A beautiful and functional roof does more than just add to your home’s overall value and keep everyone inside dry. It’s also a key component of your home’s thermal envelope or the invisible bubble of thermal protection that keeps your home climate controlled and energy-efficient. How each roof accomplishes that can vary widely. Some roofs are incredibly complex, while others are simple in design. Understanding how each roof design and slope works with specific roofing materials is a key part of helping to build a roof that functions and keeps everyone inside comfy year-round.

In this post from The Construction Group in Woodbury, we’ll break down the wide range of roof designs in the Twin Cities area to help you decide what roof will work best for you.

Roof Designs Across the Twin Cities

No matter what a roof’s design, shape, or materials, it needs to be stable and work with the home’s architecture to prevent water and air infiltration into the home. It’s a roofing contractor’s job to understand these roof designs and make recommendations to homeowners on the type of materials needed for their roof. As you’re building your home, your contractor can usually work with you to help create just about any roof design you can imagine.

These are the most common roofing layouts:

●        Hip Roof - A hip roof is a roof with four equal sides. Each side slopes downward at precisely the same angle. These are typically built on homes that are perfectly square in shape.

●        Gable - The gable is the name for the triangle section on roofs with the most common roof design. On these roofs, two sides of the roof slope down from the middle of the building, forming a triangle. These roof designs are simple to build and fairly standard in modern homes.

●        Intersecting Roof Sections - For homes with more complex floor designs, the roof plan will typically need to be equally complex. In these homes, the roof sections will typically intersect. The point of intersection on these roofs is called a valley.

●        Mansard Roofs - Mansard roofs are most often seen on apartment buildings these days, but they can be commonly seen across the rooftops of France. These roofs, which feature a steep slope on all sides and two pitches, are also sometimes known as French roofs or curb roofs. They were widely used in European cities for several centuries because they were highly decorative, maximized attic space, and circumvented zoning restrictions of the day.

●        Gambrel Roof - Similar to mansard roofs, gambrels feature two symmetrically placed slopes on either side and sharp pitches. These were also once common in Europe and are sometimes called Dutch roofs.

●        Butterfly Roof - The iconic mid-century butterfly roof or V-roof is extremely rare in Minneapolis. In this roof style, the roof slopes inward instead of outward, thus forming a large valley in the middle of the roof. It is known for its shape, which resembles the wings of a butterfly. These were popularized in the 1950s in Palm Springs and can most commonly be found in mid-century modern homes.

●        Shed Roof - The shed roof uses a single slope and is ideal for storage buildings and sheds that require water runoff. It is also the easiest to build of all of the roofing options.

Whether you’re building a new roof or you’re in the process of remodeling the home you plan to live in, the roof you choose to install should take your floor plan into account. Our residential roofing contractors at The Construction Group in Woodbury can help you create the roof design that best fits your home and your desired style. We can also help you choose the ideal roofing materials for your home.

Visit our gallery online to check out some of our past projects. When you’re ready, speak to one of our Woodbury siding contractors by calling 651-731-5857 or contact us to discuss your options.