Adequate roof overhangs help shade windows in hot weather and reduce the amount of rain that hits your siding, windows, and doors.
Often designers pay too little attention to roof overhangs.
Roof overhangs have several important functions: they can protect exterior doors, windows, and siding from rain; they can shade windows when solar heat gain is undesirable, and they can help keep basements and crawl spaces dry. A house with improper overhangs can overheat in the summer, suffer from water entry problems at windows and doors, and have premature siding rot.
A typical gable roof has two kinds of roof overhangs: eave overhangs and rake overhangs.
Because it’s easier to frame a wide eave overhang than a wide rake overhang, problems from stingy overhangs are more common at rakes than eaves.
While it’s impossible to stop all wind-driven rain from reaching your walls, wide roof overhangs make a big difference — especially if there is just one story under the overhang. As an experience Pacific Northwest Designer, General Contractor, and custom home builder, I have a wide variety of project examples that show the elegant integration of protecting the envelope while delighting the eye.