What do you think about shed roofs from an efficiency/maintainability standpoint?

[Flyover]

I'm talking about shed roofs on houses: roofs where it's just a single flat surface that is tilted.

First, the downsides I can think of:

1. The one I've heard of is that shed roofs necessitate robust 5" gutter systems on the low side, though I don't really understand why that's such a big problem.

2. Assuming an attic, I am not sure whether a shed roof makes an attic less accessible overall than a conventional gable roof since whatever access you lose on the low side you make up for on the high side. With a gable roof your easy-to-access part is just in the middle.

3. Maybe a shed roof requires longer rafters, which limits the size of the footprint it can cover?

4. And of course a shed roof doesn't fit every architectural style -- but what roof does? Maybe some people don't like the look of them? Too pointy? Too asymmetrical? They tend to look pretty modern, so I guess if you're going for that rustic old-timey look they're a no-go.

Otherwise all I see is upsides:

- 1/2 the gutters and much simpler downspout system (potentially way more efficient too if you're collecting rainwater)
- more room if you want to do solar and can get the whole roof angled toward the equator
- less complexity which could mean cheaper/faster build
- whatever roofing material you're using (shingles etc.), you can just buy one form of it and be done, as opposed to having to also calculate and buy material for the ridge
- depending on the design, potential to visually inspect your whole roof from a single vantage point
- Other stuff I'm not thinking of

So what do you think? Have I gotten anything wrong? Are shed roofs not as great as I think? Are they even better? Anybody have experience with one?

 

[Guzzle]

if it faces south, almost twice the
-solar panel output [a plus]
-solar heating [a plus or a minus].

 

[joecaption]

All the heat rises and does not circulate at the highest point.

 

[Flyover]

All the heat rises and does not circulate at the highest point.

Can you explain more? How is this different in a gable roof?

 

[Flyover]

if it faces south, almost twice the
[...]
-solar heating [a plus or a minus].

Yeah, this depends on how intelligently the house is designed. For example, if it's in a cold climate, is the roof designed to allow maximum penetration of sunlight/heat during the winter, and deflect it in the summer? I imagine some of this relies on the orientation of the house, the pitch of the roof, etc. People building houses without these considerations...I can't model that mindset, it is a black box to me.

 

[Guzzle]

Do all members & lurkers agree on what's been posted so far? I'll come back later for that reply. . .

But, each person has a different "utility function", an
"important concept that measures preferences over a set of goods and services. Utility represents the satisfaction that consumers receive for choosing and consuming a product or service."
or having a house of a certain design & location.

Congrats on the eyeballs in your avatar , see
"Exophthalmos, also known as proptosis, is the medical term for bulging or protruding eyeballs. It can affect 1 or both eyes and is most often caused by thyroid eye disease."
They are really spooking me.

 

[Flyover]

Congrats on the eyeballs in your avatar , see
"Exophthalmos, also known as proptosis, is the medical term for bulging or protruding eyeballs. It can affect 1 or both eyes and is most often caused by thyroid eye disease."
They are really spooking me.

Haha thanks, it's cropped from a goofy self-portrait I drew maybe 7 or 8 years ago, in which I portrayed myself as a caveman. The eyes were meant to be an intense primitive stare, perhaps fixed on a prey animal or member of an enemy tribe. (In real life my eyes are normal size.)

 

[Snoonyb]

I'm talking about shed roofs on houses: roofs where it's just a single flat surface that is tilted.

First, the downsides I can think of:

1. The one I've heard of is that shed roofs necessitate robust 5" gutter systems on the low side, though I don't really understand why that's such a big problem.

2. Assuming an attic, I am not sure whether a shed roof makes an attic less accessible overall than a conventional gable roof since whatever access you lose on the low side you make up for on the high side. With a gable roof your easy-to-access part is just in the middle.

3. Maybe a shed roof requires longer rafters, which limits the size of the footprint it can cover?

4. And of course a shed roof doesn't fit every architectural style -- but what roof does? Maybe some people don't like the look of them? Too pointy? Too asymmetrical? They tend to look pretty modern, so I guess if you're going for that rustic old-timey look they're a no-go.

Otherwise all I see is upsides:

- 1/2 the gutters and much simpler downspout system (potentially way more efficient too if you're collecting rainwater)
- more room if you want to do solar and can get the whole roof angled toward the equator
- less complexity which could mean cheaper/faster build
- whatever roofing material you're using (shingles etc.), you can just buy one form of it and be done, as opposed to having to also calculate and buy material for the ridge
- depending on the design, potential to visually inspect your whole roof from a single vantage point
- Other stuff I'm not thinking of

So what do you think? Have I gotten anything wrong? Are shed roofs not as great as I think? Are they even better? Anybody have experience with one?

My view is that, a roof on a shed, is a shed roof.

Structural roofs, both res. and commercial, are an architectural component and designed for their application, and are both flat and pitched.

There are min. standards that are required to preform a required habitability/occupancy level, usually referred to as weather-ability.

Gutters are a choice and can be influenced by architecture, soils, drainage, overhang, land use, etc. and are also governed by application, IE, commercial and res.

Attic space, in a flat roof design, is inherently limited, by design.
In practicality, if the insulation requirement are say, R-30 for the attic, and you also want to use the attic for storage, and would platform the area, to support the storage, and also encapsulation the insulation, for that area.So, to allow for the max. serviceability of the insulation, 2X10 ceiling joist would be serviceable, as opposed to the 2X6 required to meet the, probable, structural needs of the dwelling.Then, as a serviceable convenience, you need to allow for the ability to crawl around the stored I tens, so you'd likely need an estimate. height to the bottom of the roof rafters of 3', or more.Then there are the method of framing the structure, and you could select either platform or ballon, either of which have design/material requirements which, can affect the cost.

No competent roofer, would inspect a roof, without walking the area.

 

[oldognewtrick]

There are a bunch of different roof styles. Is one better than another, Its a matter of preference. On a shed roof, you still have to provide a termination at the ridge. 5" gutters are the smallest aluminum gutters, 6 or even 7" gutters work better on steep slope roofs. snoonyb hit the nail on the head, no competent roofer would ever inspect a roof without physically getting up on it. The biggest cause of premature roof system failure is, unfortunately, improper installation.

 

[Flyover]

5" gutters are the smallest aluminum gutters, 6 or even 7" gutters work better on steep slope roofs.

Thanks for the correction! I was thinking of downspout sizes.

This thread wasn't a claim that shed roofs are "better" than any others, only an attempt to see if there are other upsides and downsides (from an efficiency/maintainability standpoint) that I hadn't considered, because to me they look pretty great.

Also, this is good to know, and runs counter to what I had assumed:

On a shed roof, you still have to provide a termination at the ridge

 

[joecaption]

With gable roof you can vent it out the peak of the ridge.
On a shed style roof you would have to use a vent like this.
https://dciproducts.com/shed-roof-roof-to-wall/

 

[Flyover]

With gable roof you can vent it out the peak of the ridge.
On a shed style roof you would have to use a vent like this.
https://dciproducts.com/shed-roof-roof-to-wall/

I don't know much about this. But...

Couldn't either of these types of vents also work for a shed roof?

 

[ekrig]

In my area a shed roof sounds like a bad idea, if not downright impractical. We reasonably hot summers and cold, snowy winters with lots of strong northern wind gusts. A shed roof facing south could be good for solar exposure but would expose the north side to the rain, cold, and strong wind gusts that would put a lot of stress on the structure. Conversely, a shed roof facing north would expose the south to strong noon sun and overheat the house in the summer.

Perhaps most importantly, roofs with 45 degree incline are typical in my area, and 30 degrees is probably the minimum in order to shed the weight of the snow in the winter. With those angles, the house would have to be incredibly narrow or the difference in height from the two sides ridiculously high. Sheds are narrow and are built with much shallower angles, so that's not a problem.

 

[Flyover]

Sounds like maybe for a larger structure it's only really practical in warmer/dryer areas where the roof doesn't have to bear a large snow load.