When I was designing my house, based on a real architects design who used Frank Lloyd Wright's Usonian houses as a starting place, I got some good advice from a solar energy expert and my builder. This came before we put a shovel in the ground. The solar advisor said that I had to have 4 foot (3.2 meters) overhangs on the south side to shade the rooms in the summer, and that it was best to go at least 2 feet (0.6 meters) around the rest of the house. We did, and put a four foot overhang on the north too. My builder said bluntly, "All Frank Lloyd Wright's houses leak. I won't build unless you give me at least a 2.5 slope." That's 2.5 inches per foot on the roof, as I learned. I did. We have no regrets. It keeps the straw bale walls dry. They are coats with 4-5 cm of cement stucco outside, and the same amount of Structolite (brand name) on the inside. Overhangs work. I would do it this way again. We've been living in the house almost 26 years.
I live in Calgary, AB, where last year we had (as is typical) a massive hailstorm that damaged many buildings - especially those with vinyl siding. Perhaps strong roofing materials and wide overhangs could have reduced or prevented some damage - but then the houses would have to be further apart (building code issue) to attempt to avoid fire spreading from building to building. Of course, better fire prevention on exterior walls and roofs would be helpful, too...
Every time I see a new house with zero overhangs, I feel bad for the owners — especially 10 or 20 years from now. Keeping rain from sheeting down the walls and windows is just common sense. Thanks for the article!
I couldn't agree more. Most new subdivision homes in the Midwest now have only 6" on the gables and 12" at the bottom of the roof. It just looks wrong to me. Give me FLW's massive overhangs any day!.
Only caveat: we definitely need to figure out how to make them more fireproof, especially the way wildfires are growing exponentially.
My own house has a 3 ft eave it's perfect for sun shading from April to August.
My one attempt at a no eave roof in the 90's, it was a lot line set back problem, resulted in a total wall failure, I was lucky to not be sued. Never again.
Before getting involved in building my own house, I did not pay that much attention to waterproofing, thinking that my typ. details would be built by competent people. I know....
After doing work, some by myself, on my own project, I have a better appreciation to simple solutions to complex problems, and overhangs, and sloped roofs are one of those. No need for expensive waterproof membranes or other products, which will eventually leak.
We are in the midst of an exterior building retrofit on our own 1960 colonial house in Maine, which was built with no overhangs. It had a 1990s one story addition, which was built to match with no overhangs. We discovered that the roof edge flashing on the addition was directing water BEHIND the gutters, leading to total rot of the exterior wall. The load-bearing framing had to be replaced entirely. In addition to 2” of exterior insulation, new WRB, new windows, new roofing, eave and ridge vents, and new cladding — needless to say, we are adding overhangs on the entire house!
thx for covering this key topic. We will need even more shading as climate keeps heating up...BTW, WIND DRIVE RAIN is already a big problem in Canada, and is projected to get worse with climate change, including NE region of US.
When I was designing my house, based on a real architects design who used Frank Lloyd Wright's Usonian houses as a starting place, I got some good advice from a solar energy expert and my builder. This came before we put a shovel in the ground. The solar advisor said that I had to have 4 foot (3.2 meters) overhangs on the south side to shade the rooms in the summer, and that it was best to go at least 2 feet (0.6 meters) around the rest of the house. We did, and put a four foot overhang on the north too. My builder said bluntly, "All Frank Lloyd Wright's houses leak. I won't build unless you give me at least a 2.5 slope." That's 2.5 inches per foot on the roof, as I learned. I did. We have no regrets. It keeps the straw bale walls dry. They are coats with 4-5 cm of cement stucco outside, and the same amount of Structolite (brand name) on the inside. Overhangs work. I would do it this way again. We've been living in the house almost 26 years.
I live in Calgary, AB, where last year we had (as is typical) a massive hailstorm that damaged many buildings - especially those with vinyl siding. Perhaps strong roofing materials and wide overhangs could have reduced or prevented some damage - but then the houses would have to be further apart (building code issue) to attempt to avoid fire spreading from building to building. Of course, better fire prevention on exterior walls and roofs would be helpful, too...
Every time I see a new house with zero overhangs, I feel bad for the owners — especially 10 or 20 years from now. Keeping rain from sheeting down the walls and windows is just common sense. Thanks for the article!
I couldn't agree more. Most new subdivision homes in the Midwest now have only 6" on the gables and 12" at the bottom of the roof. It just looks wrong to me. Give me FLW's massive overhangs any day!.
Only caveat: we definitely need to figure out how to make them more fireproof, especially the way wildfires are growing exponentially.
My own house has a 3 ft eave it's perfect for sun shading from April to August.
My one attempt at a no eave roof in the 90's, it was a lot line set back problem, resulted in a total wall failure, I was lucky to not be sued. Never again.
Before getting involved in building my own house, I did not pay that much attention to waterproofing, thinking that my typ. details would be built by competent people. I know....
After doing work, some by myself, on my own project, I have a better appreciation to simple solutions to complex problems, and overhangs, and sloped roofs are one of those. No need for expensive waterproof membranes or other products, which will eventually leak.
We are in the midst of an exterior building retrofit on our own 1960 colonial house in Maine, which was built with no overhangs. It had a 1990s one story addition, which was built to match with no overhangs. We discovered that the roof edge flashing on the addition was directing water BEHIND the gutters, leading to total rot of the exterior wall. The load-bearing framing had to be replaced entirely. In addition to 2” of exterior insulation, new WRB, new windows, new roofing, eave and ridge vents, and new cladding — needless to say, we are adding overhangs on the entire house!
thx for covering this key topic. We will need even more shading as climate keeps heating up...BTW, WIND DRIVE RAIN is already a big problem in Canada, and is projected to get worse with climate change, including NE region of US.
MORE INFO: See slides 21-22 at Climate Ready Design: Assessing and Preventing Indoor Overheating (Phillips and Higbee, Apr. 2022). Greenposium, AIA Westchester Hudson Valley, NY. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1E-OOGiF74XUGab_1dC5bp4rb0MFyNmyQ/view?usp=sharing.
There might be new climate change projections on this impact by now from Canada, NY State et al.