Most houses have a sloping (or 'pitched') roof, made from a triangular-shaped wooden frame that's covered with tiles or slates. The weight of the tiles is supported by pairs of sloping rafters, whose heads meet at a central ridge board and whose lower ends are fixed to timber wall plates on the external walls of the house.

Tiles are made from baked clay or concrete, and can either be flat or moulded into various profiles. Slates are smooth flat pieces that are cut from rock (natural slate) or man-made. Pitched roofs can be built in a number of different ways, depending on the size and design of the house.