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Shed Roof Design Involves Two Separate Stages:

1. The Conceptual Shed Roof Design � Which determines the roof shape. There are five principal shed roof designs discussed in this article;

� Pent
� Gable
� Hip
� Gambrel
� Salt-box

2. The Detailed Roof Design � Involves decisions relating to the roof covering (click here for more on shed roofing options) and decisions relating to the structural elements such as shed roof trusses, roof framing and rafters (click here for more on shed roof construction).

Types of shed roof

The pent roof shed
This type of shed has the simplest roof form. Its single slope is suited to buildings that sit against a fence or wall. The roof is a simple beam spanning between the front and back walls. The roof pitch is governed by the choice of roof covering materials and any planning restraints. The span of the roof is limited by the strength of the timber roof joists, for longer spans a mono-pitch truss could be used.

shed roof design 2

Gable roof shed
The roof of a gable shed is a simple duo-pitch roof truss. Storage can be achieved in the roof, or headroom can be increased by raising the bottom chord of the truss to form a raised collar truss. The angle of the shed roof can vary widely from a typical 20 degrees on mass-produced sheds to 70 degrees on a high-pitched gable roof shed. (When a roof slope exceeds 70 degrees the British Standard defines it has a wall !).

shed roof design 3

Hip roof sheds
Sheds with hip roofs are similar to gable roof sheds but the end-wall slopes in so that all four faces of the roof slope towards the ridge. Hip roof framing is more complex than gable roofs due to the compound mitres where the jack rafters meet the hip rafters. A hip roof shed has a visual advantage in that the sloping ends reduce the bulk of the roof, thus improving its appearance. The sloping ends do however reduce the potential for storing stuff in the roof. This style of shed roof is commonly used for pool house sheds and summerhouses where roof storage is not often an important criteria.

shed roof design 4

Gambrel roof sheds
The Gambrel roof construction achieved prominence in Dutch Colonial Architecture. Structures with Gambrel barn roofs allowed animals and equipment to be stored downstairs with a hayloft upstairs. Constructing a short span Gambrel roof truss for a shed is not the most efficient use of timber, however there is a big advantage in the amount of internal headroom available.

shed roof design 5

Salt box roof shed
The salt box roof shed originated as a fisherman's shed and was designed for its simplicity and strength to resist the wind coming in from the sea. This shed roof design is not symmetrical, one of the eaves is a lot lower than the other. The design is an extension of the gable roof with one side of the roof forming a �lean-to' extension or �cat-slide� roof.

After making the high-level conceptual shed roof design, the direction for detailed design is set.

Detailed design includes deciding the shed roof framing, material sizes and types to use.

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