Gable roof

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Gable roof
A form of gable roof (Kasbissendach) on the tower of the church in Hopfen am See, Bavaria Hopfen Kirche.JPG
A form of gable roof (Käsbissendach) on the tower of the church in Hopfen am See, Bavaria

A gable roof [1] is a roof consisting of two sections whose upper horizontal edges meet to form its ridge. The most common roof shape in cold or temperate climates, it is constructed of rafters, roof trusses or purlins. The pitch of a gable roof can vary greatly.

Contents

Distribution

The gable roof [2] is so common because of the simple design of the roof timbers and the rectangular shape of the roof sections. This avoids details which require a great deal of work or cost and which are prone to damage. If the pitch or the rafter lengths of the two roof sections are different, it is described as an 'asymmetrical gable roof'. A gable roof on a church tower (gable tower) is usually called a 'cheese wedge roof' (Käsbissendach) in Switzerland.

Its versatility means that the gable roof is used in many regions of the world. In regions with strong winds and heavy rain, gable roofs are built with a steep pitch in order to prevent the ingress of water. By comparison, in alpine regions, gable roofs have a shallower pitch which reduces wind exposure and supports snow better, reducing the risk of an uncontrolled avalanche and more easily retaining an insulating layer of snow.

Gable roofs are most common in cold climates. They are the traditional roof style of New England and the east coast of Canada. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The House of Seven Gables and Lucy Maud Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables , the authors of which are from these respective regions, both reference this roof style in their titles. [3]

Pros and cons

Gable roofs have several advantages. [4] They are:

Disadvantages:

German terminology

In German-speaking countries the types of gable roof are referred to as:

See also

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dormer</span> Structural element of a building

A dormer is a roofed structure, often containing a window, that projects vertically beyond the plane of a pitched roof. A dormer window is a form of roof window.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gable</span> Architectural feature

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steel square</span> Flat tool used in carpentry to mark right angles and calculate angles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flat roof</span> Type of roof

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rafter</span> Supporting structural member in roof construction

A rafter is one of a series of sloped structural members such as wooden beams that extend from the ridge or hip to the wall plate, downslope perimeter or eave, and that are designed to support the roof shingles, roof deck and its associated loads. A pair of rafters is called a couple. In home construction, rafters are normally made of wood. Exposed rafters are a feature of some traditional roof styles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tented roof</span> Type of polygonal hipped roof with steeply pitched slopes rising to a peak

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roof shingle</span> Overlapping plates for covering a roof

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An attic is a space found directly below the pitched roof of a house or other building; an attic may also be called a sky parlor or a garret. Because attics fill the space between the ceiling of the top floor of a building and the slanted roof, they are known for being awkwardly shaped spaces with exposed rafters and difficult-to-reach corners.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hidden roof</span> Type of roof

The hidden roof is a type of roof widely used in Japan both at Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines. It is composed of a true roof above and a second roof beneath, permitting an outer roof of steep pitch to have eaves of shallow pitch, jutting widely from the walls but without overhanging them. The second roof is visible only from under the eaves and is therefore called a "hidden roof" while the first roof is externally visible and is called an "exposed roof" in English and "cosmetic roof" in Japanese. Invented in Japan during the 10th century, its earliest extant example is Hōryū-ji's Daikō-dō, rebuilt after a fire in 990.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hip roof</span> Type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls

A hip roof, hip-roof or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope. Thus, a hipped roof has no gables or other vertical sides to the roof.

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A Bresse house is a timber-framed house of post-and-beam construction, that is infilled with adobe bricks and is typical of the Bresse region of eastern France. A large hip roof protects the delicate masonry from rain and snow. The house is almost always oriented in a north–south direction, the roof on the north side often being lower. This configuration offers the optimum protection from the bise, a cold northerly wind typical of the region, which is deflected over the house by the low, sweeping roof on the northern gable end. The living rooms are on the south side, the main façade facing the morning sun. Usually each room has one or two outside doors, so that no space is sacrificed for passages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ice dam (roof)</span>

An ice dam is an ice build-up on the eaves of sloped roofs of heated buildings that results from melting snow under a snow pack reaching the eave and freezing there. Freezing at the eave impedes the drainage of meltwater, which adds to the ice dam and causes backup of the meltwater, which may cause water leakage into the roof and consequent damage to the building and its contents if the water leaks through the roof.

References

  1. Fritz Baumgart: DuMont’s kleines Sachlexikon der Architektur. Cologne, 1977.
  2. "Your Guide to Gable Roof – House Discreet" . Retrieved 2022-05-13.
  3. "Hip Roof vs. Gable Roof". IKO website. IKO Industries Ltd . Retrieved January 21, 2021.
  4. "Informationen rund ums Satteldach. Retrieved 20 June 2012". Archived from the original on 29 June 2015. Retrieved 14 January 2017.
  5. "Satteldach: Die einfache Konstruktion hat sich bewährt. Retrieved 20 June 2012". Archived from the original on 30 January 2014. Retrieved 14 January 2017.
  6. Grazulis, Thomas P. (1993). Significant tornadoes, 1680-1991: A Chronology and Analysis of Events. St. Johnsbury, Vermont: Environmental Films. p. 106. ISBN   1-879362-03-1.
  7. Willibald Mannes, Franz-Josef Lips-Ambs: Dachkonstruktionen in Holz, Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, 1981, ISBN   3-421-03283-1.