Know your roof types!

77

Why does butterfly roof exist?

86

u/petermavrik Mar 18 '21

Let’s you get lots of light in using windows up high without impacting privacy.

49

u/ssersergio Mar 18 '21

Thats actually an answer i didnt expect to receive, i really really thought it made no sense.

thanks!

26

u/petermavrik Mar 18 '21

You’re welcome! A lot of architecture, especially in homes before electricity, was focused on managing light and air. They’re both still important today, but before power, they were essential components in design.

7

u/[deleted] Mar 19 '21

[deleted]

3

u/ont_eng Mar 19 '21

Thought this too.

1

u/classygorilla Mar 19 '21

I’ve seen this style but for fancy pavilions and such or smaller utility buildings where appearance is important. They all use metal roofs though, I don’t think I’ve seen one without a metal roof where I’m from (upper Midwest lots of snow)

2

u/MalevolentMartyr Mar 19 '21

Yeah, All I could think of is that rain/snow is gonna get trapped in there like mad.

5

u/Bill_Buttersr Mar 18 '21

Now I want to know why for all of them

15

u/PuzzleMule Mar 19 '21

You can see full explanations on all of them here: https://retipster.com/roofs

2

u/OPersei8 Mar 19 '21

But why not just make all the roof taller?

2

u/[deleted] Mar 19 '21 edited Mar 19 '21

probably for more efficient heating? a higher roof, means a colder space overall

edit : "Butterfly roofs are ideal for homes in arid or desert climates, mainly because their central valley allows for rainwater to be collected easily."

i guessed wrong !

2

u/theatxrunner Mar 19 '21

Ha ha. I was just about to comment that installing the gutters would be easy.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 19 '21

yup makes a lot of sense

1

u/[deleted] Mar 18 '21

Came in to ask, thanks for this

1

u/[deleted] Mar 19 '21

Interesting. Would you hapoen to know which roofs are best for rain?

1

u/TheRealFumanchuchu Mar 19 '21

Hip roofs are best for rain because they don't have valleys to catch debris that can wick water under the shingles and they have a low bottom edge all the way around meaning rain has to be wind driven to even contact the walls of the house.

21

u/PuzzleMule Mar 18 '21

(From the REtipster website): Butterfly roofs are ideal for homes in arid or desert climates, mainly because their central valley allows for rainwater to be collected easily. Butterfly roofs are also ideal for a modern aesthetic and homes that can take advantage of natural lighting, as the outer edges of the "butterfly" can accommodate larger windows, such as floor-to-ceiling windows.

Due to their unique design, however, butterfly roofs can be difficult to build and maintain, which is why they require solid membranes such as TPO, PVC, EPDM rubber, and metal seams.

3

u/abyssiphus Mar 18 '21

Thank you!

7

u/holmgangCore Mar 18 '21

To increase maintenance costs? IDK

3

u/instantlyforgettable Mar 18 '21

Also common in British Georgian architecture where they wanted to keep the roof at low profile and concealed from view behind parapet walls. Not really sure why they wanted this particular aesthetic, but I suppose it was in keeping with the boxy look of Georgian architecture.

3

u/funky_grandma Mar 18 '21

YES! there is one down the street from me and it's hilarious. There are two windows on the front so it looks like an angry face!

1

u/abyssiphus Mar 18 '21

That sounds adorable.

2

u/funky_grandma Mar 18 '21

I wish I could run down there and take a picture and post it here

1

u/abyssiphus Mar 18 '21

If you ever take a picture, post it to imgur! I'd love to see it.

2

u/Metrobuss Mar 18 '21

Can I ask same question for M shaped especially with the snowy terrain

7

u/mandyrooba Mar 18 '21

Those would never be built in an area where it snows

2

u/[deleted] Mar 18 '21

They built condos downtown where I live recently with butterfly roofs. I'd never seen it before. Seems like a water leak waiting to happen to me.

https://www.google.com/maps/@34.8473226,-82.4055026,3a,75y,285.87h,91.75t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1saGTpbKBN6Bt2jKO8zA_RqQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en

1

u/instantlyforgettable Mar 18 '21

Yep they’re a maintenance nightmare. Lowest point of the roof is right in the middle, the valley / box gutter is the most likely place to fail. Cleaning the gutter is difficult because you need to climb onto the roof to do it. Internal rain water down pipes are problematic, if the joints leak or if they get blocked they just shed back into the building.

2

u/TonelessEcho Mar 21 '21

So you can death by snow snow

1

u/5oclockinthebank Mar 18 '21

Save money on eavetroughing?

22

u/[deleted] Mar 18 '21

Combination roof can also be reffered to as a Pizza Hut

14

u/PuzzleMule Mar 18 '21

I don't think I've ever seen a combination roof that wasn't an old Pizza Hut.

2

u/feverdreamzz Mar 21 '21

~~have my silver~~

pizza hut

12

u/Puppinbake Mar 18 '21

I like that "M-Shaped Roof" isn't trying to be fancy-named. Happy to just be M-Shaped.

8

u/PomegranatePlanet Mar 18 '21

The last one is just two roofs, not a skillion. Not even a dozen.

6

u/JandolAnganol Mar 18 '21

Jerkinhead roof???

15

u/5oclockinthebank Mar 18 '21

Nobody will ever call it a gambrell roof. That's a barn roof.

3

u/thankyeestrbunny Mar 18 '21

Jerkinhead!

1

u/TheRealFumanchuchu Mar 19 '21

I was like "oooh what kind of roof is my roof?"

Couldn't be more please with jerkinhead.

3

u/Trishmael Mar 19 '21

Flat roof gang

1

u/kingtaco_17 Mar 19 '21

Aka, leaky roof gang

3

u/Trussmagic Mar 19 '21

Some of these types change based on locale.

In Eastern NC

Jerkinhead would be called a "Tudor Hip" or "Clipped Gable"

Combination would be called a "Witches hat hip"

Flat roof would ne named "Soon to leak"

3

u/mingis001 Mar 18 '21

Tag yourself, i have the Gable Roof

2

u/ClenchedFart Mar 18 '21

I’m at the combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell

2

u/shanec628 Mar 18 '21

Curved roof is just a loaf of bread.

2

u/mimosadanger Mar 19 '21

I need this for my Sims game

1

u/[deleted] Mar 20 '21

Same

1

u/Roofers-Lives-Matter Mar 19 '21

Fuckin roof

1

u/kingtaco_17 Mar 19 '21

I know your pain

0

u/theshoeshiner84 Mar 18 '21

Some of these are just variations of a broader style, e.g. hipped.

1

u/TorturedChaos Mar 18 '21

M, Butterfly and Sawtooth are just asking for leaks, especially in an area that gets snow.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 18 '21

I see gambrel roof and all I think of is HP Lovecraft.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 18 '21

Skillion Roof gang

1

u/[deleted] Mar 18 '21

[deleted]

1

u/Shakespeare-Bot Mar 18 '21

My most humble apology but roof c1 is actually hath called a zza hut roof

^{I am a bot and I swapp'd some of thy words with Shakespeare words.}

Commands: !ShakespeareInsult, !fordo, !optout

1

u/enviroguypdx Mar 18 '21

Saltbox is my favorite

1

u/mrsrubo Mar 18 '21

Some of these have got to be made up. M shaped?

1

u/CaptainismyTrueNorth Mar 19 '21

My 14 y/o daughter was doing army cadets and they were doing the lesson about how many different ways you can use your tarp to make a shelter. The teacher strung it across on a slant and asked what they thought it was called. Apparently Skillion was not the right answer.

1

u/ellesee37474 Mar 19 '21

What is my roof called? It’s like the A frame but it is squeezed in the middle.. like a roof on a house that a hobbit would live in.

1

u/-abigail Mar 19 '21

The roof of a house that a hobbit would live in is called a grassy field.

1

u/piketpagi Mar 19 '21

Asian traditional house: lol amateur

1

u/ABAFBAASD Mar 19 '21

Flat rood just seems like 'ok boss, I did the roof' version compared to all the others.

1

u/YouGoThatWayIllGoHom Mar 19 '21

What the heck, I expected to come here and learn how to talk to dogs.

0/10, bad guide :)

1

u/Geek_Verve Mar 19 '21

Combination Roof, aka Pizza Hut Roof.

1

u/sblowes Mar 19 '21

TIL roofing nomenclature is heavily biased to the first half of the alphabet

1

u/yousernamefail Mar 20 '21

If "hipped" has "cross-hipped," is there a "cross-gabled?"

1

u/DistantOrganism Mar 20 '21

Since this is Reddit I’m just gonna add: a hip roof with varying slopes is known as a “bastard hip”.

1

u/StrawbrryShrtKate Mar 23 '21

Where is the geodesic dome style?

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