Roof – A New House

If you go back 39 years most houses had proper eaves but now they are less common.

As I travel around I sometimes see new houses with eaves on the front facade but non elsewhere, which I think looks weird.

If you are thinking about ‘eaves’ on your new house here are some advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages

The eaves keep the rain off the walls. As well as improving the weather proofing this helps improve the thermal performance of the walls in winter.
They will shade north facing windows in summer while letting the winter sun in. (This effect is negligible for windows facing in other directions and only about 50% effective for full length windows and patio doors)
Appearance. I think they give a more finished appearance and the shadow line adds interest.

Disadvantages

Cost. A typical cost is around $80/m2 so 600mm eaves all the way round a typical house could add around $4,000 to the cost. 450mm eaves will be a little bit cheaper.
You can’t build as close to the boundary which can be important if you have a narrow block.

As for me my first Australian house had eaves, but my next house did not so I have a foot in both camps.

I didn’t mind the look of the design without eaves and I built a pergola on the north side for shading.

Are you for, or against, having eaves on your new house?

This covers zincalume, galvanised steel and colorbond. Following are a few thoughts:

In general a metal roof is noisier as you can hear the rain (which I like)
They are fairly light so they don’t put as much load on the structure.
With modern screw fittings they can be extremely resistant to very high winds and hail.
Might get dented but will still be weatherproof in extreme hailstorms.
Less likely to leak.
Can be laid at lower pitch Which means the roof isn’t as high.
They are capable of lasting over a 100 years with minimal rusting.
Available in zinc finish or a wide range of colorbond colours. Zinc finish will be best for reflecting heat, followed by lighter colorbond colours.
Can be more expensive than tiles.
Fitting solar panels will be cheaper and easier on a steel roof.

One drawback is that you will need an external TV aerial and mobile phone coverage may be worse than under a tiled roof.

Can be clay, terracotta or concrete. Their characteristics are:

Concrete has lower initial cost although some clay tiles and terracotta tiles can be very expensive.
Provide better insulation both heat and noise.
Heavier.
Brittle.
Need to be individually screwed down in high wind areas.
Wide range of colours.
Can add character especially as they age.

I have previously had a steel roof but now have tiles.

If building again I would probably go for metal.

Do you like the sound of rain on the roof?

Tag: Roof