SS ARTS · Measurement Guide

How to measure your gable jaali, roof border or jaali panel

Five minutes with a measuring tape and you will know your exact price before you contact anyone. No site visit needed.

01Before you start

Three things to have ready.

A measuring tape long enough for the span — a 5 m tape covers most homes
Someone to hold the other end if you are measuring a gable or a long roof edge
A photo of the area on your phone — useful when you send your measurements to us

Everything on this page is measured in feet, because that is how PVC work is priced in India. If your tape reads centimetres, divide by 30.5 to get feet.

Working from a plan? If you have an architect’s drawing or elevation, read the dimensions straight off it — just check whether it is in feet or millimetres. Send us the drawing and we will take the measurements off it ourselves.

02Gable jaali — the triangle at the top of your wall

The peaked section under a sloped roof, common on Kerala-style and coastal Karnataka homes.

Base width (B) — measure straight across the bottom of the triangle, wall edge to wall edge.
Height (H) — measure from the centre of that base line straight up to the apex. Vertical, not along the slope.

The most common mistake: measuring along the sloping roof edge instead of straight up. The slope is always longer than the true height, so it inflates your area and your quote. Measure the vertical.

Area = ½ × Base × Height

A gable is a triangle, so it is half the rectangle it sits inside

Worked example. Base 16 ft, height 6 ft.
½ × 16 × 6 = 48 sq ft. At ₹180 per sq ft for 8 mm:48 × ₹180 = ₹8,640

We charge the triangle, not the rectangle. On that example, billing the full 16 × 6 would have cost ₹17,280 — nearly double, for material we never cut. Worth checking whether a quote you have received elsewhere has done that.

If your gable is not a clean triangle

Many gables have a small vertical section at the bottom, or a stepped edge. Measure it as a triangle plus a rectangle and add them together — or send us a photo with the overall width and height and we will work it out.

03Roof borders — measured by running foot

Decorative edging that runs along the eaves. Priced by length, not area.

Run your tape along the roof edge where the border will sit. If it goes around more than one side, measure each stretch and add them together. Round up to the nearest half foot.

Total running feet = sum of every edge

Depth of the border is fixed by the design — you only supply length

Worked example. Front edge 22 ft, two side edges 14 ft each.
22 + 14 + 14 = 50 running ft. At ₹120 per running foot for 8 mm:50 × ₹120 = ₹6,000

Add a little margin. We suggest ordering about 5% more than you measure, to allow for cutting at corners and joins. On 50 ft that is roughly 2–3 extra feet. It costs far less than discovering you are short once the fitter is on site.

04Jaali panels — plain rectangles

Partitions, balcony screens, pooja room panels, window screens, façade panels.

Area = Width × Height

Both in feet

Worked example. A balcony screen 8 ft wide, 4 ft high.
8 × 4 = 32 sq ft. At ₹110 per sq ft for 5 mm:32 × ₹110 = ₹3,520

For a partition that must fit an opening exactly, measure the opening in three places — top, middle and bottom — and give us the smallest reading. Openings are rarely perfectly square, and a panel cut to the widest point will not go in.

05Which thickness should you choose?

Thickness drives both rigidity and price, so it is worth getting right rather than defaulting to the cheapest.

Thickness	Best suited to	Notes
5 mm	Indoor partitions, pooja rooms, small decorative panels	Lightest and cheapest. Not for exterior or spans over about 4 ft unsupported.
8 mm	Most gables and roof borders, balcony screens	The usual choice. Good balance of rigidity and cost.
10 mm	Larger gables, exposed elevations	Noticeably stiffer over wide spans.
12 mm	Wide façades, wind-exposed coastal sites	Holds its line where an 8 mm panel might flex.
18 mm	Deep-relief work, large architectural features	Heaviest and most rigid. Creates real visual depth.

Coastal homes: PVC foam board suits Mangalore, Udupi and the Kerala coast precisely because it does not rot, warp or attract termites the way timber and MDF do in salt air and monsoon humidity. For anything wide and wind-exposed we generally suggest stepping up to 10 mm or 12 mm rather than 8 mm.

06Minimum order and freight

Roof borders: minimum 20 running feet
Gable jaali and jaali panels: minimum 10 sq ft

Below the minimum we will still quote — we bill at the minimum and tell you we have done so. That is usually still cheaper than the freight on a single small panel.

Freight is quoted separately. PVC panels are large and light, so couriers price them on packed size rather than weight. We can only quote transport once we know the finished panel size and your delivery pin code. It is never hidden in the per-foot rate.

07Get your price now

Every product page has a calculator built in. Pick your thickness, type in the measurements you just took, and it shows your cost immediately — then sends the whole thing to us on WhatsApp so nothing gets lost in translation.

💬 Send your measurements on WhatsApp Browse PVC gable jaali & roof borders →

Still unsure? Send a photo of the wall or roof edge with any measurement you managed to take. We work out sizes from photos every day, and we confirm the exact area with you before anything is cut.

08Common questions

Do I need someone to visit and measure?

Usually not. Almost every job we do is measured by the customer using this guide. For very large or unusual elevations we ask for photos and an architect’s drawing rather than send someone, which keeps the cost down.

What if my measurements turn out to be wrong?

We confirm the final area with you in writing before production, and you approve a design preview showing the exact dimensions. Nothing is cut until you have signed off on both.

Can you match a design I have seen elsewhere?

In most cases yes. Send a photo and we will tell you honestly whether it can be CNC-cut in PVC, and at what thickness it will hold together. Very fine patterns sometimes need adjusting so the thin sections do not become fragile.

Is PVC suitable for direct sun and rain?

PVC foam board is waterproof and will not rot, warp or be eaten by termites, which is why it has largely replaced timber for gables and roof borders in coastal homes. It is supplied in white as standard and can be painted.

How is a gable priced — triangle or rectangle?

Triangle. We charge ½ × base × height, which is the area actually cut, at the per-square-foot rate shown for your chosen thickness.