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WHAT IS A SKILLION ROOF?

In the world of roofing, the skillion roof is one of the most popular ways to give your home a contemporary and sophisticated look.

This style is so sought-after that we dedicated this entire article to helping discover what’s so special about the skillion roof design and why you might want one for your own house.

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WHAT IS A SKILLION ROOF?

In simplest terms, a skillion roof — also known as a mono-pitched roof, shed roof, or a lean-to roof — is a kind of roof that has only one single flat slope rather than two.

When it comes to conventional roof styles and designs, the skillion roof design differs from typical gable and hip roofs by having the one slanting side that extends from the ridge as opposed to two or more sloping sides that meet at the peak of the ridge.

While loosely resembling the flat roof design commonly found in Australia, which also has one entirely flat surface, a skillion roof differs in the steepness of its pitch.

Perhaps better known as a “shed roof,” the skillion roof design has been used in the architecture of sheds and other industrial buildings throughout Australia for many years now. Over time with the addition of new ideas and tastes, more modern skillion roof designs have been developed to give homes a stunning visual appeal while also keeping them safe.

HOW TO DESIGN A SKILLION ROOF?

There’s a variety of different skillion roof designs and ideas when it comes to planning out a new roof for your own home. Instead of settling for your basic, ordinary skillion roof, you can choose from a number of unique skillion roof variants, each of which offers its own sense of style and aesthetic. To help give you an idea of what’s possible, here’s two of the most popular types of skillion roof designs you can add to your home.

Butterfly/Double Skillion Roof Design

The best way to envision a butterfly skillion roof is to picture the opposite of a regular gable roof. Rather than having two sides of a roof that slope down and outward from the ridge, a butterfly or double skillion roof has two skillion roofs that slope down and inward from the outer edge of the house and meet at the middle ridge. This gives the visual appearance of a butterfly’s wings from a distance.

Oval Skillion Roof Design

An oval skillion roof incorporates round edges to the roof’s design, resulting in a roof that has a more circular shape. The curved surface of an ova skillion roof gives off a more organic look and feel to your home and is also more wind resistance. However, the curvature involved in building oval roofs makes it a more expensive option than other less rounded designs.

Split Skillion Roof Design

Lastly, another popular type of skillion roof design involves a mix between a traditional gable roof and the skillion roof, where one side of the roof peaks higher than the other.

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WHAT IS A SKILLION CEILING?

Skillion ceilings are similar to roof designs in that it involves one singular flat surface that descends from one peak to one low point. Skillion ceilings differ from skillion roofs in that the slope depends on the heights of the home’s interior walls rather than the roof.

While you don’t necessarily need to have a skillion roof in order to have a skillion ceiling, not having matching design styles for your home can be incredibly costly and may not be the most visually appealing.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF HAVING A SKILLION ROOF?

Skillion roofs have been growing in popularity in recent years due to the variety of advantages that they give homeowners as opposed to more conventional roof designs. Here’s a few of the main benefits you get from having a skillion roof.

Better Drainage & Water Collection

The steep slope of a skillion roof allows water to run off faster than with other roof styles, which lowers the risk of your home experiencing drainage problems. In turn, this also means your roof is less likely to leak or encounter an unwanted buildup of mould and moisture. In some cases, you might not even need to have sarking installed in your roof, as there’s less of a need for waterproofing. The butterfly/skillion roof design in particular makes it easy to collect and reuse rainwater, which is useful if you’re looking to design a new home that’s sustainable and eco-friendly.

Environmentally Friendly

Adding to the ability to collect and reuse rainwater, skillion roofs are also great for installing solar panels, as the flat, sloping roof provides an optimal surface to capture energy from sunlight. You may also benefit from incorporating a skylight into your skillion roof to let in natural light, which boosts your energy savings.

Heating, Cooling, & Natural Light

In addition to letting in more natural light, a skillion roof helps to regulate the temperature in your home by providing more surface area for your sun to warm your home, while also protecting your house from getting too cold in the windier winter months.

Better Affordability

Skillion roofs actually tend to be cheaper and faster to build than more standard gable roofs. This is because skillion roofs only have one slope, which means fewer materials are needed to get the job done.

That means you’re able to give your home a more modern, minimalistic look while also reducing your building costs.

HOW DO YOU INSULATE A SKILLION ROOF?

The proper way to insulate a skillion roof depends on whether or not your roof has exposed or concealed rafters. If your roof has exposed rafters, then you should install insulation over the ceiling lining between the purlins. In the event your skillion roof has concealed rafters, than the insulation should be installed between the rafters.

Learn More About Skillion Roofs

The increasing popularity of skillion roofs as well as the overall visual charm of their flat roof design makes this style worth considering if you’re planning on building a new home. If you want to get more skillion roof design ideas, speak with our team of expert roofers to find the best solution for your home at the best prices. 

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