Home Learn A Square Takes 3 Shingle Bundles, Some Take 5
Buying 9 minute readA Square Takes 3 Shingle Bundles, Some Take 5
By Anthony Limpert, Founder, published October 25, 2026
Bundles per square by product line, a pitch table that turns house size into roof size, and the starter, ridge and waste you have to add on top.
Most asphalt shingles come 3 bundles to a square, and a square is 100 square feet of roof. Heavier designer lines take 4 or 5. To count bundles, find the roof area, not the house area, divide by 100, multiply by the bundles per square on the wrapper, then add 10 to 15 percent for waste.
First Things
- A roofing square is 100 square feet of roof surface. Your floor plan is smaller than your roof.
- GAF Timberline HDZ and Owens Corning Duration both pack 64 shingles in 3 bundles a square.
- GAF Woodland takes 4 bundles a square. IKO Armourshake takes 5.
- Pitch adds area. A 6 in 12 roof is about 12 percent bigger than the flat area under it.
- Starter strip and ridge cap are separate bundles, sold by the linear foot.
Three Bundles Are Not Quite 100 Square Feet
Everyone says three bundles cover a square. That is close, not exact. Owens Corning lists its TruDefinition Duration at 3 bundles and 64 shingles a square. It then lists coverage per square as 98.4 square feet.
GAF Timberline HDZ uses the same size and exposure. Its spec table shows 64 pieces and 3 bundles a square, with a 5 5/8 inch exposure. Do the math on 64 shingles that are 39 3/8 inches wide. You land on 98.4 square feet too.
Is 1.6 square feet a big deal? Not on its own. On a 30 square roof it adds up to about half a square. That is why roofers never order the bare number.
What One Bundle Covers, Line by Line
Bundles are sized so a person can carry one up a ladder. So a heavy shingle comes in smaller bundles. GAF says some specialty shingles need up to five bundles a square for that reason.
The table shows what each maker states, as of October 2026. Read your own wrapper before you order. IKO says the wrapper must show the coverage.
| Shingle line | Bundles per square | Shingles per square | Coverage per bundle |
|---|---|---|---|
| GAF Timberline HDZ | 3 | 64 | About 33 sq ft |
| Owens Corning TruDefinition Duration | 3 | 64 | 98.4 sq ft per 3 bundles |
| IKO Cambridge and Dynasty | 3 | Not stated | 33.3 sq ft |
| IKO Marathon Plus AR | 3 bundles plus 2 shingles | Not stated | 32.3 sq ft |
| GAF Woodland | 4 | 56 | About 25 sq ft |
| IKO Crowne Slate | 4 | Not stated | 25 sq ft |
| IKO Armourshake | 5 | Not stated | 20 sq ft |
Look at the Marathon row. Three bundles of it fall short of a square. You need two loose shingles more. Count that line by the bundle, not by the square.
Shingles per bundle follow from the table. Timberline HDZ is 64 shingles in 3 bundles, so about 21 a bundle. Woodland is 56 in 4, so 14 a bundle. A bundle count tells you nothing about coverage on its own.
Your House Size Is Not Your Roof Size
This is the mistake that sends people back to the store. A 1,500 square foot house does not have a 1,500 square foot roof. The roof hangs past the walls. It also slopes, and a slope has more surface than the flat ground under it.
Start with the flat area under the roof, eaves included. Then multiply by the pitch factor. IKO publishes these slope factors. Our guide to pitch and squares shows how to find your pitch.
| Pitch | Factor | 1,500 sq ft flat, plus 10% waste | 2,000 sq ft flat, plus 10% waste |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 in 12 | 1.054 | 53 bundles | 70 bundles |
| 5 in 12 | 1.083 | 54 bundles | 72 bundles |
| 6 in 12 | 1.118 | 56 bundles | 74 bundles |
| 7 in 12 | 1.157 | 58 bundles | 77 bundles |
| 8 in 12 | 1.202 | 60 bundles | 80 bundles |
| 9 in 12 | 1.250 | 62 bundles | 83 bundles |
| 10 in 12 | 1.305 | 65 bundles | 87 bundles |
| 12 in 12 | 1.414 | 70 bundles | 94 bundles |
The table is a worked example, not a measurement of your house. It shows how much pitch moves the count. Going from 4 in 12 to 12 in 12 adds 17 bundles on a 1,500 square foot footprint. That is more than five squares of shingles.
A two story house is different again. The roof covers the top floor, not both floors. So use the footprint, not the total living area.
Count Your Bundles in Five Steps
You can do this with a tape and a phone. Stay off a steep roof. Measure from a plan or from the ground if you have to.
- Measure each roof face, length times width. Add the faces together. GAF uses two 40 by 30 foot faces as its example, which makes 2,400 square feet.
- Or take the flat area under the roof and multiply it by the pitch factor in the table above.
- Divide by 100 to get squares. The GAF example comes out to 24 squares.
- Multiply by the bundles per square on the wrapper. At 3, that is 72 bundles.
- Add 10 to 15 percent for waste and round up. 72 bundles plus 10 percent is 80 bundles.
Keep one spare bundle when the job is done. IKO suggests saving leftovers for repairs. A matching shingle is hard to find once a color is gone.
Starter, Ridge and Drip Edge Are Separate Orders
The square count covers the field of the roof. The edges and the peaks need their own products. Most quick calculators skip these.
- Starter strip runs along every eave and rake. IKO lists its Leading Edge Plus at 123 linear feet a bundle.
- Hip and ridge cap covers the peaks and hips. IKO lists Ultra HP at 20 linear feet a bundle and Hip and Ridge 12 at 36.5 feet.
- Drip edge is required at eaves and rakes by the 2021 International Residential Code, section R905.2.8.5. It is metal and sold by the piece.
- Underlayment comes in rolls. IKO lists StormTite at 1,000 square feet a roll.
So measure in feet too. Add your eave length and rake length for starter and drip edge. Add hip and ridge length for cap. A long ranch house can need more ridge cap than a tall, boxy one.
Nails scale with the square. GAF lists 256 nails a square for Timberline HDZ and 280 for Woodland. The code sets a floor of four nails per strip shingle, in section R905.2.6.
Waste Depends on the Shape of the Roof
GAF and IKO both say to add 10 to 15 percent. IKO adds that small roofs waste more. That surprises people, but it makes sense. Every edge, valley and cut wastes a piece, and a small roof is mostly edges.
Bin There Dump That, a dumpster company, uses about 5 percent for a simple roof and 10 percent or more for a complex one. That low end only works on a plain gable with no valleys.
- Simple gable, two faces, no valleys. 10 percent.
- Hips, a few valleys or a dormer. 12 to 15 percent.
- Many valleys, turrets or a cut up roof. 15 percent or a measured takeoff.
Those three bands are our suggestion from the maker ranges, not a rule from any one maker. If a bid shows far more waste than this, ask why.
What a Bundle of Shingles Weighs
An asphalt bundle runs about 60 to 80 pounds, per Bin There Dump That. Three of them make a square. So a square of new shingles weighs roughly 180 to 240 pounds. That is our math from its range.
Weight is why the code limits layers. Under IRC section R908.3.1.1, you may not roof over a roof that already has two or more layers. You also may not roof over a water soaked roof, or over slate or tile. When you tear off, plan for the old shingles too. They fill a dumpster fast.
Slope sets a floor as well. Section R905.2.2 allows asphalt shingles only at 2 in 12 or steeper. From 2 in 12 up to 4 in 12, the code requires a double layer of underlayment.
Check Every Bid Against Your Own Count
You do not need to buy shingles yourself to use this math. It is a check on the people bidding your roof. Every bid should name the squares it measured. Line them up.
If two bids agree and one is five squares short, the short one is likely leaving out waste, or the starter and ridge. If one is far over, ask for the takeoff. Our guide to reading a roofing estimate shows where those lines sit on the page.
We built this site to make that comparison easy. Start with the roofers in our roofing directory, and get at least three bids that count the same way.
Where to Verify
How Many Bundles of Shingles Are in a Square?, GAF
Timberline HDZ Shingles, Specifications, GAF
Woodland Shingles, Specifications, GAF
TruDefinition Duration Shingles, Technical Information, Owens Corning
How Many Shingles Do I Need for My Roof?, IKO
2021 International Residential Code, Chapter 9 Roof Assemblies, International Code Council
How Much Do Roofing Shingles Weigh and How Many Are in a Bundle?, Bin There Dump That
What Buyers Want to Know
How many bundles of shingles are in a square?
Three for most asphalt shingles, including GAF Timberline HDZ and Owens Corning Duration. Heavier lines take more. GAF Woodland and IKO Crowne Slate take 4, and IKO Armourshake takes 5.
How many bundles of shingles do I need for a 1500 sq ft roof?
If the roof surface itself is 1,500 square feet, that is 15 squares, or 45 bundles at 3 a square. Add 10 percent waste and you need about 50. If 1,500 is your house size, the roof is bigger once you count pitch and overhang.
How many bundles of shingles do I need for a 2000 square foot home?
It depends on pitch. Using IKO slope factors and 10 percent waste, a 2,000 square foot flat area needs about 70 bundles at 4 in 12 and about 94 at 12 in 12. Use the footprint, not the living area, on a two story house.
How many squares is a 1000 sq ft roof?
Ten squares, since a square is 100 square feet of roof surface. At 3 bundles a square that is 30 bundles before waste, per GAF.
How many shingles are in a bundle?
It varies by line. GAF Timberline HDZ has 64 shingles a square in 3 bundles, about 21 a bundle. GAF Woodland has 56 a square in 4 bundles, so 14 a bundle.
How much does a bundle of shingles weigh?
About 60 to 80 pounds for asphalt, per Bin There Dump That. A square of three bundles weighs roughly 180 to 240 pounds.