What is a hip (roof)?
A hip is a sloping triangular roof surface formed by cutting back the gable end of a pitched roof at an angle instead of carrying the roof slopes up to a vertical gable wall. The resulting roof shape, where one or both ends slope inwards, is known as a hipped roof.
How does hipping work?
On a standard gable roof, the two main roof slopes run to a vertical gable wall at each end. When the roof is hipped, the gable is replaced by a sloping surface:
- Fully hipped — the sloping surface extends all the way down to the eaves. This produces a hipped roof
- Half-hipped (gablet) — the hip covers only part of the gable; above it, a small section of vertical wall remains. This is called a half-hip or jerkin-head roof
Construction
Hipping requires additional structural elements:
- Hip rafters — diagonal rafters at the corners where the hip begins
- Jack rafters — shortened rafters that do not reach the ridge but land on the hip rafter
- Shortened ridge — the ridge board is shorter than on a full gable roof
Applications
- Farmhouses — many traditional rural buildings have hipped ends
- Hipped roofs — a roof hipped on all four sides is a full hipped roof
- Wind resistance — a hipped roof presents less surface to the wind than a large vertical gable
- Aesthetics — hipping gives a roof a distinctive, traditional character
Related terms
- Hipped roof
- Gable roof
- Roof construction
- Hip rafter
- Jack rafter
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