Learning, Sharing, and Teaching > Ask a Mustachian
why *wouldn't* you have a roof overhang?
nereo:
Recently had to redo some siding due to water intrusion from a poorly installed gutter, and as a result I've been noticing people's roof lines a lot more.
Lately I've noticed quite a few homes (generally colonial style) where there is zero overhang on at least two sides of the house (generally the pitch side, but not always). I'm not a roofer but this just seems like a really poor design - any light breeze or debris on the roof and the water trickles down the side of the building. Is this a dumb design, made to save a few $ on materials but leave the home more vulnerable to water intrusion, or is there really no advantage to having a 6" or 12" overhang all the way around
FWIW these aren't very expensive nor very cheap homes, but your run-of-the-mill lower middle class dwellings.
zolotiyeruki:
For the builders, margin is everything. On a $250k house, a few hundred dollars saved on labor and materials for that overhang can make a noticeable impact on the bottom line. It's not just the overhangs, but a hundred other similarly small things that each save dozens-to-hundreds of dollars. Like moulding or fascia made from MDF instead of solid wood, 2" toilets instead of 3", tile that only goes 18" above the tub (if there's no shower there), rooms with switched outlets instead of a ceiling box for a light fixture, the bare minimum attic insulation, etc.
It's a matter of economics. The vast majority of buyers are sensitive to price and appearance (easy to see), not to quality of materials or workmanship (harder to notice). A builder that spends the extra money to build a high-quality home will have a much harder time staying in business.
Jon Bon:
Yeah I hear you on this. On of those little things that cost a few hundred bucks extra while the house was being built but makes all the difference NOT having it.
Its the old adage you could make the house 50% stronger for 5% more cost, but no one does this, because cost.
All houses should have an overhang!
Car Jack:
Overhang is awesome. On my own house, the south side is lots of floor to ceiling glass with a 2 foot overhang. Blocks the summer sun but winter sun gets in (sun is lower in the sky in the northern hemisphere in the winter). No water issues, the glass never even has droplets.
For some reason, the north side of the house is traditional cape looking with about 1/2 inch of overhang. We've tried gutters (they have all sucked and all been removed, usually because they fail in the middle of a huge rainstorm and cave in, pouring all the water directly on a window). I've certainly thought about having the roof extended about a foot to end the dripping onto the side of the house.
Radagast:
Less wind uplift :) but that is proportional to overhang length, so if you only have a small overhang that seems purely beneficial. Or, if you live in a stone house with a fire resistant stone roof, like a castle, maybe.
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