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I am doing some preliminary design for a friend. I suggested to them that a full gable roof would be less expensive to construct than a full hip roof on the house in question. Briefly the house is a two story (second story will be dormered) approx 45’0″d x 79’0″w. The roof in question will have an 8/12 slope. The exterior finish will be a cement siding product. Their first meeting with a builder it was suggested that a full hip would be less expensive to construct. Is this true, if so why? Help me understand something that seems to easier to construct with less cuts and common rafters, how could this cost more!
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With gable construction, you have to build the end gable wall, side it, paint it, windows? louvers? More soffit, fascia, rake, etc.
With a hip its just roof. Harder to frame but only sheathing & shingles to add to finish. From a labor standpoint the time it takes to side, caulk and finish paint the gable end wall is probably longer than the additional time it takes to frame the hip.
It makes such a difference in the appearance of a house, though, I think that it's more a question of style than cost.
b Been there, done that, can't remember ...
*Mark, I would tend to think that it's a wash. From a framing standpoint, it's about the same. We either spend time building the gable, or the hipset (trusses). My preference? HipsIncidently, the amount of sheathing and roofing material remains surprisingly constant.blue
*I'm speaking as a homeowner of an older house - not a builder.We live in a hip roofed house that has changes in elevations in about four different places in the roof.We love the look of the low pitched, graphite color shingled roof that goes with the 1950's era brick ranch with some touches of prarie style details.As for maintaining the house, it has been a pain in the butt working in the attic, especially close to the eaves. No room to maneuver. Lots of crouching and crawling. (I hope this rewiring project I'm in the middle of is just a one time deal.)And the miles and miles of guttering that is required.....and some of the runs are very very long.Downspout locations have to be well thought out in advance to make sure the water drains away from the house.And I get tired just thinking about adding soffit vents, which I need to do after adding ridge vents couple of years ago.I've made an article suggestion on extending out a hip roof at odd angles other then 90-degrees or straight out. For the novice this seems like a mind boggling challenge.
*Back to the money part. Looking at the size of the house, exactly where else is your friend going to try to save. This baby is a monster. But then again, a few nickles here, a few nickles there. I guess it adds up. My preference, a hip with no penetrations a normal roofer can't flash. Best of luck.
*Mark,The footprint of this house is pretty large, a simple gable with a 1' overhang and an 8:12 pitch would put the ridge 15'+ above the facia. Assuming a plate height of only 8', adding 2' for grade your house will be in the neighborhood of 25' high, dosen't sound too bad but it is almost 80' long. A hip roof may be a better alternative. Depending on the size of the dormer's, this could come together looking alright. I'd suggest viewing elevation renderings of both styles, this may simplify the decision.BestJ.R.
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I agree with J.R. A gable that high in the air will offer no protection to the first floor windows and doors. Do storms hit this side of the house? Are there a lot of windows that need/don't need lots of sun in the summer? What will be the use for this end of the house? We are building an addition with a gable end at 17' with a 7/12, and had to build an overhang and back porch to protect our patio doors from sideways rain. But the overhang makes that side of the house. Not as boring as a tall gable.
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I am doing some preliminary design for a friend. I suggested to them that a full gable roof would be less expensive to construct than a full hip roof on the house in question. Briefly the house is a two story (second story will be dormered) approx 45'0"d x 79'0"w. The roof in question will have an 8/12 slope. The exterior finish will be a cement siding product. Their first meeting with a builder it was suggested that a full hip would be less expensive to construct. Is this true, if so why? Help me understand something that seems to easier to construct with less cuts and common rafters, how could this cost more!