Roof Types And Roofing Materials For Your Indianapolis Home

Before considering a roof redesign, roof replacement or when building a new Indianapolis home, you should look up the roofing types available. You do not necessarily have to use the same kind of roof as in your old home. There are many options out there that have differences in utility and aesthetics.

One of the most common types of roof is the gable roof. Gable roofs with composition shingles represent more than half of American homes. It is simple for Indianapolis roofing contractors to build, and it has some positive design features like easy ventilation and rain shedding. Some even use the false thatched roof style, that uses tan shingles formed on the eaves to look like a thatch overhand.

The hip roof is similar to the gable except it has triangles that shed water on the ends, while the gable just has two planes. It is harder to ventilate, and some HVAC contractors dislike it because of the possibility of leaks and less room inside. Shingles are still popular, but you might try tile as well.

A frames look like a capitol A stuck into the ground. The roof goes all the way to the ground and doubles as the walls. Usually used in smaller cottages and the like, now some ambitious Indianapolis roofing contractors are using A-frame construction on churches in unconventional ways. These commonly use metal roofing, although I have seen tile.

The flat roof is popular on the big box retailers because it is the cheapest roof. You just construct a flat plane on the top of the beams. These roofs are usually not considered very attractive for two reasons. One, because it is flat, you cannot see it from below, and two, the top is often covered with layers of felt, tar and gravel. This is called “built up roofing” by Indianapolis roofing contractors. A perfectly flat roof would have problems with water pooling, so even flat roofs on large buildings should have a slight pitch for water drainage. These roofs are uncommon in the north because they do not shed snow.

Still in the simple roof construction category, the shed roof is a roof that only has one angled plane. So the high side is on one wall and the low on the opposite. This is also easy to build, but uncommon in larger structures. You could use corrugated metal roofing to make the whole process easier.