Building codes

That's interesting, Bassman. I've killed a lot of time pondering roof design issues and still don't know that answers. A friend and I recently debated the water-collecting potential of various roof designs. I wondered whether a typical hip roof would collect more water than a flat roof. I thought it might, since it has more surface area. He argued that it's not the three-dimensionality that mattered, just the planar area. Don't know who's right. Or if either of us is right.

He may be correct IF you assume that all rain comes straight down from the sky, which it doesn't. If you consider wind speed and the angle of the rain, I guess it's possible that a hip roof could collect LESS than a flat roof.

How about a shed roof, popular on many 70's style buildings? If it is oriented in the "typical" way (higher in the front of the house or view-side of the house, which may mean into the wind) it might collect far far less rain than any other type of roof.

All of my musings only raise more questions 🙂