ROOF

, in Architecture, the uppermost part of a building; being that which forms the covering of the whole. In this sense, the Roof comprises the timber work, together with its furniture, of slate, or tile, or lead, or whatever else serves for a covering: though the carpenters usually restrain Roof to the timberwork only.

The form of a Roof is various: viz, 1. Pointed, when the ridge, or angle formed by the two sides, is an acute angle.—2. Square, when the pitch or angle of the ridge is a right angle, called the true pitch.—3. Flat or pediment Roof, being only pediment pitch, or the angle very obtuse. There are also various other forms, as hip Roofs, valley Roofs, hopper Roofs, double ridges, platforms, round, &c.—In the true pitch, when the sides form a square or right angle, the girt over both sides of the Roof, is accounted equal to the breadth of the building and the half of the same.