Ridge & Rake Tile Families

Line Based Tile Families -
When using Revit on small scale residential or commercial buildings, while we do not model individual roofing tiles, a more realistic appearance can be achieved by adding ridge, rake, and hip tiles to the model.

These families are derived from some very familiar ones which have been around for several years, their origin now obscure. The individual tiles are created using the geometry 'swept blend' with external profile families. This choice allows the profiles to be mirrored parametrically.
The tiles are nested into a line-based generic family and arrayed with constraints to the beginning and end. The tile spacing is variable 


I modeled a Revit roof for each roof pitch that we normally encounter, then used sections and detail views to determine the appropriate angle for each hip and ridge type.

Families are placed by drawing on a selected roof face, or by selecting a roof edge using the 'pick line' tool. (In some cases the families install opposite of the intended direction with this method.)

As the line-based family may be hosted to either face, a yes/no parameter is included to reverse the profile.


The roof tile material may be assigned in Object Styles > Generic Models > Roofing Tile.


With line based families, the Trim, extend and align tools are active and facilitate placement, as depicted in this short video...

The families may be downloaded from the 'Files and Families' tab above.