You can then add on a garret or dormers at a later date. When first designing and building a home, you can actually save money by having a simple mansard design to start off. This type of roofs are great for people wanting flexibility to make future home additions. The style lends itself to either open or closed dormers for more aesthetic appeal. Using the space as a full attic or living quarters, called a garret, is very popular. The Pros: Mansard roofs can help create a great deal of extra living space. The sides can either be flat or curved, depending on the style. The lower slope is much steeper than the upper. MANSARD ROOFĪ mansard roof, also known as a French roof, is a four-sided roof with a double slope on each side that meet forming a low-pitched roof. The line where the two roofs meet is called a valley. Use separate hip roofs on homes with different wings. The sides come together at the top to form a simple ridge.Ĭross Hipped: Similar to a cross gable roof. It has a polygon on two sides and a triangle on two sides. Simple Hip: The most common type of a hip roof. Materials: Hip roofs, like gable roofs, can be with almost any type of roofing material, such as shingles, metal, or tiles. Note: Proper construction and maintenance is a must to prevent minor issues from turning into major problems. Also, with the addition of a dormer, additional seams can make it easier for the water leaks to form in the valleys, if a roofing system is not properly installed. It’s a more complex design that requires more building materials. The Cons: Hip roofs are more expensive to build than a gable roof. Hip roofs can offer extra living space with an addition of a dormer or a crow’s nest. The slant of the roof allows snow to easily slide off with no standing water. They are excellent for both high wind and snowy areas. The inward slope of all four sides is what makes it more sturdy and durable.

The Pros: Hip roofs are more stable than gable roofs. The sides are all equal length and come together at the top to form a ridge. The hip roof has slopes on all four sides. A gable roof is placed at the top of a hip roof for more space and enhanced aesthetic appeal. This design is often seen in Colonial style houses.ĭutch Gable Roof: A Dutch gable is a hybrid of a gable and hip roof. Use a cross gable to accent different areas of the home, such as the garage, porch or dormers.įront Gable: A front gable roof is placed at the entrance of the house. It’s an excellent roof design for homes with separate wings. Lengths, pitches or heights may or may not differ from each other. The two ridges are perpendicular to each other. The triangle section can be left open for an open gable roof, or it can be enclosed for a boxed gable roof.Ĭrossed Gable: A crossed gable roof is two gable roof sections put together at a right angle. It has two equal panels pitched at an angle, meet at a ridge in the middle of a building. Side Gable: A side gable is a basic pitched roof. However, if the roof also contains hips and valleys, it should either be shingled or roofed with metal shingles or standing seam to help prevent roof leaks.

Materials: Gabled roofs can be covered with almost any type of material including asphalt shingles, cedar shakes, metal, and clay or concrete tiles. If a gable roof is used in high wind areas, be sure proper braces are used and have the roof inspected after a large storm to ensure no damage has occurred. If there is too much of an overhang, winds can create an uplift underneath and cause the roof to detach from the walls. High winds can also cause materials to peel away from gable roofs.

If the frames are not properly constructed with adequate supports, the roof can collapse. The Cons: Gable roofs can be problematic in high wind and hurricane areas. Their inherently simple design makes it easy to build them and cheaper than more complex designs. The Pros: Gable roofs will easily shed water and snow, provide more space for the attic or vaulted ceilings and allow more ventilation. They are easily recognized by their triangular shape. Also known as pitched or peaked roof, gable roofs are some of the most popular roofs in the US.

Types of roofs for houses