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Red Roofs!

ttwtt78640 said:
Many construction features "made sense" but often become mere habit. High pitched (steep?) roofs are better at shedding snow yet many exist (here in central Texas) where it hardly ever snows simply because that is how roofs were made in the "old country".
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High pitched roofs were built where I'm from, southern La., in old homes because they helped keep homes cool. This was before a/c. Hot air rises, so the hot air could escape to a large attic. Rooms had tall ceilings for that reason.

People also used the attics for storage back then, and converted them to rooms (multiple generations often lived together).

They are practical, IMO. I dislike those low pitched roofs. That's the ranch style roof that came into vogue I think in the 1950s-1960s. When builders started building little boxes of houses for the booming population after WWII. Rows and rows of ranch style houses, with garages facing front, front driveway. You can see it some movies from that era. Nothing wrong with it, but lacking the style of the higher pitched roofs, and gabled fronts.
 
radcen said:
On the flip side we now ignorantly ignore some beneficial features, too. Roof overhangs, for example, serve a purpose in hotter climates (provide shade to the side of the building to keep the inside cooler), yet many new subdivisions in the west and southwest are building new homes with no roof overhang whatsoever. Just to save a few bucks on costs. Then the homeowner has to pay more to cool their home in the summer. Long term cost for short term savings.
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Exactly. I was mentioning to some about all the design defects (what I call them) in homes I'm seeing. Stovetops being built with no counter space on the sides, narrow eaves, doors to the outside in back smack in the middle of a small den (requiring people to walk through a conversation area to go outside), fridge right next to stove, and the like. They said I was being persnickety. But these are basic house design features you see in quality and older homes. They are basic designs for the area of the country, for a reason.

Wide eaves, or at least decently wide eaves, is one of my requirements, for the reason you state. My current house has 3 foot wide eaves, keep the sun from directly shining into windows unless the sun is low in they sky.
 
JumpinJack said:
High pitched roofs were built where I'm from, southern La., in old homes because they helped keep homes cool. This was before a/c. Hot air rises, so the hot air could escape to a large attic. Rooms had tall ceilings for that reason.

People also used the attics for storage back then, and converted them to rooms (multiple generations often lived together).

They are practical, IMO. I dislike those low pitched roofs. That's the ranch style roof that came into vogue I think in the 1950s-1960s. When builders started building little boxes of houses for the booming population after WWII. Rows and rows of ranch style houses, with garages facing front, front driveway. You can see it some movies from that era. Nothing wrong with it, but lacking the style of the higher pitched roofs, and gabled fronts.
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The heat only escaped to the attic because of a lack of insulation. Those roofs typically had only gable end vents and sealed soffit (bird blocking). It is much more energy efficient to have vented soffit and a continuous ridge vent, regardless of the roof's pitch. It is also best to have the roofs surface finished in a light (highly reflective) color.
 
ttwtt78640 said:
The heat only escaped to the attic because of a lack of insulation. Those roofs typically had only gable end vents and sealed soffit (bird blocking). It is much more energy efficient to have vented soffit and a continuous ridge vent, regardless of the roof's pitch. It is also best to have the roofs surface finished in a light (highly reflective) color.
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You want heat to escape out of the attic, of course. But vents in the attic are only minimally useful. Radiant guard is a gimmick (to keep the heat away, supposedly).

Insulate the floor of the attic to the cooler air in the home, to the extent it was cooler before a/c. There's not a whole lot else you can do.

I'm convinced a tall attic space is helpful to keep the home cooler, having rented an apartment in a victorian home w/o a/c, which remained comfortable in deep southern, extremely humid hot summers. Tall ceilings inside, tall attic space, front door and back door in alignment (for air to pass through). The homes were designed to stay as cool as possible in the hot weather.

I agree that light roofs are very helpful. I've read they keep the attic space considerably cooler. Here in TX, I am amazed at the # of black and dark roofs I see. What were they thinking? When I had to get a new roof, I changed it from the dark color to tan. It's not only cooler, but looks better, too.

The tall roofline with gable at each side and gable in front is a very attractive design, exactly what Frank Lloyd Wright hated (which I THINK is where the style of ranch homes came from? The very low roof line with little attic space, straight lines all around the bottom of the roof that hugs the house. I grew up around such homes and really don't like them. There's nothing very cute or stylish about them at all. Just a box with windows.
 
JumpinJack said:
You want heat to escape out of the attic, of course. But vents in the attic are only minimally useful. Radiant guard is a gimmick (to keep the heat away, supposedly).

Insulate the floor of the attic to the cooler air in the home, to the extent it was cooler before a/c. There's not a whole lot else you can do.

I'm convinced a tall attic space is helpful to keep the home cooler, having rented an apartment in a victorian home w/o a/c, which remained comfortable in deep southern, extremely humid hot summers. Tall ceilings inside, tall attic space, front door and back door in alignment (for air to pass through). The homes were designed to stay as cool as possible in the hot weather.

I agree that light roofs are very helpful. I've read they keep the attic space considerably cooler. Here in TX, I am amazed at the # of black and dark roofs I see. What were they thinking? When I had to get a new roof, I changed it from the dark color to tan. It's not only cooler, but looks better, too.

The tall roofline with gable at each side and gable in front is a very attractive design, exactly what Frank Lloyd Wright hated (which I THINK is where the style of ranch homes came from? The very low roof line with little attic space, straight lines all around the bottom of the roof that hugs the house. I grew up around such homes and really don't like them. There's nothing very cute or stylish about them at all. Just a box with windows.
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Semi-related: Shouldn't people in hurricane prone areas have shutters... REAL shutters, not fake shutters for aesthetics if they have any at all... on their windows?

Or, if they've been around for longer than a year or two, shouldn't they already have plywood so they don't have to make the Home Depot run? I wonder how much plywood gets thrown out after a storm only to be purchased again before the next storm?
 
radcen said:
Semi-related: Shouldn't people in hurricane prone areas have shutters... REAL shutters, not fake shutters for aesthetics if they have any at all... on their windows?

Or, if they've been around for longer than a year or two, shouldn't they already have plywood so they don't have to make the Home Depot run? I wonder how much plywood gets thrown out after a storm only to be purchased again before the next storm?
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I'm one who always thinks that things should actually DO what they look like they're supposed to do. If you have shutters, I've long wondered why not have REAL shutters that actually close? Believe it or not, I have actually seen one house that did have real shutters. That was awesome.

As for plywood, there isn't much chance of a hurricane breaking windows. I grew up in hurricane territory (southwest Louisiana). Our windows never broke, and I don't recall anyone else's breaking, either. That's more of a threat with tornadoes, I think. It's the flooding that's the big danger with hurricanes. And the wind, if you're out in a car. Of course, you can have severe flooding like Katrina, but when the windows broke, the houses were being washed away. They broke because the flooding had gotten that high.
 
JumpinJack said:
I'm one who always thinks that things should actually DO what they look like they're supposed to do. If you have shutters, I've long wondered why not have REAL shutters that actually close? Believe it or not, I have actually seen one house that did have real shutters. That was awesome.

As for plywood, there isn't much chance of a hurricane breaking windows. I grew up in hurricane territory (southwest Louisiana). Our windows never broke, and I don't recall anyone else's breaking, either. That's more of a threat with tornadoes, I think. It's the flooding that's the big danger with hurricanes. And the wind, if you're out in a car. Of course, you can have severe flooding like Katrina, but when the windows broke, the houses were being washed away. They broke because the flooding had gotten that high.
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Testify!!!
 
The danger to window glass is less from wind itself although, given the right physics, suction can pull them out. It's about what gets thrown against them.

If the wind of hurricane or twister gets inside a house, dynamics change to the advantage of wind. The roof goes almost immediately afterwards. Not so much by push as by swirl created.

Turbulence is the most perilous, ask any pilot.
 
Chagos said:
The danger to window glass is less from wind itself although, given the right physics, suction can pull them out. It's about what gets thrown against them.

If the wind of hurricane or twister gets inside a house, dynamics change to the advantage of wind. The roof goes almost immediately afterwards. Not so much by push as by swirl created.

Turbulence is the most perilous, ask any pilot.
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Are you saying that when a roof gets ripped off a building it's because wind got in the house to create that dynamic? Interesting.

Usually, of course.
 
JumpinJack said:
I'm one who always thinks that things should actually DO what they look like they're supposed to do. If you have shutters, I've long wondered why not have REAL shutters that actually close? Believe it or not, I have actually seen one house that did have real shutters. That was awesome.

As for plywood, there isn't much chance of a hurricane breaking windows. I grew up in hurricane territory (southwest Louisiana). Our windows never broke, and I don't recall anyone else's breaking, either. That's more of a threat with tornadoes, I think. It's the flooding that's the big danger with hurricanes. And the wind, if you're out in a car. Of course, you can have severe flooding like Katrina, but when the windows broke, the houses were being washed away. They broke because the flooding had gotten that high.
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I'm thinking windows are protected so they won't be broken by flying debris.
 
JumpinJack said:
Metal roofs seem hot to me.
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To walk on, definitely.

There isn't much of a difference say 6 inches below, though. Doesn't make them any prettier though, least not in my taste.
 
radcen said:
Are you saying that when a roof gets ripped off a building it's because wind got in the house to create that dynamic? Interesting.

Usually, of course.
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It's certainly not the only factor but a pertinent one. Of course there's no guarantee that an impenetrable house front will save the roof. Often enough the roof alone will offer plenty of factors worth attacking.

Yet when air can engulf it with considerable speed both top and bottom, the greater surface that the top usually provides, plus the outward (upward) bulge, will give it the same lift qualities that an aircraft wing provides.

When appropriately (heavily) fixed to heavy load bearing walls (lateral load), a gabled roof is more in danger than a multi-sloped one like a hip roof (4 slopes). Deflection is the key. That of course becoming irrelevant if the winds can get underneath.
 
MaggieD said:
I'm thinking windows are protected so they won't be broken by flying debris.
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Yes....but there is almost never flying debris in hurricanes in residential areas, believe it or not. I'm not saying it couldn't happen. I'm sure it has a few times. It's just rare. I was born and raised there. Played in the flooded streets and all, along with teh snakes and whatever else was in the waters. I don't recall anyone's windows ever getting broken. I can only speak about personal experience.

Some people, as I recall, did keep extra wood around, or sandbags, but I don't recall who, or if they ever used them. It was more common to run across people who had sandbags for protection against flooding. Most common is having a generator for loss of power. But most people had none of these things. Hurricanes are a common occurrence down there, and most result in no home damage in residential areas (except for certain designated high flood risk zones).

The homes most in danger were mobile homes, or homes out in the country, where there wasn't city drainage, more wind, lightweight mobile homes.

Here in Dallas we have tornadoes. There is more damage from flying debris from tornadoes. But I don't have wood for my windows. The real danger is losing the house entirely, not a few windows breaking. I also don't know how I'd put wood up to cover the windows on a brick home, except to nail to my existing shutters. I have interior shutters, which I closed, but probably weren't that protective.

My family has had to evacuate there a few times. I'll ask my father about what he did before evacuating the last time. I know he prepped his house. I'll see if he boarded his windows. I'm going to guess not, but I'll ask. The reasoning, I think, is that....if it gets that bad, the windows are the least of your concern. If anyone would have boarded up the house for protection, it would've been my dad. He's particular about things. I'll ask.
 
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Chagos said:
To walk on, definitely.

There isn't much of a difference say 6 inches below, though. Doesn't make them any prettier though, least not in my taste.
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I'm guessing the sound of rain would be a lot louder, which would freak out my dogs.

I don't like metal things on a house, after spending years with steel frame windows. They are hot in summer, cold in winter, and not efficient.
 
JumpinJack said:
I'm guessing the sound of rain would be a lot louder, which would freak out my dogs.
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Adjoining a bedroom but otherwise free-standing, I had a garage once with metal on top. Never mind the dogs (that I also had), it freaked me out when it rained.

I don't like metal things on a house, after spending years with steel frame windows. They are hot in summer, cold in winter, and not efficient.
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Agreed. Gimme "natural" any time.
 
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