Thread: Is there is specific name for this architectural detail?

To wit, the little "dormers" above the windows - I don't think you can properly call them "dormers" as they have no side walls.

(That's a piece of gutter nailed the roof above them, its intended to divert water from between them to allow disconnection of a downspout at the gutter directly below it....this is a 1.4M home, BTW.)

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Originally Posted by Michael Thomas

(That's a piece of gutter nailed the roof above them, its intended to divert water

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Rain Diverted.
DIY: Installing a Rain Diverter - Danny Lipford
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Maybe, Dormetts.

If they were curved they would be called "eyebrows" or eyebrow dormers, they always fade back into the shingle pattern, since they are pointy maybe "goth eyebrows"?

They are gable dormers. Ths sidewalls are not a prerequsite for the definition.

I always called them "First place to leak".

"Gables"

Those are simply small "gable ends", just the jutting out roof, but I like Aaron's "gable formers" as that is all they really are: gables small enough to be considered dormers.

At what point (in larger size) would you call that a "gable"?

Usually the prerequisite of a dormer is a window. This is simply a gable.
Architectural Terms

The divergent points of view on the definitions of architectural details will go on forever. It's a regional thing. Call them dormers, call them gables, call them dormer gables, call them whatever . . . WTF does anyone care?

I've heard them called "Head Dormers" before, but they are dormers of some sort.

What's the point of the gutter between the "dormers" if there is no downspout?

There is no name.It is just an architectural detail.Look at the windows,fascia and gutter.Think about how they would look without that detail above the window.Think about the shape of the ceiling inside that room.

That is a gable type dormer. See attached photo.

Great but where is the window?And size does matter.

Originally Posted by Michael Garrity

Think about the shape of the ceiling inside that room.

Michael,The ceiling is probably flat.Just like if those were not there.Those are probably just 'stuck on' to the roof deck.With nothing else done in the attic.Or the ceiling.

your guess is as good as mine,but looking at the windows I am going to guess that the first 18 or so inches of that ceiling follows the roof line before it flattens out.Think height.

Originally Posted by Michael Garrity

your guess is as good as mine,but looking at the windows I am going to guess that the first 18 or so inches of that ceiling follows the roof line before it flattens out.Think height.

I am thinking height, and I think there may well be just a header across above the windows and the windows are up near the ceiling, just the minimum header depth down, and that could ... could ... allow for a flat ceiling.

Your guess is as good as mine.

M.T. are those steel casement windows?

Originally Posted by Michael Garrity

Your guess is as good as mine.

M.T. are those steel casement windows?

Yup. Throughout the house, except for three vinyl replacements.

And that *is* a piece of gutter nailed to the roof.

In this burb, you get a *lot* for 1.4M!

Originally Posted by Jerry Peck

I am thinking height, and I think there may well be just a header across above the windows and the windows are up near the ceiling, just the minimum header depth down, and that could ... could ... allow for a flat ceiling.

Because the designer don't want to have a window up near to the ceiling. Here is the photos I took last year showing why a gable dormer is needed. See the flat ceiling is higher than the level of gutter.

Originally Posted by James Risley

Would have been cheaper to raise height of structure. Was the structure subject to a max building height requirement and was built this way to get a second floor into the structure?
Or could this have been an exercise in "how to build condensation areas"?
etc.

James, that is true. The structure have an envelope for the max height requirement. By my experience, there are no condensation problem at the dormers shown.

Originally Posted by James Risley

What about the condensation possibilities in the inaccessable (?) attic areas?

The perforated soffit and gable vents providing good ventilation. This 10 years old house has no condensation signs in attic.

IMO, it's pretty tough to single out any individual factor as adequate to control excessive attic condensation, for example a ventilation method that is successful in attic with well-controlled air infiltration from conditioned spaces below might be insufficient to prevent condensation in a similar attic with greater infiltration.

For that reason I would be reluctant to characterize any particular method as providing "good" ventilation except in the context of a particular attic