# Roof design considerations



## asevereid (Jan 30, 2012)

What is taken in to account, or what do you use to determine roof pitch in a design? 
Is it client input in the design? 
Material limitations (ie:dimensional lumber vs truss design over large spans limiting height of ridges, roof finish materials, etc)? 
Local ordinances limiting height of build? 
Designer choices? 

What do you use to determine the design of the roof?


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## META (Apr 9, 2015)

All of the above. Put them in order of importance. 

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## asevereid (Jan 30, 2012)

META said:


> All of the above. Put them in order of importance.
> 
> Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk


Descending order :

Client input
Local ordinance
Finish materials
Material limitations
Designer revisions ?


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## Randy Bush (Mar 7, 2011)

I know one thing, designers should have to work just once on some the roofs they draw. up


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## hdavis (Feb 14, 2012)

Roof structure is a style issue. If the client doesn't care on the style and shingles are desired, you just have to keep it above low slope.


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## wallmaxx (Jun 18, 2007)

What do the houses around the neighborhood look like?
Does the customer want to look like the neighbors or do they have a certain style in mind?
even a flat roof can be engineered to withstand snow loads or other considerations so pitch is not really a structural issue as much as it is aesthetics and price.
Will the roof be framed with engineered trusses or hand framed with rafters?
I personally like a 12:12 roof because it looks grand in the gables if they are facing the front of the house. And, they’re easy to build because anybody can use the long side of the speed square to draw a 45° line.
Low pitches from 3:12 to 6:12 sometimes look more like a double wide trailer roof then a steep or pitch would.
I always leave these kinds of decisions to the builder or the homeowner to make because I suck at making it look good, I’m only somewhat decent at making it constructible.


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## Rio (Oct 13, 2009)

If you're putting PV panels on the roof, solar orientation, also through roof penetrations.


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## Dirtywhiteboy (Oct 15, 2010)

Here it would be "Local ordinances limiting height of build?"
It would also be the best to set up the PV panels on for power.


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