Best Satellite Measuring Tool & Roof Measuring App for Contractors

You measure a roof with a satellite measuring tool by outlining its edges on a top-down aerial photo and letting the software work out the area and perimeter from the map's scale. In MapMeasure Pro, which also works as a roof measuring app on the phone, you click a point at each corner of the roof; the card shows AREA and PERIMETER as you go, and each edge shows its length. You can also let AI AutoMeasure trace the roof for you, at 100 IQ Credits per surface.

The outline gives you the roof's footprint. A pitched roof has more surface than its footprint, so after a roof trace open Roof Details: the Roof Analysis lists each segment with its pitch in degrees, its direction and its area. Save to Estimate then puts the area on the estimate line, and you can send the proposal the same day. See roofing software and general contractor software for trade workflows, and QuoteIQ Cam for the rest of the photo record.

The National Roofing Contractors Association publishes roofing practice, and every climb you skip is one less fall risk, a hazard OSHA's fall protection guidance covers in detail.

You measure lawn square footage by outlining each grass area on an aerial photo, leaving out the house, the driveway and the beds, and adding the areas together. Used as a lawn measurement tool, MapMeasure Pro lets you draw each lawn as its own polygon, such as Front lawn, Side yard and Back lawn, and the Measurements card lists every one with its area and perimeter.

Group polygons combines them: tick the lawn areas, tap Group 3 measurements, name the group Lawn, and the list shows one Lawn line with the summed area next to the Roof. Save to Estimate puts the area in the quantity on your mowing or treatment line in estimates, and the total updates. Lawn crews can see how it fits their work on the lawn care software and landscaping software pages, and customers can measure their own yard in InstaQuote. Book the visits on the schedule.

For turf and irrigation practice, the National Association of Landscape Professionals shares industry guidance, and the EPA WaterSense outdoor page explains how lawn size drives outdoor water use.

Satellite measurements are accurate enough to price most roofs, lawns and flatwork when the photo is sharp and the edges are visible, and they get less reliable where trees, shadows or overhangs hide the edges. With any satellite measurement tool, the result is only as good as the outline, so zoom in, click on the true corners and check each edge length before you save.

MapMeasure Pro helps you check your work. Line Measurements shows the length of every edge, the imagery timeline lets you switch to an older, clearer aerial photo when today's is covered by trees, and Street View shows the property from the curb. Aerial roof measurements start as a top-down footprint, so add for roof pitch using Roof Details, and add a waste factor the way you normally would. Save the result to your estimate, keep it in the Measurement Library, and confirm on site before the crew orders material. Compare workflows on roofing, concrete and pressure washing.

The USDA Farm Service Agency's aerial photography program explains how public aerial photography is captured, and the USGS EROS NAIP page documents the imagery archive.

You find property lines on a satellite map by overlaying the parcel boundary from public land records on the aerial photo, which shows roughly where one lot ends and the next begins. In MapMeasure Pro, center the map on the property and click Property Lines; after you confirm the lookup, the parcel's boundary is drawn around the house as a gold dashed line.

It works like a land measurement app inside your quoting tool: the line is a reference outline you cannot edit, so you can see whether the back fence, the side strip or the shared driveway belongs to the lot you are quoting. Measure the areas inside it, save them to the estimate, and keep the customer's details in your client database. It helps fencing and landscaping quotes on the landscaping and general contractor pages, and Street View shows the frontage from the street. Parcel maps come from county records and can be off by a few feet.

Legal boundaries are set by a licensed land survey, not by a map overlay; the Bureau of Land Management's cadastral survey page explains how official boundary surveys work.

You measure linear feet from a map by drawing lines along the run instead of closing a shape, so the tool adds up the length rather than an area. In MapMeasure Pro, open Map Settings and turn on Linear Mode, which adds two-point lines; click along the fence, the gutter line or the edging, and the perimeter shows the total length.

Pick ft, yd, m or another unit in the perimeter dropdown to match how you price, and turn on Line Measurements to see each segment's length on the map. When the estimate line uses a linear price, Save to Estimate puts the perimeter into the quantity instead of the area. Trades that price by the foot can see it on the holiday lighting, sealcoating and pressure washing pages, and the line lands on your estimate next to photos from QuoteIQ Cam.

Convert between feet, yards and meters with the NIST unit conversion tables, and check OSHA's fall protection rules before anyone climbs to hang gutters or lights.

You can see old satellite images of a property by opening an archive of past aerial photos for that location and picking a date. In MapMeasure Pro the imagery timeline under the toolbar lists the dates on file for the spot you are looking at, ending at Now; click a date and the map switches to that photo, and the toolbar reads Viewing and the month.

All dates opens Map imagery, where Latest Google imagery sits at the top and older archive dates are grouped by year. Compare with active imagery splits the map into two photos with a slider between them, and Measure this photo lets you measure on either side. Older photos help you see a new patio, a removed tree or a lawn that used to be bigger before you quote. Keep the result on the estimate, which the customer can open in the client portal, and store the job's photos in the gallery. Roofers and remodelers use it on the roofing and remodeling pages.

Public aerial archives are kept by the USGS EROS Center, which describes how the imagery is collected.

Contractors quote jobs without a site visit by measuring the property from aerial imagery, checking the street view, and sending a priced estimate the same day, then confirming the details when the crew arrives. It saves the drive to properties that may never book and gets the price to the customer while they are still shopping.

In QuoteIQ you open MapMeasure Pro from the estimate, outline the area and tap Save to Estimate, so the quantity and the total are filled in. Street View shows the house from the curb, the Measurement Library keeps every measurement by address, and you can send the estimate with a proposal and get paid through online payments. For busy seasons, let customers price themselves in InstaQuote.

Know your local rates before you price remotely; the SBA's plan-your-business guide covers researching a market and its competitors.

A satellite measuring tool or roof measurement software is usually either a standalone subscription or a per-report fee, and in QuoteIQ it comes inside the plan you already use for estimates and invoices. MapMeasure Pro (also written Map Measure Pro) is included on the Beginner plan at $99.99/month with 2 users, and on Pro at $199.99/month, Elite at $299.99/month and Max at $699.99/month; drawing and measuring by hand has no extra charge.

AI AutoMeasure uses IQ Credits, 100 per surface, from the monthly IQ Credits in your plan (see pricing). Every plan starts with a 14-day free trial. A credit or debit card is required to start. Compare the Beginner plan and Pro plan, and the same subscription covers estimates, invoicing and scheduling.

When you compare subscriptions, read the trial and renewal terms; the FTC's advertising and marketing guidance covers how free trials and automatic renewals must be disclosed.