The roof is one of the most important structural elements of any building and structure, since the reliability, durability and quality of the object as a whole, its attractive appearance, comfort and coziness in the interior will depend to a greater extent on its condition. The period of operation of the roof covering depends mainly on how competently the selection of the most suitable roofing material and the laying of the soft roof are performed, taking into account the structural features of the building and, in particular, the structure of its foundation.
In this article, we will look at the main types soft roofs, we will describe the advantages and features of each of them, as well as provide instructions for their device.
Characteristics of soft roofs
Before you lay a soft roof, you need to familiarize yourself with its types and features.
Soft roofing is currently one of the most popular and sought-after types of modern coatings. It is widely used in the arrangement of roofing systems for industrial, commercial, public and, of course, residential buildings.
Soft roof technology is also actively used due to the affordability of prices, both for materials and components, the speed and simplicity of this type of finishing coating.
Good functional, operational and quality characteristics of such a design as roll roofing have long been confirmed by many years of operation of such structures.
Laying a soft roof of a modern type provides the following advantages:
- Sufficiently high strength, which allows a soft roof, unlike other types of roofing, not to be afraid of mechanical influences and sudden gusts of wind.
- Excellent flexibility.
- Waterproof.
- Fire resistance.
- Excellent sound-absorbing and sound-isolating qualities. Such material does not shield noise during rain at all.
As a rule, foreign and domestic manufacturers provide a wide range of different kinds of materials based on bitumen and fiberglass, which have different properties and final spraying.
In addition to these components, various additives and stabilizers can be added to soft roof materials, they can be coated with mineral compounds, etc.
The method of installing a soft roof depends entirely on the type of material, and is usually gluing or fusing, fixing by heat welding, mechanical connections, and other methods.
In fact, soft roofing is the general name for a number of materials, divided into the following groups:
- membrane coating;
- rolled bituminous roofing;
- flexible tiles.
About membrane coatings
Polymeric membranes are a waterproofing roofing material that simultaneously acts as a high-quality effective rolled waterproofing and can serve as a finishing coating for roofs of various types.
This material consists mostly of synthetic rubber, and the third part of the composition is special polypropylene. In addition, membranes in addition consist of chemical components that give the materials various positive qualities.
Laying a soft roof membrane type has the following advantages:
- Increased elasticity.
- Reliability.
- High resistance to atmospheric and negative climatic influences.
- Wide choice of color scale.
- Longevity, sometimes up to 50 years.
- High installation speed.
- Fire safety.
- The omnipresence of installation works (the installation of membrane coatings can be performed without changing the installation technology at any time of the year).
The use of soft polymer roofs is justified from an economic point of view when covering large residential, industrial and public buildings with high requirements for durability and quality. .
Soft membrane roof device
Membrane-type roofing has excellent waterproofing properties, due to which, during its installation, additional measures for waterproofing the roof structure are not required.
To understand how to properly lay a soft roof, you need to remember such features of soft roofs as different sizes of roofing sheets and their large width, which allow you to select the most optimal dimensions of rolls for almost any structural roof configuration and reduce the number of seams to a minimum.
In addition, the joining of membrane-type roofs to each other is carried out by hot air welding. This guarantees a more reliable and durable seam compared to the arrangement of traditional bituminous materials.
The connection of roofing sheets is performed using special equipment.
Installation instructions for soft roofing are based on three basic methods for installing roofing membranes:
- Ballast method. Suitable for roofs with a slope of less than 10 degrees (flat roofs). At the same time, an even and dense base is prepared (screed with a deeply penetrating primer) and roofing sheets are fixed along the roof perimeter.Next, they backfill with gravel or a similar material that serves as a ballast for the structure.
- mechanical method. Applicable with a relatively large slope of the roof slope. The method involves fixing the membranes to the base with the help of special fasteners and a tight hermetic connection in several places using special equipment.
- glue method. Used on roofs with complex geometry. Mounting adhesive is additionally used when exposed to strong winds on the roof.
About rolled bituminous roofing and its device
It is perhaps the most popular type of soft roof. Roofing roll materials are produced based on polyester or fiberglass with an external binding bitumen-polymer coating, and the internal base is made of bituminous mastic.
This allows you to use this type of coating when installing multi-layer roofs. In order to avoid cracking of the material during operation under the negative influence of significant temperature changes and precipitation, special modifiers are added to the rolled bitumen roof.
The installation of a soft bitumen roof provides for the preparation of the base for fusing the roof, which is usually any reinforced concrete surface, a heat-insulating layer, prefabricated or monolithic screeds.
For the arrangement of the preparatory layers, materials for various purposes are used, depending on the design documentation and the purpose of the structure.
The number of layers of roll-type roofing is selected depending on the slope of the roof, and the lower the degree of slope, the more layers must be used.
Features and rules for the installation of soft flexible tiles
Soft tile is a modern roofing material, which consists of sheets (tiles) of different shapes and colors.
Soft tiles are produced by combining a number of layers of different materials using a special technology. The basis for the construction of soft tiles are fiberglass or fiberglass impregnated with molten bitumen.
The material during operation is not subject to damage and decay. The top of soft tiles is covered with small granules of various materials.
In the manufacture of modern soft tiles, manufacturers effectively imitate various natural coatings - slate, natural stone and others.
Before laying a soft roof made of flexible tiles, you should familiarize yourself with its advantages:
- Ease of installation.
- Additional thermal insulation.
- Economy of use.
- Environmental friendliness.
- Excellent sound absorption.
- A wide selection of different shapes, colors and textures.
Soft roof: installation instructions
- The device of a flexible tile is made on a continuous crate.
- Since the sheets of material have a sticky backing that is effective in securing them to the base and to each other, the base to be laid must be cleaned, dried and made as level as possible.
- To create a continuous crate, as a rule, a tongue-and-groove or edged board, OSB boards, moisture-resistant plywood, etc. are used as a base.
- To fix the tiles to the base, among other things, nails can be used.
Advice! The service life of your roof will depend on how competently the material is selected and the soft roof is laid by the installation team.
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