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understanding
roofing terminology
Understanding Roofing Terminology
Understanding the components of your roofing
system will help you determine the style of your roof, identify
interior space, and dictate where to add rooms, frame additions,
and place chimneys. The roof also suggests the type of climate
that the geographical location of the building receives.
Not only will understanding the details of the roof help
the builders responsible for the design, but it will also
help the homeowners select the perfect roofing style for
there location and personal taste. You will find some of
the most important roofing terms defined below:
Roof Shapes
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Gabled - Constructed
with a single slope on each side of the ridge, creating
a triangle portion on the side of front facade.
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Side-Gabled - Non-gabled
side faces the front and contains the front doorway.
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Front-Gabled - Gabled
side faces the front and contains the front doorway.
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Cross-Gabled - Perpendicular
wings are added to the main section forming two individual
sections with their own gabled facade.
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Hipped - Four uniformly
pitched (sloping) sides, resembling a pyramid.
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Simple - All four
sloping sides meet at a ridge across the top. Front
slope is usually broader than the side sections.
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Pyramidal - All four
sloping sides come to a point at the top of the roof.
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Cross-Hipped - Perpendicular
wings are added to the main section forming two individual
sections with their own hipped facade.
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Gambrel - Each side
has two slopes; a steeper lower slope and a flatter
upper one; associated with barns.
-
Saltbox - A gabled
roof with asymmetrical sides. It is said to resemble
an eighteenth century salt box.
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Mansard - A roof forming
a double slope, two slopes on each of the four sides.
The lower slope being steeper than the other.
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Shed - One high pitched
plane covering the entire structure. Often used for
additions and porches.
-
Flat - Contains no
slope. May or may not have eaves.
Roof Details
-
Valley - When two
roofing planes meet at the bottom of their pitch to
form a valley.
-
Hip - When two roofing
planes form a fold or vertical ridge.
-
Gables - Roof sections
facing in separate direction from the actual roof, forming
a triangular wall segment. They are often used as an
opening for a window.
-
Dormers - Create additional
openings in your roof and are classified by a variety
of styles associated with roof shapes. (Gabled, hipped,
shed, etc.)
-
Roof Dormers - A section
that extends up from the main roofline and forms a miniature
house, containing a window, lights, walls, and a roof.
-
Wall Dormers - A section
that extends up from the main roofline and looks much
like a gable, but with walls.
-
Eave Details - The
part of a roof which projects out from the side wall,
projecting the edge of the roof.
-
Roof - The exterior
surface on the top of a building.
-
Fascia - Horizontal
band or board that runs along the eaves of a roof.
-
Boxed Eave - Horizontal
overhang that runs from the eaves edge to the side of
the building.
-
Cornice - The top
set of moldings just below a roofline, usually consisting
of a fascia board, a soffit and appropriate trim moldings.
-
Rake - The inclined
portion of a cornice. They can be close or extended.
Roof Pitch
-
Low Slope - Roof pitches
that are less than 30 degrees.
-
Normal Slope - Roof
pitches that are between 30 and 45 degrees.
-
Steep Slope - Rood
pitches that are more than 45 degrees.
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