What Is the Roof Pitch for a Ranch House?

Ranch-style houses can be found in many communities across the United States. This style was first popularized in the 1930s and quickly become a dominant residential architecture throughout the 1940s, 50s and 60s.

Ranch-style homes often feature low-pitched roofs.

The ranch style’s adaptability was one of the reasons for its widespread use, with a variety of materials, floor plans and construction materials.

Ranch-Style Home Features

A ranch-style home consists of a single floor with a simple design. The shape of the home is often plainly rectangular or in a T or U shape. Attached garages, formal dining rooms, sliding glass doors and picture windows to enjoy the suburban landscapes are often featured in these designs. Roof lines are often very simple to fit in with the overall plainness of the home design. Although some considered the simple ranch too functional, its adaptability and ease of maintenance make it desirable even today.

Roofs on Ranch Houses

Ranch-style homes most frequently feature a gable roof, a simple triangle in shape. These roofs are inexpensive and easy to construct and helped make ranch-style homes affordable to build during the post-war period. Gable roofs on ranch-style homes can have a variety of pitches, from low to steep. Gable roofs offer the advantages of easily shedding rain and snow in cold climates. Hipped roofs are also common, which offer a slightly different design and lower pitch. Roof pitches can be as high as 12:12, according to the MHImperialHome website.

Choosing a Low-Pitched Roof

A low-pitch roof has less area and is therefore cheaper to construct. This savings can reduce the overall cost of a house. A low-pitch roof is easier to walk on for do-it-yourself cleaning and repairs. Low-pitched roofs are generally less pleasing to the eye than high-pitched roofs, and they may need some additional color to provide interest to the exterior design of the home.

Choosing a High-Pitched Roof

When you choose a steep pitch for the roof of your ranch-style home, you allow more interior clearance in the roof area. This room can be an advantage for those who do roof repairs or other structural work in the attic area. High-pitched roofs also shed rain and snow more effectively than lower pitches. A high roof pitch is also more aesthetically pleasing on ranch houses, giving them additional visual height to carry the eye upward. High-pitched roofs are hazardous to work on, which may add to the cost of repairs or replacement.

The Drip Cap

Ranch-style houses can be found in many communities across the United States.
Ranch-style homes most frequently feature a gable roof, a simple triangle in shape.
Low-pitched roofs are generally less pleasing to the eye than high-pitched roofs, and they may need some additional color to provide interest to the exterior design of the home.
This room can be an advantage for those who do roof repairs or other structural work in the attic area.

Check out this related video from Homesteady on Youtube.