Above all, historical barns, stacks and warehouses regularly impress with their imposing hipped roof. The choice of this roof shape pursued very practical goals. This gives the hipped roof a historical flair, but it is still used again and again today. The advantages it brings and how it is structured are clearly explained here.
What is a hip roof?
The typical design features of a hip roof are:
- Line-symmetrical, inclined main roof surfaces with a common ridge
- Instead of classic gable walls, there are also inclined roof surfaces here
- Continuous eaves height of all four roof areas
- Usually the main roof surfaces and hip surfaces with the same inclination
The hipped roof thus takes up typical elements of the gable roof and only deviates from it in the area of the gable due to the additional hipped surfaces. Ultimately, the hipped roof is a subspecies or modification of the gable roof. In contrast to the gable roof, which can be found in many forms today, a hipped roof is due to the continuous eaves and the intersections of the main and Hip surfaces are usually still exclusively symmetrical, i.e. with a ridge in the middle of the building and identical inclinations of the opposing roof surfaces.
The history of the hip roof
When hearing the term hipped roof, many people first think of the striking tithe chafing of past centuries. Indeed, these sprawling storage and utility buildings are striking examples of this roof shape. The hipped roof experienced another renaissance in the 1930s. Century, where townhouses and villas are often called
Counter-movement to classical modernism with this often perceived as historicizing Roof shape were provided. But even today, residential and commercial buildings are repeatedly equipped with a hipped roof in order to take advantage of the design advantages of the hipped roof.Static challenges and constructive features
The classic hipped roof of earlier times is supported by supports or a composite support that transfers the loads from construction, wind and snow to the walls below. Most of the time, this support network is created in the form of a standing or lying chair. This means that ultimately a stable frame sits on the massive part of the building and supports the actual roof. This pillar composite carries various beams running parallel to the eaves, on which the rafters that receive the roof covering rest. Due to the often lush dimensions of the hipped roof, in addition to the well-known elements threshold, central purlin and ridge, the central purlin can be distributed over several parallel purlins.
ATTENTION: Since the construction here is not purely linear, as is the case with the gable roof, but in the area of the transitions main Must be led to hipped surfaces around the corner, the threshold and purlins must of course be designed accordingly all around be.
More modern hipped roofs with individual rooms in the attic, on the other hand, often replace the supporting structure with solid walls, the load-bearing function and space closure at the same time
form.Typical roof structures on a hipped roof
While earlier hipped roofs without residential use usually only provided battens and the final roof covering on the rafters, the typical roof structure is much more extensive today. From the inside out, it looks schematically as follows:
- Cladding, e.g. B. Wood or plasterboard with paint, plaster or wallpaper with a substructure made of battens (also an installation level for cables etc.)
- Airtight level, at the same time trickle protection against the following insulation layer
- Rafter layer, at the same time insulating layer between rafters, for example with mineral wool, cellulose or alternative, soft insulating materials
- Sub-roof membrane as a water-bearing level, partially combined with an additional insulation layer
- Roof covering on substructure
If, on the other hand, the rafters are to remain visible, the insulation layer moves upwards and is either pressure-resistant as a surface or built up softly between additional wooden supports above the rafter level.
Common roof coverings
Although the hipped roof can theoretically accommodate all common roof coverings, the range of coverings typically encountered is somewhat shifted:
Roof tiles
- often found on historic and new hip roofs
- require a substructure made of vertical counter battens and horizontal battens
- Water-bearing sub-roof necessary to drain rain and snow blown under the tiles
Concrete roof tiles
- technical implementation like clay roof tiles
- Due to its existence as a roof covering, it has not been found on historic hip roofs for only a few decades
sheet
- also found historically, but mostly used on modern hip roofs
- Flat substructure at rear ventilation level required, mostly wooden formwork on counter battens
- typical materials copper or lead (historical), as well as aluminum or titanium zinc (modern)
regional coverages
Regional roofing forms are increasingly being used, especially for historic hipped roofs, but also for newly constructed buildings. In addition to slate, this can also be wooden shingles, or even thatch or straw. The substructures required can vary as widely as the materials.
The roof pitch
Although a hipped roof is theoretically in
There is no connection between the inclination of the main surfaces and the inclination of the hip surfaces. For optical reasons, however, the inclinations are usually aligned similarly. Steeper hips lead to an elongated ridge and thus more usable space in the roof.
Superstructures and fixtures in the hipped roof
Since the hipped roof is a sub-shape of the gable roof, roof structures or built-in elements such as dormers, transverse gables or roof balconies can be provided in just as diverse a range. The only disadvantage of the hipped roof with regard to these additions is the limitation of the roof area by the hipped roof. Each hip area leads to a sloping cut of the main roof area. As a result, roof structures with hipped roofs usually concentrate on the center of the roof so that they do not conflict with the transitions between the roof surfaces, either structurally or visually.
Advantages and disadvantages
The following advantages and disadvantages can be found in the typical hipped roof:
advantages
- mostly large, easily usable attic space
- Reduction of the gable wall surfaces
- Good drainage of rainwater and snow thanks to the all-round slope
- Great optical weight of the roof, thus a balanced design of buildings possible
- Hipped surfaces with special roof shapes, such as angled roof, Cross roof Etc. combinable
disadvantage
- Constructively very complex
- Large number of detail points to be solved, such as roof transitions, corner formations, etc.
- Less clearly legible due to the reduced ridge length than, for example Gable roof
- Can only be used meaningfully from a relatively high roof pitch
- Column-free roof space (like rafter roof) cannot be implemented due to hipped areas
