Standard House Roof Pitch

Pitches above 9 12 are very highly angled and are designated steep slope roofs.

Standard house roof pitch.

What is the standard pitch for a roof. With regards to the pitch the building standard code bs 5534 recommends a minimum pitch of 20 0 for slate roofs. Hipped roofs are also common which offer a slightly different design and lower pitch. In degrees 10 2 in 12 or 1 in 6 is considered a minimum.

There is no standard universal roof pitch. Arctan 3 12 14 0 the primary purpose of pitching a roof is to redirect water and snow. The exact roof slope in degrees is given by the arctangent. These are utilized in residential applications.

Gable roofs offer the advantages of easily shedding rain and snow in cold climates. The steeper the roof the more expensive the trusses get because the longer the boards get and the more roof area increases. The vertical rise of the top chord per 12 horizontal inches is the roof pitch or slope. Pitches lower than 4 12 have a slight angle and they are defined as low slope roofs.

The ibhs recommends a 4 to 6 pitch roof. Definitions vary on when a roof is considered pitched. But since there is still a wide variety of slate roofing systems there are occasions when the minimum pitch can go down to as low as 15 0 depending on the uniqueness of the roof. Roof pitches exceeding the level of 9 12 or approximately 37 degrees are termed steep slope roofs.

This is for the top level of a 3 story building that is 26 by 64. For example 4 12 pitch means 4 inches of rise in 12 inches of run. In the uk the typical house has a pitch between 40 50 although 45 should be avoided. This measurement is best done on a bare roof because curled up roofing shingles will impair your measurement.

Roof pitch varies depending on culture climate style and available materials. The most commonly used roof pitches fall in a range between 4 12 and 9 12. 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. Gable roofs on ranch style homes can have a variety of pitches from low to steep.

Contemporary houses often have flat roofs which shouldn t be completely flat but should be around 1 40. In the usa the range of standard pitches is anywhere between 4 12 and 9 12. Thus pitch is typically greater in areas of high rain or snowfall. One engineer recommends a 12 12 pitch for the new roof while another recommends a 7 12 pitch.

Some of the most common roof pitch types are conventional slope type roofs designed with pitch ranging from 4 12 to 9 12. The table below shows common roof pitches and the equivalent grade degrees and radians for each.