Hey,
we currently need to decide whether to include roof eaves or not.
Unfortunately, we are not allowed to post the plans online, so here are the key details:
- New build
- Two floors (ground floor and upper floor)
- Gable roof
- Dormer with flat roof on one side
- Ridge height: 7.5 meters (24.6 feet)
- Eave height: 4 meters (13.1 feet)
- Location: Karlsruhe area, outskirts, near open fields
- Exterior material: standard plastered and painted
The architect does not recommend roof eaves, stating they offer no real benefit and add cost. Over the past weeks, we have looked at houses without eaves, mostly flat-roofed, since we found few gable roofs without eaves. Most of these had dirty facades with visible water stains on the walls and in some cases even water damage inside the walls. I can’t assess how these damages occurred—possibly poor workmanship during construction. After these inspections and discussions with family and friends, we are leaning towards the usual 70–80 centimeters (27.5–31.5 inches) of eaves.
What do you think is the best practice here (disregarding aesthetic preference for now)?
Thanks!
we currently need to decide whether to include roof eaves or not.
Unfortunately, we are not allowed to post the plans online, so here are the key details:
- New build
- Two floors (ground floor and upper floor)
- Gable roof
- Dormer with flat roof on one side
- Ridge height: 7.5 meters (24.6 feet)
- Eave height: 4 meters (13.1 feet)
- Location: Karlsruhe area, outskirts, near open fields
- Exterior material: standard plastered and painted
The architect does not recommend roof eaves, stating they offer no real benefit and add cost. Over the past weeks, we have looked at houses without eaves, mostly flat-roofed, since we found few gable roofs without eaves. Most of these had dirty facades with visible water stains on the walls and in some cases even water damage inside the walls. I can’t assess how these damages occurred—possibly poor workmanship during construction. After these inspections and discussions with family and friends, we are leaning towards the usual 70–80 centimeters (27.5–31.5 inches) of eaves.
What do you think is the best practice here (disregarding aesthetic preference for now)?
Thanks!
C
Costruttrice25 Feb 2024 15:39CheoRatharsair schrieb:
Was it just the paint color, or did you do anything else to make it work without a roof overhang?We didn’t do anything else. We used a facade paint from Keim; I can check later if you’re interested in the exact product. At our neighbors’ houses, the facade on the wind-facing gable was still white and protected up to about half a meter (20 inches) directly below the roof overhang, but the rest, as mentioned, became patchy and blackened after a few years. It looked especially bad after rain.
W
WilderSueden25 Feb 2024 17:03CheoRatharsair schrieb:
What do you think would be the minimum?~Protection from rain without wind is probably achieved with a 20cm (8 inch) overhang, but how often does that actually happen? I would also consider the aesthetics in this case. A 20cm (8 inch) roof overhang looks quite stubby. I find our 40cm (16 inch) plus about 10cm (4 inch) from the verge tile to be more balanced.CheoRatharsair schrieb:
Mainly flat roofs, since we found few gable roofs without eaves, checked them out and most had dirty facades where you could see water running down the wall and partially penetrating into it. Yes, that is because dirt actually runs down the facade directly from the parapet.
CheoRatharsair schrieb:
Standard eaves of 70-80 cm (28-31 inches). That is actually not standard. Any eave over 50 cm (20 inches) is usually counted toward the building footprint, so it is not considered standard for that reason alone.
The typical or standard size—as far as I remember—is around 30 cm (12 inches) on the eaves side and 40 cm (16 inches) on the gable side.
With such eaves, these dirty water streaks cannot occur.
Of course, the appearance also plays a role. There is the barn-style look where eaves are deliberately omitted, which works very well with wood cladding or brick facades.
Furthermore, eaves can be used to control solar exposure on windows but can also have a negative effect. Two-story urban villas with excessively large eaves allow less sunlight into the upper-floor rooms and can look like an oversized mushroom cap.
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