A study for the skyline of 
a house at Chestnut Hill, Pa., Edmund B. Gilchrist, architect 
Cost, Texture and Design in Roof Planning 
A BRIEF RESUME OF THE POSSIBLE ROOF TREATMENTS AND THEIR RELATION 
TO THE TYPES OF HOUSES—ARTISTRY IN THE SKYLINE OF THE HOUSE . 
Harold Donaldson Eberlein 
A CHAIN is no stronger than its weakest link, and a house 
no whit beter than its roof. This is true both with re¬ 
spect to the actual material fabric and the worth of the archi¬ 
tectural design involved. If the roof is unsound and leaky all 
the rest of the structure suffers serious impairment and begins to 
disintegrate. A leaking roof is held legally to invalidate the 
habitability of a bouse and, accordingly, in some places the pay¬ 
ment of rent cannot be enforced unless the roof be weather¬ 
worthy. Regarded from the architectural point of view, the 
roof is the oldest and, in many ways, the most significant feature 
in the evolution of the house, without which, indeed, a structure 
can scarcely be called a bouse. A well-designed roof may do 
much to offset an exterior in other respects poor, but a bad roof 
will assuredly pull down the rest of the house to its own level 
of mediocrity or worse. 
Since the roof is a feature of such vital importance, it be¬ 
hooves the prospective house builder or remodeller to weigh and 
study well all the possibilities open to him in the direction of 
roofing. For the sake of convenience and clearness it will be well 
to consider the subject under three principal heads — structure, 
which will include the character of the materials and their cost; 
texture and color; and, finally, architectural design, which covers 
the tout ensemble, including contour or skyline with the many 
legitimate opportunities afforded for creating points of interest 
and individuality. As a preliminary step to the threefold ex¬ 
amination proposed it is necessary to make some classification of 
the most usual 
types of roofs. 
They are as fol¬ 
lows : flat, lean-to, 
span or ridge 
(sometimes 
called “coupled 
rafter”), gambrel 
or curb, mansard, 
hipped, gabled 
and jerkinhead. 
The physical- 
form of the roof 
according to one 
or another of the 
types just men¬ 
tioned will neces¬ 
sarily influence 
the choice of material for covering. For example, it would be 
impossible to use slate, shingle or thatch on a flat roof. Some 
covering without joints or interstices that the water can penetrate 
must be used instead. Notwithstanding the fact that several 
fairly recent country houses with flat roofs have been designed by 
clever British architects, the type is not usual enough to require 
extended consideration further than to offer a few hints that may 
be put into effect in dealing with decks or any of the flat or vir¬ 
tually flat areas that occasionally occur in connection with a 
roofing scheme of different character. These approximately flat 
areas must, of course, be given a slight incline for the sake of 
drainage. For a satisfactory covering large tiles, like flooring 
quarries, laid in mastic cement may be recommended. This may 
be well done for about 35 cents per square foot. Heavy lead — 
five-pound lead is a good weight — may also be suggested. This 
will cost approximately 60 cents per square foot. It is ex¬ 
pensive, but exceedingly durable and satisfactory. As a less ex¬ 
pensive covering, deck canvas, well coated with shellac or water¬ 
proof paint, may be used. This covering, however, is only sug¬ 
gested for sleeping porches, where it is likely to be under con¬ 
stant inspection, for disaster will follow the least neglect or acci¬ 
dent. In using canvas, the edges or gutters against the coping 
must be well flashed with lead or copper. 
The lean-to roof needs no specific consideration here, since it 
may be regarded as the half of a span or ridge roof, the sort that 
next claims attention. The slope of the span or ridge roof, at 
least the tradi- 
tional slope 
which long ex- 
p e r i e n c e has 
proved the most 
advisable in dif¬ 
ferent countries, 
is governed to a 
great extent by 
climatic cond i- 
tions, and, in a 
general way, it 
may be said that 
the pitch becomes 
steeper as the 
latitude becomes 
higher. The steep 
pitch is obviously 
Slate is used effectively on the roof of this English country house, the roof lines of which, characteristically British, 
might serve as a model on this side 
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