Renovating Your Roof: Considerations For Changing Your Roof Pitch

As a homeowner, have you ever considered changing your roof’s pitch? Perhaps you want your roof to display a steeper slope because it tends to pool excess water following a heavy rainstorm. Maybe your roof is so steep that you can afford to lessen its angle without jeopardizing its performance. Changing a roof pitch involves many crucial considerations that may make this roofing project feasible or impractical, if not impossible.

6 Situations That Warrant Changing A Roof Pitch

Adjusting your home’s roof slope can provide certain advantages that more than justify the investment of time and financial resources. Consider the following benefits:

1. Additional Curb Appeal

Changing a roof’s slope can improve a home’s aesthetic appearance. In some cases, the roof may feel overly steep. Reducing the pitch can help the house appear more appealing. Conversely, a home may have a flat or low-sloped roof. Increasing the pitch can accentuate the roof, especially if the roofing material is attractive.

2. Address Structural Challenges

Perhaps your roof is sagging, or maybe underlying components are deteriorating. Adjusting a roof’s slope may resolve these concerns. When a roof’s angle changes, the roofing professional can replace faulty components with structurally sound roofing materials, including new decking and underlayment.

3. Adjust Interior Spaces

Have you long sought vaulted ceilings? Do many of your rooms feel cramped and stuffy? Raising ceilings opens up interior spaces and makes them more airy and comfortable. Increasing a roof’s pitch promotes additional usable indoor space. As a homeowner, you benefit. A future homebuyer will also appreciate the home’s openness.

4. Allow A New Home Addition

Many homeowners prefer not to move if they need more living space. They simply want to construct an addition. Changing the roof’s pitch allows the creation of a home addition. A steep roof can be removed to allow another floor of the home to be constructed, and making a roof more sloped may allow a new attic space.

5. Enhance Resistance To High Winds

If powerful winds frequently adversely affect your home, consider modifying the roof’s pitch. An overly steep roof may be more susceptible to wind damage. By constructing a shallow-pitched roof, your home will not be subject to the full force of the prevailing wind. A knowledgeable roofing pro can help determine the proper slope angle.

6. Improve Rainwater Shedding Efficiency

Water runoff is crucial to a home’s drainage system. If water cannot exit a roof efficiently, the likelihood of it pooling on the roof increases. The risk of moisture infiltrating or leaking into a home’s interior also rises. A steeper slope allows gravity to pull water down the roof quickly and effectively.

Challenges With Adjusting A Roof’s Slope

Modifying a roof’s pitch may seem like a great idea. However, moving forward with such a roofing project could be difficult.

Cost-Benefit Trade-Off

• The price for construction, including labor, materials, and permits, can make changing a roof’s slope extremely expensive or, in many cases, cost-prohibitive.

Reduction In Usable Space

• When a roof’s angle is modified, the result can be a shift in usable living or storage space in the upper area of the home, including the attic.

Potential Problems With Increasing Your Roof’s Pitch

Difference In Energy-Efficiency

• A steeply sloped roof can decrease energy efficiency and complicate adding new insulation or upgrading the ventilation system, resulting in higher energy costs.

Difficulties With Maintenance

• A roof presents challenges with maintenance and upkeep. A much more steeply sloped roof can be complex and dangerous to keep in good working order.

Increased Wind Load

• If you elect to steepen the roof’s pitch, it will become more vulnerable to wind damage because more surface area will be created.

Preparing For Increasing The Pitch Of An Existing Roof

As a homeowner, if you are exploring the possibility of changing the slope of your current roof, consider the following steps to ensure a smooth process:

       1. Thoroughly analyze the existing roof structure with a knowledgeable and reputable roofing contractor.

       2. Calculate the desired roof pitch with the roofing company while evaluating the possible implications.

       3. Prepare the rafters, the internal walls, and the roof decking to account for the changing roof pitch.

       4. The roofing contractor will modify the roof’s pitch while maintaining the home’s structural integrity.

       5. To complete the project, the roofer will install the roofing materials and fulfill the insulation requirements.

Working With A Knowledgeable Roofing Professional

For homeowners in and around Norfolk, VA, Stevens Roofing provides exceptional residential roofing services. We understand the ins and outs of what to do about modifying a roof’s slope. We’ll help answer your questions and provide you with possible, practical solutions.

Contact us today to schedule a free consultation or to obtain answers to any of your roofing inquiries.