Question about roof framing: shed/gable combination
Hey all,
Am in the early early stages of designing a house for some property I have. I was initially thinking simple shed roof to take advantage of solar exposure, but then all the snow will be dumped back behind the house and 1) take forever to melt; 2) melt and soak into the ground and tend to want to go toward the basement. Of course, foundation drainage and waterproofing would be in effect but I thought it might be more efficient to take that shed roof slope and then gable it also so the snow would slide off to the sides of the house instead of the back. If there is a name for such a roof I don’t know what it is and I haven’t been able to ID it through a bit of googling. To make sure I’m conveying the idea accurately: imagine a house with a shed roof, high part facing due south. Perpendicular to the slope of the shed roof imagine a hinge (where a sloping ridge beam would go) in the middle of the roof and the two sides (E and W) then drop down slightly. So in effect the slope of the roof would be a combination of the initial shed slope to the N and the added gable slope to the E and W. Another way to think of it I guess is just a gable roof but with a ridge beam that is not level but drops as it goes to the back of the house. I hope this makes sense. At any rate, I’m trying to gauge how much the addition of that second plane of slope would complicate the roof framing and if it would be worth it or not. I think it would look kind of cool. But not sure it would be worth the extra work. Thoughts on how that would be framed? Obviously I’m not a pro and would be consulting an architect or engineer before building or having built but I like to think about things before I get into them. Thanks in advance for any thoughts.
Replies
The reason you can’t find it is b/c there is no style of roof that has a pitched ridge. Ridges are always level or a point of the peak where rafters meet (like a pyramid). Without measurements and shape of the building can’t give ideas on how to do it as it is essential to the math of how rafter lengths etc are determined. The ridge you are describing would function more like a hip. With the limited info known so far it will probably require pitched walls everywhere and will be very complicated and pricey.
Also, as far as damaging effects of snow. It’s not the snow that will cause issue, but the water when it melts. With proper grading, damp proofing, insulation, gutters and ect it will never be an issue. For simplicity and budget I would maintain a basic shed roof and not worry about snow so much. Focus your efforts on water management.
Shed roofs can really rock with solar exposure design. So easy to tune up the passive solar gain and exclusion. My favorite but of course your mileage will vary with climate, etc
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That makes sense... Keep it simple. And cheap. Thanks guys.