Some Terms for Roof Design

With a wide range of roof types in architectural design it can feel overwhelming to choose which the best type of roof deigns fits your plans. The type of roof you choose will have a huge effect on your living space so it pays to have a basic understanding of some of the different types.

The types of roofs are used by roofers in Glasgow are:

• Gable – triangular-shaped section of the wall at the end of a ridged roof.
• Hip – external angle where two sides of a roof meet.
• Ridged – horizontal peak of the roof where roof faces meet.
• Dormer – a vertical window projecting out from the main roof, usually at a 90-degree angle.
• Hip and valley – internal angle between two sloping roofs.

1. Gable Roofs

Gable roofs are one of the most popular choices for UK houses because they offer a good roof space, and strong, stable and relatively easy to construct.

2. Hip Roofs

Another very common roof type in Scotland – especially with hipped roof extensions being popular right now hip roofs feature two trapezoid-shaped roof faces on the longer sides of the home and two triangle-shaped planes on the shorter sides — These all slope towards the exterior.

3. Ridged Roofs

When the two slopes of a roof meet to form a ridge, it needs a specific material installed over it. Like ridge vents, this material is appropriately called ridge capping. Ridged roofs are another very common type of roof in the UK.

4. Dormer Roofs

Dormers are often seen where loft conversions have been carried out as they add more space and light than is possible with just the addition of rooflights. They’re also a popular feature on one-and-half storey homes or bungalows.

5. Hip and Valley Roofs

Similar to a hip roof in design, hip and valley roofs are a little more complex in their shape so suit homes with more involved floorplans than those that are simply rectangular in form.

Rather than the rectangular shape in the plan of a simple hip roof, hip and valley roofs have a ‘T’ or ‘L’ shape plan formed by another hip roof intersecting. There is, as a result, an extra ridge, which joins the main roof ridge at the same height, creating a single valley for an ‘L’ shaped design.