Top Roofing Designs Updated | November 2020

Roofs are usually taken for granted when designing buildings, but this is not the case. There are many types of roofs, they all have different uses and are more suitable for certain weather conditions and architectural styles. Knowing which roof best suits your needs can be a very complicated process. SS Roofing Boston has compiled a list of 28 roof designs to suit the different architectural styles here.

Tile roof

A shaded gable roof is essentially an inverted pitched roof. The roof cover is also called the kick eaves, and its four sides have a steep upward slope and a gentle downward slope to provide cover for the porch on the edge of the house. This style is more common in the buildings of the 1700s but is generally considered outdated by modern builders.

Box gable roof

Box-vaulted roof A box-vaulted roof has two sloping sides that form a ridge, either side of which is separated from the wall and extends in a triangle. This type of roof is very popular in cold weather and provides a stable design that can handle rain and snow well.

Butterfly roof

Butterfly roof The butterfly roof is also called an inverted pitch roof, imitating the wings of a butterfly. Two roofs in series slope upward to form a V shape. This style has an amazing modern architectural appearance and offers the additional benefits of allowing larger walls and windows to be used in the structure and easy collection of rainwater through the middle channel of the roof.

Vaulted roof.

The clergy level roof A part of the clergy level roof is built on an extended inner wall, which usually has several windows or one long window on this part. The roof sections on either side of the vertical walls are usually inclined to allow a lot of natural light to enter the windows.

Combined roof

The combined roof actually refers to the combination of roof types. For aesthetic and practical reasons, composite roofs usually adopt two or more designs. This is a great choice for a unique and interesting look.

Cross vaulted roof

Cross-Vaulted Roof also known as a cross-arched roof is a design consisting of two or more arched roof ridges, which intersect at a certain angle, usually perpendicular to each other. Such roofs usually appear in buildings with more complex layouts, such as houses with garages.

Cross roof

The sloping cross roof may be a common roof type with a vertical hip, forming an "L" or "T" shape at the hip of the roof. this is often an honest choice for buildings with more complex layouts than simple rectangles and maybe a roof type that will be maintained in rain, snow, or wind conditions.

Curved roof

The curved roof adds a really modern and interesting function to any building. Modern roofs use the pliability of metal to make large curved structures. Curved roofs do help reduce wind resistance, but mainly because they will add a gorgeous appearance to the building.

Curved roof

The dome roof is undoubtedly a dome-shaped roof. this type of roof is durable and adds a gorgeous aesthetic to the building, and may be seen in many historical buildings, from the Capitol in Washington, DC to the long-lasting St. Paul’s Cathedral in London.

Dome

Dormer contains a window extending vertically from the normal sloping roof to make an extension within the roof. this sort of roof is that the hottest in attic renovations. It provides a simple thanks to expanding the attic space and natural lighting after renovation.

Dutch vaulted roof

Dutch vaulted roof The Dutch vaulted (hip) roof may be a mixture of saddle roof and roof. All or a part of the gable is often found at the top of the ridge, leaving more room inside the roof. This style also improves the looks of the roof, providing a more unique and interesting design than the quite common simple roof.

Roof terrace

Flat roofs have a little slope to permit water flow and drainage. Although flat roofs are most ordinarily utilized in industrial and commercial buildings, like offices and warehouses, flat roofs also are a well-liked sort of home roof-flat spaces that are perfect for roof gardens.

Front Gable

Front GableFront gable roofs have the roof ridge in line with the building’s entrance. This type of roof is commonly seen on Colonial-style homes but is an increasingly popular design for modern buildings.

Gable Roof with Shed Roof Addition

Gable Roof with Shed Roof AdditionSome gable roof designs have a shed roof addition on the side. This is a popular alteration to the standard gable roof, providing more headroom and space for an extension without having to completely alter the existing roof.

Gambrel Roof

Most commonly seen in barns, a gambrel roof is a symmetrical two-sided roof with a shallow upper-section and steeper lower slope on each side. This design maximizes the space within the loft of a building but is mostly used on outhouses and barns due to their unsuitability in heavy wind or snowfall areas.

Half Hipped Roof

Half Hipped RoofA half-hipped roof is almost identical to a simple hip roof design, but instead, the two sides of the roof are shortened, creating eaves at either side of the house. This type of roof provides more options for extending into the loft and installing windows, allowing a greater amount of natural light into the room.

Hexagonal Gazebo Roof

Hexagonal Gazebo RoofThis complex roofing design makes any garden gazebo really stand out. Formed of six triangular identically pitched roof panels and six supporting rafters, this type of roof is most typically used for a beautifully unique gazebo addition to a home or commercial garden lawn.

Hip and Valley Roof

Hip and Valley roof and valley roofs have a total of four sloping surfaces, with two joined on a common ridge, and the other two on either end of the central ridge. This design is very similar to the trapezoid structure of gable roofs, with the addition of the two triangular hip ends the only real distinguishing factor.

Jerkinhead Roof

Jerkinhead roofs, also known as clipped gables or snub gables, are essentially a gable roof with the two peaked ends are clipped off. The advantage of this design is that the clipped ends to reduce potential wind damage to the home, making the roof more stable. Additionally, the clipped ends to provide more headroom in the loft than a traditional hip roof.

Mansard Roof

Mansard Roofe mansard roof is a four-sided gambrel roof, with each side having a double slope of one steep slope and one shallow upper slope. Mansard roofs are a popular option for buildings wishing to maximize the amount of living space in the building, providing the option to use the loft as an additional living space.

M-Shaped Roof

An M-shaped roof is a double-pitched roof; essentially a double gable. The roof rests on two bearing walls with two sloping walls meeting in the middle to form an ‘M’ shape. Central guttering runs between the two pitches to stop any snow or rain building up in the winter season.

Open Gable Roof

The open Gable roof is identical to a box gable roof, with the only exception of the boxed offsides on either end. In this type of roof, the ends are left open to meet the walls directly. There are no added benefits between the two, the choice is purely based on aesthetics.

Parapet Roof

A parapet roof is a flat roof with the walls of the building extending upwards past the roof by a few feet around the edges. The addition of a parapet makes a flat roof far safer, providing a small barrier that provides additional security to reduce the likelihood of anyone standing on the roof falling over the edge.

Pyramid Hip Roof

A pyramid hip roof is identical to a simple hip roof, but the walls are square rather than rectangular, making the shape of the building’s roof slope come to a point in a pyramid shape at the top. This type of roof is extremely resistant to strong winds, so is ideal for high-wind or hurricane-prone areas.

Saltbox Roof

Saltbox roof asymmetrical design in which one side of the roof is a sloping flat roof, with the other side more of a lean-to, creating a gable in the middle. More commonly seen in older colonial-style houses, this distinctive durable roofing style is often seen nowadays in industrial buildings and garages.

Shed Roof or Skillion

A skillion roof has a single flat surface pitched at a steep angle to allow water runoff. Also known as a ‘shed roof’, skillion roofs are extremely easy and cheap to construct as they are made of simply one piece of roofing.

Simple Hip Roof

The popular simple hip roof is a type of roof where all four sides feature symmetrical gentle slopes towards the walls, with no gables or vertical sides to the roof. The defining feature of hip roofs is that the roof faces are almost always identical in pitch, making them symmetrical from the center point.

Skillion and Lean-to Roof

A lean-to roof, similar to a skillion roof, is composed of one angled pitch. The roof is supported at one end by a wall raised higher than the other, enabling the roof to be pitched at a steeper angle to allow runoff in heavy rain.