who have to pay for expensive 3D pitch calculations, gutter installers can do it entirely for free using standard 2D mapping tools.

Why Gutter Installers Don't Need 3D Pitch Data

Roofers need to know the pitch of a roof because they are covering the entire surface area. If a roof is steep, the surface area increases dramatically.

Gutters, however, are only installed on the eaves—the horizontal edges of the roof where water runs off. The eaves are perfectly flat relative to the ground. If you look at a house from a 2D top-down satellite view, the length of the eaves is 100% accurate, regardless of whether the roof is flat or has a massive 12/12 pitch.

Because you only need 2D data, you don't have to pay for premium Google Solar API reports. You can just use the standard linear drawing tools inside RemoteQuoter.

Step 1: The Linear Path Tool

When you open a property in RemoteQuoter, you will switch the measurement mode from "Polygon" (which calculates square footage) to "Path" (which calculates linear footage).

Start clicking along the edge of the roof wherever a gutter needs to be installed. If the house has a complex multi-tiered roof, you can draw separate path lines for the first-story porch roof and the main second-story roof.

The software will continuously add up the distances. Let's say you trace the entire perimeter and it totals 180 Linear Feet.

Step 2: Accounting for Downspouts

A satellite cannot see the vertical walls of the house, so you cannot trace downspouts. You must estimate them.

The industry standard rule of thumb is to place one downspout every 30 to 40 feet of continuous gutter. For a 180-foot gutter system, you will need approximately 5 downspouts.

A standard single-story house requires about 10 feet of material per downspout. A two-story house requires about 20 feet. By utilizing the Street View tab in the software, you can look at the front of the house, confirm it is a two-story home, and quickly calculate:

5 downspouts × 20 feet = 100 feet of downspout material.

Add that to your 180 feet of horizontal gutter, and you know you need to bring exactly 280 Linear Feet of aluminum to the job site.

Automate Your Pricing

If you charge $12 per linear foot for seamless 5-inch K-style gutters, you can plug that rate into your quoting software.

You can give the customer an exact quote over the phone without ever stepping on a ladder.