There are a number of types when it comes to roofs. It is worth knowing about them because you’ll be able to identify what type of roof your property has and what its pros and cons are.

Each type of roof has its own pros and cons. The type of roofs you’ve got the option to develop on your building depends upon what these are as well as whether or not it is suitable for your structure; roof types are installed based upon what the rest of your building can bear.

Pitched roofs

These are one of the most traditional types of roofing structures. They are made up of slanted, or pitched, panes of materials which are designed to allow water (rain) to run directly off of the roof into the guttering, thereby preventing any damage to your building.Usually these materials consist of slates lain on top of one another, which increases their effectiveness, and makes maintenance a lot easier (as you can replace individual sections of the roof without major cost and hassle).

Pitched roofs, although an older style, remain popular for new developments thanks to their longevity and cheap and easy maintenance. Because they have a long history and are still one of the more popular roofing options, finding a skilled contractor is also relatively simple, so you can generally expect to have a pitched roof last 40 years without major maintenance work.

Pitched roofs are actually a category of roofs, with the various types of roofs which come under the umbrella of the pitched roof category. The category includes:

• Front and side Gable. This is a type which consists of two sides which meet at the top of a roofing structure after an incline. If the gable occurs in view from the front of a home, it is called a front gable, and if it occurs in view from the side of the home, it is known as a side gable. A cross gable is where both occur.
• Butterfly. This is a style of roof which is the inverse of a gable, in that you have two sides of a roof which travel downwards to meet in the middle, rather than upwards.
• Hipped roofs. These are similar to a gable roof, in that they meet in the middle, but the difference is that there are four sides, and instead of being rectangular sides they are triangular.
• Gambrel Roofs. These are a lot like gable roofs, in that there are only two sides. The difference is made by there being the top halves of each side having a shallower slope than the two bottom halves.

Flat roofs

Flat roofing is a relatively new type of roof, because before developments in architectural technology over the last 100 years, flat roofing was pretty difficult to do. As technology and our understanding of architectural design has developed, flat roofing has become achievable in a larger number of situations.

The advantages of flat roofing are that it provides an extra area for living; on top of the roof. Many people develop outdoor seating areas on flat roofs in urban environments, and even roof gardens.

The disadvantage to flat roofs are that they can be expensive to develop and maintain. Because there is no real water run-off function to a flat roof, they have a tendency to to retain water, which will lead to the gradual wearing down of the roof asset; meaning that Flat roofs have far less longevity than a pitched roof.

Lean-to’s

Lean-to roofs are also a very old style, but the difference is that they’ve traditionally been used mainly for smaller structures, such as sheds. While there are differences within this category of roofs, these differences are only in terms of the gradient of the slope.