Colombia
Joined: Nov 6, 2025
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Roof Pieces to build (almost) any roof
Hello everybody!
I have a couple of years using SweetHome3D, it is amazing. Thanks to the creators. I did see, one of the main needs of users (not only me) was the making of roofs. The main options was: â£Create a couple of identical walls at 45º, export as object, and import as roof. But if you wanted to insert a gable roof section into another, it looked good from above, but from inside, it was a mess (the corners of the inserted section were visible from below). Not to mention the creation of a hipped roof.
I've seen other answers, on YouTube, for example, about adding a roof, but the video creators did not share how did they get or make the roofs, only show how to place them.
I've just see does exist a plugin. I'd like to test it.
The objective was all pieces came from the same unit, so angles and shapes fit again in any form you want. From this model I did cut: â£A hipped roof half. â£An open gable roof segment. â£An insertion of an open gable roof segment upon a slope of another roof. â£A trim for a slope that will be inserted and fits with the above piece. â£A single slope â£A corner of two open gable roofs inserted with ridges at 45º.
As I did realize, SH3D draws textures upon objects as wallpapers projected from the zenit. If you import a piece of furniture coming from a CAD software whose "zenit" is different, the textures will be drawn very puddly. So I racked my brain a little more to fix all pieces in order as the textures were drawn in such way the roof-lines were 0k (the water drains down, not sideways).
And finally, with these pieces working, I created a dormer.
I share now a RAR file with all the pieces and a house to use as example of how to use these pieces, and for you to take from it the pieces if you want (This house hasn't a hipped roof, but the part is available in the compressed file).
Note: The rar file contains a set with the roof pieces in Spanish and another with the names in English.
As I told you, I'm not professional or expert. My models are useful for modeling visually a house, maybe there are obvious fails for users who really know about building houses. Please let me know.
My next goal is to build pieces able to construct roofs with insertions at angles different to 45º, like in this house:
Although, this wasn't a real house, only a set for American Pie 2. But the idea is nice.
Italy
Joined: Nov 17, 2021
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Re: Roof Pieces to build (almost) any roof
You should really try the Roof generator plugin, it is very easy to use, texture mapping works out of the box, and the result is highly customizable with little effort (moreover there are a lot of tutorials made by the author).
Romania
Joined: Apr 24, 2014
Post Count: 744
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Re: Roof Pieces to build (almost) any roof
Anyway you've added few extra useful pieces. I think you could pack it as an updated version of the old one and published on the same tread.
---------------------------------------- A computer program does what you tell it to do, not what you want it to do. Murphy's Law When all else fails, read the instructions. Murphy's Law If you don't like "AS IS", DIY. Dorin's law
Colombia
Joined: Nov 6, 2025
Post Count: 17
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Re: Roof Pieces to build (almost) any roof
0k, i'm here again.
Thanks to dorin, who cheered me up to enhance the set of roof parts.
Thanks to those who answered the post.
Here is the update:
- Monitor Roof included - Slope with square hole for chimney included - Shaded dormer - 8-faced and 6-faced kiosk roof - Border profile (Excuse me, I don't know the real name, but I've seen it in houses. It is a band to cover, hide blemishes and embellish the entire facade and borders of the roof). - Same old parts: * Open Gable segment * Single slope segment * joint tip/male (to insert an open gable at 90 grades to another) * joint couple/female (to insert an open gable at 90 grades to another) * Corner of two V roofs (at 90 grades) * hipped roof half * Gabled dormer
Everything has this enhancement: A lower layer with independent material. So, once you finish your roof from above, the base (ceiling of the attic) is ready as well!
Most of the parts has the "border profile" included. If you use a part in middle of other and need no "border profile", make it invisible. You can make invisible only one and leave the other one.
The use of the parts is available in the model house of the images and the SH3D model that is linked.
I strongly recommend to build the roof in an independent level from the attic. So, place the attic's furniture in a 0.3m high level (upon all the other stories), and in a new level, 0.3 above the attic level, build the roof (with no room, obviously).
The parts are infinitely stretchable.
The "border profile" name in the RAR file is "bisel-ractangular".
Issues to improve in a near future:
- Include a magnetism feature between these parts. I don't know how to do it. But would be nice to add it because in the 3D view, imperfections in the fitting of parts aren't viewable enough, or doesn't look very important, but once you render a picture... look at the pictures of this post. Don't worry, you'll be able to 100% fit manually the pieces. The rendering will tell you how you did it.
- Textures shrink alongside with a piece and become unrecognizable from some extent. I do not know how to fix it, so far.
- A folder with the pieces of roof - The house model (of the pictures of this post) - The pictures of this post.
Comment:
I hope to stay making improvements. I want to try the roof generator plugin, of course. I will tell you my opinion.
From the first moment I used SweetHome3D and wanted to make roofs, I had this idea and I developed from absolute 0. No idea of architecture nor CAD. My goal is no competitive, it is collaborative. If someone find this useful, it will make me happy.
Remember, this pieces work as a puzzle. Use them to build any roof you imagine.
Readers and members of this forum, please share this post. I haven't realized there was a 10yo idea almost identical. That is because search engines show only results of 10 or 15 giants of information, and what isn't in there, doesn't exist. Prr.
I'll be waiting for your comments and ideas to improve this set.
