A mansard or mansard roof also called a french roof or curb roof is a four sided gambrel style hip roof characterized by two slopes on each of its sides with the lower slope punctured by dormer windows at a steeper angle than the upper.
Pitch of mansard roof.
Now that you have a clear idea about what a gambrel roof is like let us explore the mansard roof in detail.
Just like the gambrel roof the mansard roof features a similar slope design on two opposite sides.
Although the style was used as early as the mid 16th century in england and italy and was employed by pierre lescot at the.
The steep roof with windows creates an additional floor of habitable space a garret and reduces the overall height of the roof for a given number of.
The design thus ensures even drainage from all the sides.
Being flatter the upper slope of the mansard roofs can rarely be seen from the ground and it provides maximum space beneath the roof.
In cross section the straight sided mansard can appear like a gambrel roof but it differs from the gambrel by displaying the same profile on all sides.
Pitched roofs begin with with slopes greater than 3 in 12.
Mansard roofs with nearly vertical faces can boast a pitch of 20 in 12.
The steep sides mansard roof mostly consist of a sharp point at the top of the roof.
The 45 degree roofs seen on a frame houses are 12 in 12 but roofs can be even steeper consider the mansard roofs introduced by french second empire architects in the middle of the 1800s.
However on the other pair of sides the mansard roof features the same sloping style.
On the other hand the traditional double pitch mansard roof can produce only reasonable drainage from the low pitch area of the roof.
Advantages of mansard roof.
The dormer windows extend on the lower slopes of the mansard roof typically like the gambrel roof architecture which creates a habitable area often referred to as a garret.