Roof Styles Explained
- Home Designs
The short version
- Four roof styles cover most new homes: gabled, hipped, flat and skillion.
- Gabled suits Hamptons and country looks. Flat and skillion suit modern homes. Hipped gives you wide eaves and copes well with wind.
- Two main materials: roof tiles (terracotta or concrete) or coated steel like Colorbond.
- Steel is non-combustible, which matters if your block has a BAL rating.
- Eaves do a lot of the work on summer heat. YourHome explains why below.
There’s no denying that choosing a roof for your home is an important decision. Not only does a roof protect us from the elements, but it also has a significant impact on the look and feel of your new home.
So, where to begin? If you have a style of home in mind, be it contemporary, coastal or classic, allow this to guide your roof selection. For instance, a gabled roof is perfect for Hamptons-style homes, while a flat roof suits the aesthetic of a more modern-style home. Some materials and colours are also better suited to coastal or rural settings.
Rawson Homes has a range of home designs with different roof styles to choose from, which allows you to put your own personal stamp on this important structural element. Scroll through our galleries here.
Just starting out? Start by weighing up your options with this rundown of the most popular roof types.
Gabled roof
Also known as a pitched or peaked roof, a gabled roof is made up of two sloping sections that meet at the top. Cost-effective and easy to maintain, they’re perfect for country or Hamptons-style homes. Add dormer or circular windows to let in the light or use the vacant space in the peak as an attic. The Mayfield home design with Hamptons façade features a double-gabled roof. 
Hipped roof
Similar to a gabled roof, a hipped roof features three or more pitched planes sloping down from a central ridge. The generous eaves provide shade and excellent wind-resistance, making them a good choice for coastal areas. Those eaves earn their keep in summer. The Australian Government's YourHome guide to shading explains that a well sized eave or overhang keeps the high summer sun off your walls and windows, which cuts the heat coming into the house. Check out the Keough design. 
Flat roof
As the name suggests, a flat roof is almost completely level, with a slight pitch to allow for run-off of rainwater. This style often features in modern homes and is constructed from concrete or metal. Thanks to its simple structure, a flat roof is an economic and easy-clean option. Our Seville home design features a flat roof. 
Skillion roof
Popular in coastal and suburban homes, a skillion roof is a single flat roof pitched at a dramatic angle. Its clean, modernist lines make a striking statement, and the slanting nature is well suited to skylights and solar panels. The Alandra façade below is a good example, and you'll find skillion options across our current home designs.
Roof styles compared
Here's the four styles side by side. The actual price depends on the design, the material and the size of the roof, so treat the cost column as a rough guide and ask us for a like-for-like quote.
| Roof style | Cost | Maintenance | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gabled | Cost-effective. A simple two-plane shape. | Easy. | Hamptons, country and classic homes. |
| Hipped | Depends on the design. Three or more planes instead of two. | Depends on the design. | Coastal and windy sites, homes that want wide eaves. |
| Flat | Economical. Simple structure. | Easy to clean. | Modern and contemporary homes. |
| Skillion | Depends on the design. One plane at a steep angle. | The angle suits solar panels and skylights. | Coastal, modern and suburban homes. |
Roof materials
The second thing to consider for your roof is the materials you'll build it from. There are two main options for roofing materials, and it will ultimately come down to the overall aesthetic you’re trying to achieve:
Roof tiles
Roof tiles are long-lasting, energy-efficient and easy to repair, and come in a range of shapes, colours and profiles, adding character and charm to your home’s façade. Choose from terracotta tiles, made from kiln-fired clay and topped with a coloured glaze, or concrete tiles, a blend of sand and cement with a tinted pigment mixed through. Colours range from burnt oranges and browns to greys, blacks and even metallics.
Coated steel roofing
Corrugated iron roofs have long been synonymous with Australian architecture, but more recent advancements mean that today’s sheet-metal roof products are now better equipped than ever to withstand our harsh weather conditions. Strong, non-combustible and easy-to-maintain, painted steel like Colorbond suits all roof styles. It comes in a range of profiles, including flat and corrugated, and colours and achieves a sleek, more minimalist aesthetic. Lighter shades deflect more heat than dark ones, so if you're building somewhere hot, a pale roof is the safer pick. Colour is only part of it, though. The YourHome shading guide puts eaves first: keep the summer sun off your walls and windows and the roof colour has less work to do.
Non-combustible also matters if you're building in a bush fire prone area, where your block gets a Bushfire Attack Level. The NSW Rural Fire Service lists six BAL levels, from BAL-LOW up to BAL-FZ (flame zone), and the requirements for your roofing and gutters get stricter as the level climbs. Every Rawson home is built with a Colorbond® roof and a 60mm Anticon blanket underneath, so if your site has a rating, talk to us early about what it means for the rest of the build.
Interested in learning more? Contact us to learn about the roof styles and materials we have available.
Frequently asked questions
What is the cheapest roof style to build?
Usually a gabled or flat roof. A gabled roof is two sloping planes meeting at the top, and a flat roof has a simple structure with just enough pitch for rainwater to run off, so both are the economical picks of the four. The real price depends on the size of the home, the material you choose and the design, so ask your builder for a like-for-like comparison before you decide.
Are roof tiles or Colorbond better in Australia?
It depends on the look you're after and where you're building. Tiles are long-lasting, easy to repair and come in terracotta or concrete, with colours from burnt orange through to grey and black. Coated steel like Colorbond is strong, easy to maintain, comes in a range of colours, suits all roof styles and is non-combustible, which helps on a block with a bushfire rating. Tiles give you character and charm. Steel gives you a sleeker, more minimalist finish.
Does roof colour affect how hot my house gets?
Yes, a bit. Lighter shades deflect more heat than dark ones, so a pale roof takes in less over a summer day. But colour is only part of it. The YourHome guide to shading points out that keeping sun off your walls and windows with well sized eaves has a big effect on summer heat, so get the eaves right first, then choose the roof colour you like (within BASIX, NCC and council requirements).
