HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The eaves are the edges of the
roof A roof ( : roofs or rooves) is the top covering of a building, including all materials and constructions necessary to support it on the walls of the building or on uprights, providing protection against rain, snow, sunlight, extremes of t ...
which overhang the face of a wall and, normally, project beyond the side of a building. The eaves form an overhang to throw water clear of the walls and may be highly decorated as part of an architectural style, such as the Chinese dougong bracket systems.


Etymology and usage

According to the ''
Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a c ...
'', ''eaves'' is derived from the
Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th ...
(singular), meaning "edge", and consequently forms both the singular and plural of the word. This Old English word is itself of Germanic origin, related to the German dialect ''Obsen'', and also probably to ''over''. The Merriam-Webster dictionary lists the word as ''eave'' but notes that it is "usually used in plural".


Function

The primary function of the eaves is to keep rain water off the walls and to prevent the ingress of water at the junction where the roof meets the wall. The eaves may also protect a pathway around the building from the rain, prevent erosion of the footings, and reduce splatter on the wall from rain as it hits the ground. The secondary function is to control solar penetration as a form of
passive solar building design In passive solar building design, windows, walls, and floors are made to collect, store, reflect, and distribute solar energy, in the form of heat in the winter and reject solar heat in the summer. This is called passive solar design because, unli ...
; the eaves overhang can be designed to adjust the building's solar gain to suit the local climate, the latitude and orientation of the building. The eaves overhang may also shelter openings to ventilate the roof space.


Design

Aesthetic, traditional or purely decorative considerations may prevail over the strictly functional requirements of the eaves. The Arts and Crafts Movement influenced the American Craftsman tradition, which has very wide eaves with decorative
brackets A bracket is either of two tall fore- or back-facing punctuation marks commonly used to isolate a segment of text or data from its surroundings. Typically deployed in symmetric pairs, an individual bracket may be identified as a 'left' or 'r ...
technically called modillons, for which there is not necessarily a real functional need; likewise the Italian-style eaves. The eaves may terminate in a fascia, a board running the length of the eaves under the tiles or roof sheets to cap off and protect the exposed rafter ends and to provide grounds on which to fix gutters. At the
gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aest ...
s the eaves may extend beyond the gable end wall by projecting the purlins and are usually capped off by bargeboards to protect the wall and the purlin ends. The underside of the eaves may be filled with a horizontal
soffit A soffit is an exterior or interior architectural feature, generally the horizontal, aloft underside of any construction element. Its archetypal form, sometimes incorporating or implying the projection of beams, is the underside of eaves (t ...
fixed at right angles to the wall, the soffit may be decorative but it also has the function of sealing the gap between the rafters from vermin and weather. Eaves must be designed for local wind speeds as the overhang can significantly increase the wind loading on the roof. The line on the ground under the outer edge of the eaves is the eavesdrip, or dripline, and in typical building planning regulations defines the extent of the building and cannot oversail the property boundary.


See also

*
Chhajja A ''chhajja'' is an overhanging eave or roof covering found in Indian architecture. It is characterised with large support brackets with different artistic designs. Variation is also seen in its size depending on the importance of the building on ...
* Eavesdrip *
Eavesdropping Eavesdropping is the act of secretly or stealthily listening to the private conversation or communications of others without their consent in order to gather information. Etymology The verb ''eavesdrop'' is a back-formation from the noun ''eaves ...
*
Gargoyle In architecture, and specifically Gothic architecture, a gargoyle () is a carved or formed grotesque with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building, thereby preventing it from running down masonry wa ...
* Lookout (architecture) *
Overhang (architecture) In architecture, an overhang is a protruding structure that may provide protection for lower levels. Overhangs on two sides of Pennsylvania Dutch barns protect doors, windows, and other lower-level structures. Overhangs on all four sides of ba ...
* Rainhead *
Soffit A soffit is an exterior or interior architectural feature, generally the horizontal, aloft underside of any construction element. Its archetypal form, sometimes incorporating or implying the projection of beams, is the underside of eaves (t ...


References


External links

* {{Use dmy dates, date=March 2017 Architectural elements Roofs es:Cornisa