Guides · Updated October 11, 2026

Why a hip wastes more cap than a gable

Waste is the cuts. It is added to the measured line before the count rounds up. A straight gable or shed ridge gets 10%. The fixed L gets 12%. A hip gets 15%, because four hips end on a diagonal and the offcuts do not start the next hip.

On a drawn plan, each gable wing adds 2 points to that rate, and the total stops at 18%. A 40 ft gable is 44 ft to buy. A 100 ft hip is 115 ft to buy. Both can still land on the same bundle count after rounding, so read the feet, not only the bundles. Compare the hip with the gable of the same plan.

The allowance is for cuts in the cap. It is not a tear-off, a full roof, or a valley. Valleys are flashing.