What is a gable shoulder?
In construction, the shoulder (Dutch: schouder) has two meanings:
- On gables: a gable shoulder is the built-out area of masonry at the foot of the sloping sides of a pointed gable. The sloping gable edge does not run all the way down to the gutter, but ends on a short, horizontal or widened piece of wall. This is seen mainly on tuit gables (Dutch: tuitgevel) and other traditional Dutch pointed gables, where the shoulders form the transition between the side wall or gutter and the sloping top of the gable.
- On fortifications: the shoulder angle (also epaule angle) is the angle between the face (the outward-facing sloping side) and the flank of a bastion.
Application
On old gables, the shoulder is a vulnerable detail. It sits where the sloping gable edge, the roof and often the gutter meet. As a result, it has to cope with a lot of rainwater.
Points to watch during maintenance and restoration:
- Check the coping: shoulders are often capped with natural stone, a brick-on-edge course or lead/zinc. Loose or cracked copings let water into the masonry; repair them in good time.
- Junction with gutter and roof: check that lead or zinc flashings fit the shoulder properly and that no water runs behind the gutter or the roof boarding.
- Joints: replace weathered joints with a mortar that suits the brick; for historic masonry often a lime-based mortar, not too hard.
- Frost and cracks: look for frost-damaged bricks or cracks between the shoulder and the gable; this often indicates long-term moisture penetration.
- Listed building? For protected buildings, repairs usually have to be agreed with the local authority and carried out with appropriate historic materials.
Related Terms
- Gable end
- Bell gable (klokgevel)
- Neck gable
- Bastion
- Lime mortar
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