What is a Dormer Gable Roof?
Webster's Dictionary defines the word "gable" as the triangular part of a wall that ends at the roof. When a dormer is inserted into a gabled roof, it takes on the shape of a small house with a window inserted into the front of it. It has its own roof that juts from the main roofline. It enhances a home as well as making the interior space brighter and more spacious. Does this Spark an idea?
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History
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Dating to the early 16th century, dormers were originated by the French architect Francois Mansart. He originally introduced the Mansard roof, which is a four-sided, double-pitched steep roof. When Mansart included windows in the sloping roofs, they became known as dormered roofs. This type of architecture was widely used in France, and dormers became popular in the United States. The word gabled refers to houses with peaked, sloping roofs--which fall from ridge to eaves and create peaks or triangles to the front or side facades of the house. Used in residential construction, gable dormers were added to Cape Cod-style homes from the 1600s through the 1950s. In today's homes of two to four stories, dormers are often added horizonatally at the roofline. Gable dormers are found in Colonial Revival, Georgian, Shingle, Queen Anne, Stick Homes, Chateuesque and Tudor homes, among others.
Function
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Dormers have encouraged attic space usage and enhanced bedroom space.They also add texture and interest to homes.
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Types
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Roofs have two basic shapes. They are either gabled or hipped. Gabled roof dormers extend outward from the roofline, imitating a small house with walls, windows and a roof. Classic gable dormers are a tight box shape with a pediment roof known as a tympanum. Half-gabled, half-hipped dormers slant toward the front and then slant on both sides of the dormered gable roof. Due to the roof angles, these are difficult to build. They are known in the building trade as jerkinhead or clipped gables.
Benefits
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Adding space, light and ventilation to the upper portions of a house, the gable dormer increases living space and airflow to the structure.
Identification
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Depending on the pitch of the dormered gable and which accents are added to the trim, you can identify the style of home. An example is a Gothic Revival home, which sports a steep, gabled, dormered roof accented with bargeboard ornamentation cutouts along the gabled edges. Gabled dormers are easily spotted in many neighborhoods in America. They are still popular, and home styles can easily be identified by the style of roof and gable dormer each has. Cape Cod-style homes are famous for their gabled dormers and are easily identified.
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