Styles of Roof Designs

Gabled

• The gabled roof in its many forms is one of the most popular style of roofing in North America. It is the classic form of roofing with equally sized, slanted sections of roof meeting in a peak at the top of a building. Gabled roofs provide overhangs on two opposite sides of the structure, while the remaining two sides are open to the elements. Variations of the gabled roof include the side-gabled roof, with open ends on the sides of the house; front-gabled, with the open ends on the front and back of the house; and cross-gabled, where the structure of the house includes a 90-degree bend with the roof crossing itself.

Hipped

• The hipped style of roof is another popular format in American architecture. Similar to the gabled roof, the hipped roof features slanted segments of roof meeting at a peak in the middle of the structure. However, the hipped roof has more than two sections, with a segment overhanging each wall of the building. The best way to envision a hipped roof is to think of one of its variations, the pyramid hip roof. This style features four slanted segments of roof meeting at a single point in the center of the structure, and is named for its resemblance to Egyptian pyramids. Other variations of the hipped roof include the cross-hipped roof, for buildings with angled sections; the half hipped roof, which has two sections on opposite sides that are shorter than the other two sides; and the Dutch gable, which is kind of a cross-breed of the gabled roof and the hipped roof.

Mansard

• The Mansard style of roof traces its roots back to 17th century France, where Francois Mansart popularized a style of architecture where the edges of the roof extended down beyond the living space of a house or building. A house with a Mansard roof almost looks like it is wearing a hat pulled down over the top floor of the structure. The Mansard roof features highly-sloped segments of roof, usually with dormers attached. The very bottom section of roof extends slightly away from the house to provide water runoff.

Saltbox

• A saltbox house has a roof similar in style to the gabled roof. However, in the case of the saltbox roof, one side of the roof extends down almost the ground level. This style developed in America's colonial times when people added sections to their houses without altering the fundamental structure of the building. At the time that such houses were popular, people kept salt in wooden boxes of a shape similar to that of this style of building.

Gambrel

• A gambrel roof is the style of roof typical of barns constructed in the Midwest region of the United States. Similar to the gabled roof, a gambrel roof consists of two sides meeting at a point along the center of the house or building. The gambrel is different in that instead of a sharp point at the top, it curves over the top of the structure like an upside-down cup.

Flat

• True to its name, the flat style of roof is flat. It is constructed in such a way that it usually sits a little below the actual edge of the walls of the building it covers. It is a cheap style of roofing and provides significant space efficiency in the rooms underneath. Its main failure comes in that in being flat any rain or snow that gathers on top of it cannot run off the structure. This can lead to structural deficits and can even cause the roof to collapse over time.