Pros and Cons of Four Different Roofing Styles
Choosing a roofing style is one of the biggest decisions you can make when designing your dream home. For functional and aesthetic reasons, a roofing style can change your entire experience of living in a home! Depending on your taste, climate, and location, different roofing styles might be more suited for your home. For these reasons, it’s essential to take a deep look at both the advantages and disadvantages of each roofing style.
Here are a few of the pros and cons of some of the most popular roofing styles:
Gable Roofs
Easily recognizable by their triangular shape, Gable Roofs are one of the most commonly used roofing styles in the United States. They are also known as “pitched” or “peaked” roofs.
Pros: Good in snowy/rainy climates, cheaper to build, reduced risk of water damage, more room in attic spaces, easy to design.
Cons: Bad in windy areas, easily damaged by hurricanes, risk collapsing if constructed poorly.
Suggested Material: Shingles, Metal, Clay, Concrete, and most other materials.
Hip Roofs
Hip roofs are defined by their slopes on all four sides, made with panels of equal size and length that come together to form a ridge at the top.
Pros: Extremely sturdy, durable, good in high wind and snowy climates, reduced risk of water damage, provide ventilation in attic rooms.
Cons: Expensive, more complex design, long construction period, more expensive.
Suggested Materials: Shingles, Metal, Clay, Concrete, and most other materials.
Mansard Roofs
Mansard roofs are trendy in European architecture and are sometimes known as a “French Roof.” These roofs have four sides with a double slope on each side, creating a low-pitched roof. The lower slope is typically steeper than the upper slope, and the sides can be curved or flat.
Pros: Create extra living space in the home, potential to add dormer windows on the roof, great aesthetically and architecturally.
Cons: Expensive, longer construction time, easily damaged in areas with heavy snowfall, the potential for leaking, water damage from snow.
Suggested Materials: Metal (particularly copper or zinc), wood, slate.
Flat Roofs
The name is self-explanatory: flat roofs are completely flat with shapes, peaks, or pitches. While these are most commonly used on commercial buildings, it’s not uncommon to see them on more modern homes!
Pros: Potential for rooftop patio or garden, a great place for hidden HVAC systems, an opportunity for solar panels, easy and cheaper to build.
Cons: Easily damaged by water, bad in snowy and rainy climates, may require expensive and consistent repairs.
Suggested Materials: Tar, Gravel, Metal Sheets, PVC, TPO, EPDM Rubber Membrane.
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