Hip roof or straight-line


  #1  
Old 02-11-23, 07:29 AM
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Hip roof or straight-line

We're still reeling from the loss of our home to a fire (Dec, 8th) and know we have a long way to go before we can even get it repaired/rebuilt. While the interior of the home sustained extensive soot/smoke/water damage, the exterior and interior wall studs are fine and won't need to be replaced.
The main fire spread through the attic of our 2-bedroom, 4-stall garage. The entire roof/rafters/trusses sustained the most damage and will need to be removed and replaced.
What my question is, as the original roof was a hip roof, will it have to be replaced in that same style or can a straight-line roof be installed? Are there any advantages/disadvantages to either style?
 
  #2  
Old 02-11-23, 09:40 AM
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Probably not-
The choice of roof style - gable, hip, gambrel, mansard, is mostly about aesthetics.
With modern pre-fab roof trusses, it's getting pretty close to simply "pick a roof, have it installed in a day" *(but you probably have to wait weeks to months for that fabrication and installation)

I've been a Realtor for almost 30 years, and the attic space is REALLY person-specific.
Some people want an attic staircase and full height / mansard 'just in case', others are fine with the cheapest, shallowest gable roof and pull-down-stairs, most are somewhere inbetween.

Your profile says Minnesota, so there may be a consideration that a hip roof has less total surface area to volume radio for you to deal with when you insulate. But, the OTHER school of thought is that you WANT a large volume of attic air for 'dead air' to help with insulation. That really depends on micro-climate and whether you have to worry about lake effect snow and ice dams (a cold storage-space attic means a cold roof and snow doesn't melt- a warm living-space attic risks a warm melty roof and ice issues.
 
  #3  
Old 02-11-23, 11:15 AM
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There are two primary drivers for what you will get as a replacement. Number one is money and number two is what you want. Do you have proposals yet? Do you have a GC and a contract? I would ask realtors in your area which style of roof has more curb appeal. I suspect that a hip roof truss would be more expensive than a typical gable roof truss.

My house had a stick built Gambrel roof with front dormers and a full shed rear dormer. When my roof was replaced our contractor said it would take a couple of weeks to get gambrel trusses made. He later came back and said that they would have to be engineered and custom designed and it could be months before he could get them. I told him to stick build the roof - and it still took him 3 months. I found out later that the real reason was that the gambrel roof trusses cost significantly more that a standard gable truss and that didn't square with what he estimated.
 
  #4  
Old 02-12-23, 05:34 AM
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Thanks all for your replies. We don't have a general contractor as of yet, the ones we've contacted are already booked up until next spring! :-(
Not concerned about actually using the attic space for anything, other than having it well insulated! :-) The opening we had there originally was just basically a cover that you had to move aside and use a step ladder to get up there.
We do have very good insurance to cover all our losses, was just more curious as to the pro's/cons of each style roof.
We have a pretty good idea on how difficult labor can be when installing a hip roof. My husband and I added 2-stalls to our garage in 2018 and except for the electrical and shingling, we did the work ourselves. (kinda hurts knowing that it will now need to be replaced)

The only thing we didn't like about the roof line, is that it looks like a runway! The garage is much larger than the living space and I'm definitely ok with that!
 

Last edited by mxmom; 02-12-23 at 05:35 AM. Reason: spelling
  #5  
Old 02-12-23, 09:52 AM
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Originally Posted by mxmom
The only thing we didn't like about the roof line, is that it looks like a runway! The garage is much larger than the living space and I'm definitely ok with that!
I would check out the architecture done in the 'prairie' style, including some Frank Lloyd Wright designs- Taliesin east & west-

That sort of design works very well on long low structures-
They often have some wide chimneys stickup up, which might be a good look, at lease for some firewalling of the garage from the home.
 
  #6  
Old 02-12-23, 09:56 AM
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Here's Walter V Davidson House, and Taliesin West



 
  #7  
Old 02-13-23, 03:11 AM
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Some ideas...
You MIGHT want to consider the "Robie House" for inspiration- some extended eaves on the roof for shade-
Perhaps a two-level step-down deck/porch on the left, perhaps a carport on the right.
Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie-House


 
 

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