Types of Dormer Roofs – Family Roofing

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Types of Dormer Roofs

Below are the different types of dormers that have been designed over the years to let in light and add more space to attics.

Two dormers on a roof.

Dormer roofs are the little rooms that project from a roof and allow more space and light in the top floor or attic.  As architectural styles have shifted, architects and builders have invented more ways to build dormers.

1. Arched Top

Arched top dormers often point to architectural styles that originated in France.

2. Eyebrow

White eyebrow shaped dormer on top of curvy brown roof.P

With their curiously curved roofs, eyebrow dormers frame views from houses of several architectural periods, including the Shingle style houses popular in East Coast seashore communities.  Eyebrow dormers are also used on houses where the roofing shingles are curved around eaves to mimic the look of thatch.

3. Gabled

Small dormer with a pointy roof that slopes down on either side.

Gabled dormers have a peak at the top and a roof that slopes downward on either side.  This is the most common type of dormer.

4. Flared Gable

Multiple windows on a dormer.

This is basically a gabled dormer, but the dormer roof flares out in the same way that the main roof on a house often flares out to accommodate a porch or an addition.  On the dormer, the flared roof helps shade the windows, a boon when dormers face south or west in regions where summers are hot.  Intricate corbels support the overhang of the roof.

5. Pedimented

Four dormers lined up on a roof.

Pedimented dormers are similar to gabled dormers, but they incorporate details rooted in classical architecture.  On pedimented dormers, molding emphasizes a similar triangular shape.  Vertical molding on either side of the windows stands in for columns.

6. Shed

A dormer that has a flat top sloping downwards like a shed rooftop.

A shed dormer (visible behind the peaked roof on the house shown here) has a roof that slopes in only one direction, toward the front.  Many freestanding sheds have roofs that look similar, hence the name of this style of dormer.

7. Steep-Roof Shed

A shed dormer on a mansard roof.

Fit into a steeply pitched mansard roof, this shed dormer sits almost flush with the surrounding slates.  Mansard roofs are similar to hip roofs except that each side has two parts: a steep section near the walls and a barely slanted section toward the middle of the building.  This creates an attic that’s fully usable, so it’s probably no surprise that dormers often are found on mansard roofs.

8. Hipped

A grey hipped dormer on a hipped roof.

On a hipped dormer, the roof slants back as it rises, and this occurs on the front as well as on the sides.  Hipped dormers, not surprisingly, are often found on houses where the main roof is hipped as well.

9. Recessed

Roof with an inset dormer and four windows.

Recessed dormers, also known as inset dormers, have one or more walls that are set into the roof, rather than placed on it.  This style of dormer allows the windows to be deeper than they might otherwise be.

11. Wall

Two wall dormers on a house.

Wall dormers aren’t surrounded by roof, as most dormers are. Instead, as their name implies, they rise from a wall.  Except for this feature, though, they span the full range of dormer styles, from arched top to shed roof to hip roof.