Flat Roof Houses

G.J. Gardner Homes’ design approach extends to every part of the home, from the final touches to finding the right roof. 

Flat roofs offer a modern and updated take on the expected pitched style. Instead of two slabs inclining to meet one, a flat roof is a single slab flat over the home structure. The perfect finish to modern homes, a flat roof offers many benefits beyond just its aesthetic. 

Flat Roofs Explained

Originally, flat roofs were most common in warmer parts of the world as they offered additional space in the outdoors to be repurposed and used like a deck. But by the 60s, flat roofs became a fixture of modernist design. The flattening of the roof reflected a wider shift in home design, with this era seeing the rise of clean lines, minimalism and architectural looks. 

Today, a flat roof is the perfect finish to a modern and sleek-styled home. Whilst they offer plenty of function-focused benefits, flat roofs are celebrated for their aesthetic appeal. A roof like this is untraditional. By going against a classic pitched style, you bring interest and intrigue to your home from the outside in.

Types of Flat Roof

Skillion Roof

A skillion roof is the most popular of this style and is a flat roof in its truest form. Rather than using two slabs to create a roof, a skillion style involves one flat slab covering the home. These can be completely flat or at an angle.

Clerestory Roof

This roof style offers a modern middle ground between the skillion roof and a pitched roof. Clerestory features two slabs extending at different angles; instead of meeting in the middle to form a pitch, the roof reaches a vertical slab with windows. This allows for additional light to flow inside and offers two flat roofs. 

Butterfly 

A butterfly roof is an inverted-pitched roof. Whilst many butterfly roofs opt for a serious downline for a dramatic and architectural shape, they can also be designed to look almost flat. 

Benefits of Flat Roof Houses

Aesthetic

No matter the flat roof design you opt for, your home is guaranteed to have a unique and contemporary look. Flat roofs offer major aesthetic benefits by reinventing this classic home feature and contrasting it against the average home. 

Budget-friendly

Flat roofs are cheaper to install because they need less materials. Not using rafters and other features needed for pitched roofs can majorly reduce costs as well as the time is taken to install them. The cost of a flat roof’s materials themselves is a lot less than the materials needed for a pitched roof.

Makes maintenance easy

Due to their shape, flat roofs are easier to maintain. Their surface makes it more convenient and safe to walk over, ideal for cleaning and managing. However, a flat roof can cause standing water if the right drainage isn’t installed. Our G.J. Gardner Homes design team will be able to advise how to best customise a flat roof to ensure it’s ready to face the climate.

Solar panels

A flat roof maximises the absorption of solar panels and makes installing and enjoying this sustainable energy source more convenient. In the long run, an efficiency-minded home from the outside can save you thousands in energy bills. By opting for a flat roof, you improve the power of this renewable energy as the panels have more access to direct sunlight. 

Get in Touch

The exterior of our homes deserves just as much care as the interior. As one of the first things you see when you come home, the right facade can ensure your home is a joy to return home to each day. Our friendly G.J. Gardner Homes team can help you begin your home-building journey today, get in touch now.