Standard Gambrel Roof Pitch

Besides its unique appearance a gambrel roof also serves to maximize the usable floor space in the attic area.

Standard gambrel roof pitch.

If at all possible it looks the best at exactly half. Reverse that for the bottom angle. Therefore if your roof rises 4 inches over the course of 12 inches of horizontal run then your roof pitch is 4 12. The shallower the top pitch the more squatty it will look.

A shred roof has a flat straight pitch to it. In other words if you start with a say 14 12 bottom pitch your top pitch should be 7 12 or greater. Gambrel roof framing geometry calculator inch this gambrel roof fits in a semicircle and starts as the top half of an equal sided octagon. The picture below shows the pitch of a 7 12 roof slope meaning that for 12 of horizontal measurement roof run the vertical measurement roof rise is 7.

Keeping the roof pitch low to a 12 12 pitch will give you much easier angles to work with. A gambrel or barn style roof is simply a gable roof with a change in slope partway up the roof. Remember that pitch is calculated as the height or rise of a roof pitch over 12 inches of horizontal run. Determine a pitch for the top slope of the gambrel roof the rise in inches per foot from the midpoint connection to the peak.

Check overhang to calculate rafter overhang equal to the lower level cut at the full rafter depth. Make that pitch 12 7 a drop of 7 inches per foot from the connection to the wall. This is because when you have too much of a pitch you will need to go very high with the roof. The gambrel roof was the standard style during colonial america so the style gives you that old fashioned look and feel.

Calculating the roof pitch is straightforward. This measurement is best done on a bare roof because curled up roofing shingles will impair your measurement. My go to pitch combo is usually 14 12 bottom and 7 12 top. The rule of thumb that i use when designing a gambrel is that the top pitch should be no less than half the pitch of the bottom.

7 12 or a rise of 7 inches per foot is a common top gambrel pitch. It is usually used in smaller barns and open air buildings. Typically a gambrel roof does not have an extreme pitch to it. This is the simplest roof frame since it just needs the.