Hip vs Gable Roof: Pros, Cons and What It Means for Your Home

Most homes in Rhode Island have a gable roof, a hip roof, or a combination of both. Each shape has strengths, and each has its own spots where leaks tend to start.

Gable Roofs

A gable roof has two sloped sides that meet at a ridge, with a triangular wall (the gable end) at each end. It is the classic New England shape.

• Pros: simple to frame and roof, sheds rain and snow well, easy to ventilate, and usually less expensive to replace.
• Cons: the gable ends catch more wind, and the rake edges need good drip edge and fastening to stay put in storms.

Hip Roofs

A hip roof slopes down on all four sides, with no gable walls.

• Pros: very stable in high wind, with eaves on every side to protect the walls.
• Cons: more complex to frame and roof, more hips and ridges to cap, less attic space, and usually more expensive.

Hip and Gable Combinations

Many homes combine the two: a main gable with hip sections, or dormers and additions tied into the main roof. These roofs look great, but every place the planes meet is a valley or a wall intersection, and those are where leaks happen. Valleys need ice and water barrier, and roof-to-wall intersections need step flashing installed correctly and shingles cut back per the manufacturer’s details.

Which Is Better?

Neither shape is better everywhere. A hip roof handles wind well, and a gable roof is simple and cost-effective. On a replacement, the shape is already set, so what matters is doing the details right for that shape: the rakes on a gable, the hips and ridges on a hip roof, and the valleys and walls on a combination.