House extension roof designs - what are the options?

The roof design of a house extension can take all manner of various designs from simple flat roofs to complicated multi-pitched roofs interconnected with the existing.  There is no set accepted formal interpretation of a roof design for each type of house extension.  It is a matter for personal choice of the homeowner and their house extension designer or architect.

The roof design selected for a house extension is possibly the biggest influencing factor in whether or not a house extension fits well into the existing site and property. Get it wrong and the house extension can look awful.  Even the smallest piece of missing detail can render the project ugly or cheap looking.

Examples of getting a home extension roof wrong could be:-

1 - A flat roof without a decent soffit or eaves overhang / projection for example can resemble a farmers pig pen in an instant.

2 - A shallow pitched roof adjoining a steep pitched roof with the associated mismatched fascia levels can look equally disjointed and inappropriate.

The most flexible design of roof is for a single storey rear extension to a detached two storey dwelling house not having a street scene.  For this type of extension most home owners can choose between flat of pitched roofs and all the composite variants in between that would be entirely accepted through planning permission if prior planning approval from the council was required.

The most restrictive roof design for a house extension is proposal for a two storey front and side extension where the planners will almost always insist on a matching pitched roof using matching roof covering materials.

There is a trend now for more contemporary design of extensions where the flat roof has returned with avenge - even for dormers and side extensions.  I am not so sure this is a good thing as many follow trends for a 'styalised' extension without any real design considerations for the correct and appropriate use of external materials for example. 

Many modern / contemporary looking home extensions built today will become very tatty looking and outdated within a few years just like the fashion in the 1970's for uncoated aluminium louvered windows - remember them.