The roof, which is the main element of protecting the house from external influences, also plays an important role in the design of its appearance. This article will help you understand what exactly is a four-pitched hip roof and what characteristics it has.
Four-pitched hip roof
The hip roof represents It is a four-pitched roof, consisting of two side rectangular slopes covering part of the roof space and two end slopes in the shape of a triangle, called hips.
The roof device can be divided into two parts:
- Outdoor coating that provides protection against water, made of materials such as flexible tiles, metal tiles, natural tiles, etc.;
- The base is in the form of a crate, consisting of a complex structure of docking and intersection of beams and rafters.
The four-pitched hip roof consists of the following structural elements:
- Slopes - upper planes, located at a slope;
- Ribs (horizontal and inclined), formed in those places where the slopes intersect with each other. Crossing the slopes horizontally is also called a ridge;
- The intersections of the slopes, forming the incoming corners, which are often called grooves or valleys;
- The edges of the roof protruding above the walls are called a cornice canopy if they are located horizontally, but if they are at an angle, they are called a gable canopy;
- The drainage system of rainwater into the sewer system is water slopes.
Preparatory work for the construction of a hip roof

A hip roof is a hipped roof, before the construction of which it is necessary to carefully design and calculate it, taking into account the cost of the work, as well as inspect the place where the work will be carried out in order to take into account all the features of the area in the plan.
Detailed work plan for construction of a hip roof truss system should include the design of the future roof, its calculation and calculation of its area.
Drawing up a detailed plan on your own is a rather time-consuming task, so it is better to involve a qualified specialist in the field of architecture, who has already drawn up projects for houses with a hip roof.
Despite the fact that the roof is the embodiment of design ideas (for example, a mansard hip roof), its no less important function is to provide people living under it with protection from various harmful natural and technical influences.
Consider a short list of protective functions of the roof:
- Protection against atmospheric precipitation, such as snow, hail, etc.;
- Protection against various loads arising from outside, for example - wind, snowfall, vibrations of cables or antennas mounted on the roof, people who climbed onto the roof to perform any work also create a certain load. All such external loads must be taken into account when designing the rafter system;
- The roof is also significantly affected by temperature changes, which can cause deformation of the building materials used in the construction of the roof. Therefore, materials for the manufacture of roofing should be selected taking into account the specific features of the region;
- Modern materials also allow roofs to provide protection from ultraviolet, thermal and cosmic radiation;
- Precipitation causes the accumulation of various substances on the roof, from which the roof protects from entering the room, also preventing possible harmful effects on humans;
- The roof also provides partial protection in the event of an indoor fire, preventing oxygen from entering from outside;
- In addition, the roof provides both internal and external noise insulation.
The main design features of hip roofs

The main difference that the considered roofs of houses have - hip - is the presence of additional slopes in their design.
The hip roof can be represented as a combination of two systems of slopes:
- A gable roof that covers part of the space of the house in length;
- Additional slopes (hips) covering the remaining space.
In the manufacture of the frame of the hip roof, it is recommended to additionally strengthen the two rafters located at the edges.
This is due to the fact that it is on these rafters that the greatest load of the structure falls. The ratio of the characteristics of the hip and pitched parts of the roof, which are responsible for the appearance of the roof, and therefore for the appearance of the house, should also be carefully thought out, as in construction of a semi-hip roof.
Useful: a design in which, when joining the rafters, not a ridge is used, but the extreme beams of the gable main part of the roof, is called the “Danish roof”.
The main advantage of hip roofs over other types of roofs is their high resistance to loads created by strong winds.
In addition, hip roofs allow you to use quite original design solutions, roofs with viewing windows, for example, a hip mansard roof, can be especially bright.
Hip roof markings

The supporting frame of the hip roof begins to be made only after the installation of the central part of the roof, consisting of two slopes, is completed.
In the roof scheme, the distance at which the end part of the rafter system is connected to the ridge is determined. The other end of the beam is connected to the upper part of the strapping of the roofing system of the building on which the roof is being erected.
Important: the aerodynamic properties of the roofing system should be given special attention when building a house in an area with increased hurricane activity.
To carry out the correct marking of the central part of the hip roof truss structure, the first step is to carefully measure the middle of the end wall of the building.
Next, a self-prepared blank of the rafter element is installed on the ridge board and the upper part of the strapping, after which a place for a vertical file is marked on the ridge board.
After that, the excess ridge board is sawn off, and the central element of the rafter system is attached to its end part.
The final stage in the construction of the roof system contour is the marking and installation of the corner elements of the truss structure, which have a run that significantly exceeds the standard run of the rafter system element.
Basic provisions

In order to start building a house with a four-pitched hip roof, you should learn the characteristic features of the hip roof system.
A similar system, which has a fairly high area, has been used for a long time in the construction of residential buildings, but it has begun to gain wide popularity only recently. Externally, the hip hipped roofs look rather unusual, but reliable and presentable.
Another significant difference between the hip roof is the possibility of equipping auditory openings, such as windows of attic rooms under the roof.
This type of roofing can also be used not only in residential buildings, but also in various utility-type buildings that require a significant amount of space available in the attic, for example, to store hay harvested for farmed livestock on their own.
The absence of pediments in the design of the hip hipped roof can significantly reduce the consumption of building materials for the construction of this type of roof compared to other types of roofing.
With proper design by a competent qualified specialist of a four-pitched roof in compliance with all architectural subtleties and safety requirements, the developed project may require fairly low financial costs for its implementation, even compared to a standard gable roof.
In the event that inaccuracies and errors were made in the four-pitched roof project, or any mistakes were made during the construction process, a hipped roof with hips can cost much more due to repeated work and subsequent repairs during operation.
That's all I wanted to talk about hipped hip roofs, their features and characteristics, as well as their construction.
The main thing is to remember that with proper design and careful observance of all the technologies for erecting a hipped roof, it will serve for a long time and reliably, while providing a beautiful and original appearance of the house.
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