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The roof is an essential part of the building, and the one that is post affect by climate factors and the most difficult to build. It was originally the first structure of the house, earlier than the walls, the foundations and other construction features, to the point that the roof, along with the fire, defines the house and, to a certain extent, sums it up in everyday speech; thus, the expression "to be under a roof" is used or people without anywhere to shelter are known as "roofless".

Timber was the main, if not the only, material used to construct the frame of the roofs. It has been replaced by concrete as the use of the latter became widespread.

Tiles were the main material used to cover roofs, at least during the 20th century. They are called ''teila'' in Basque.

In the past, the tiles were manufactured locally and they were the same in appearance. They are now bought on the market and there is greater variety.

Even though this section started with tiles, as they were the most frequent material, in the past and in at least part of the territory studied, timber and stones were used, along with other items that were easily available locally. It should be noted that shingles were used in the Pyrenean area where there are many beech trees, which provided the material for them.

Shingle, along with slate roofs, was possibly the earliest ones. Those materials were placed by tiles and the former were only then used for huts or livestock buildings.

In the past, stone was another important material to roof the houses. With the passing of time, stone began to only be used for outbuilding and smaller structures.

As regards the chimney, it was an essential element until a few years ago and in turn a means of identifying the different typological models of rural housing. The disappearance of some, along with the poor state of repair of others is greatly down to the removal of low flame stoves or energy-saving cookers from rural houses. Brick was used to build them in the majority of cases.