The majority of roofs covering residential homes in the US and throughout the world are pitched roofs. Pitched roofs come in many different types and designs, built to compliment different architectural types and serve various functional purposes. The pitch of a roof is important for more than just describing the type of roof installation. A pitch is significant in numerous practical and traditional ways, and something that every roofing contractor must consider when working on a roofing installation.
What Is Roof Pitch?
A pitched roof is a roof built with one or more angles. The pitch of a roof refers to the steepness of a pitched roof. Roof pitch is important because it determines a number of important factors such as how fast a roof can shed water or snow, the load that roof trusses can withstand based on their length and the pitch of the roof, and walkability on a roof. When deciding on things like appropriate roofing materials and underlayment, and other details that go into a watertight roofing installation, a roofing contractor will always consider a roof’s pitch.
Why Roof Pitch Matters
Overall, pitched roofs are designed to offset rain and snow and offer varying amounts of attic space inside a home. For a roof to be strong enough to cover the span of the building, while also providing water shedding benefits, the pitch must be adjusted based on the roof span, the weight of roofing materials, and certain other calculations. Taller pitches shed water faster, but can be harder to build and walk on and present a number of other architectural concerns. Lower pitches may be easier to construct, but shedding water and snow is slower. This increases the load on the roof trusses and presents other potential problems in terms of watertightness.
Different Types of Pitched Roofs
All functional aspects taken into consideration, there are many types of pitched roofs designed to combine proper function with attractive home architecture. The simplest and most recognized pitched roof installation is the gable roof, constructed from two angles that meet at the top ridge. There are many other types of pitched roof that contain varying numbers of slopes, broken slopes, and other more complex design features, all of which must still consider the actual pitch of each roof slope. Pitched roofs may look simple for any roofing contractor, but in actuality, they require careful planning to ensure that these various types of roof architecture are functional on the homes and buildings they are built on.
So, while most people understand what a pitched roof is, it is also important to understand the idea of roof pitch and differentiate the two. Roof pitch is determined specific to a structure, to ensure that a roof functions properly, and has the strength and other characteristics it should. Every pitched roof has a roof pitch, something that a roofing contractor will always take into consideration for any roofing job. A functional, watertight and safe roof installation is one that considers the pitch of the roof and uses the right materials and methods according to the limitations presented by roof pitch, framework and many other structural details.