A hip roof is a roof style in which all sides slope downward to the walls, with no vertical gable ends. Instead of two triangular walls like a gable roof, a hip roof has four, or more on complex shapes, sloped planes that meet at hips and a ridge. Hip roofs are generally more wind-resistant than gable roofs because of their shape, but they cost more to build and shingle because of their extra seams, hips, and roof area.
Look at a hip roof from any side and every wall ends in a sloped plane rather than a flat triangular gable. All four sides slope down to the exterior walls, meeting each other along diagonal hip lines and at a ridge on top.
That shape stands in contrast to a gable roof, where two sides slope and the other two end in a vertical wall. A hip roof has no gable ends at all.
The sloped shape gives a hip roof a real structural advantage in wind. With no flat gable wall for wind to push against directly, a hip roof sheds wind more evenly across its sloped surfaces, which is one reason it holds up well in storm-prone regions. That same aerodynamic profile is also why some coastal-state insurance programs offer a wind-mitigation credit for hip roofs after a wind-mitigation inspection, though the credit and its terms vary by insurer and state.
That same shape adds complexity, though. Every hip line is another seam that needs flashing and careful shingle work, and a hip roof typically has more total roof surface than a gable roof over the same footprint.
More seams and more surface area both add material and labor, so hip roofs generally cost more to shingle than a comparable gable roof, even before considering that hip roofs are also more complex to re-roof cleanly.
Roof shape is a real, honest reason two similar-sized houses can land at different replacement quotes. A hip roof costs more to shingle not because of the roofer, but because it is simply more roof to cover.
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