When building your own house, or just planning to do it, you will certainly think about how to cover the roof. After all, absolutely every homeowner wants the roof to be both beautiful and strong, and serve as long as possible. So what should be a modern roof to meet all the requirements of its owner?
How not to get lost in the abundance of materials, and choose exactly what you need? All these questions are, in fact, easily resolved. You just need to find out a little more about what the modern building materials market offers us.
Requirements for roofing materials
- High quality at reasonable prices.The cost should be affordable to most consumers.
- Long service life. Good material should last at least 25-30 years without the need for repair or replacement.
- Presentable appearance and a large selection of colors and shades.
- Resistant to influences such as water, wind, temperature extremes, sunlight, shock and pressure.
- Light weight with maximum strength.
- Ease of installation and maintenance of the coating.
- The possibility, if necessary, to easily replace the roofing sections without damaging adjacent fragments.
Modern manufacturers offer a fairly large selection of materials that meet these requirements. However, any developer will want to learn a little more about the main types of coatings, which we will do next.
Roofing materials
- Roll roofing. Their basis is reinforced fabric, cardboard or paper coated with bitumen.
Note! Most often, roofs of multi-storey residential buildings are covered with this material, as well as roofs on which it is impossible to lay another coating. Polyester or fiberglass, often included in the composition of the material, makes it resistant to decay, and a multi-layer cake laid from a roll coating creates good water resistance for the roof. Although the coating lasts a long time and is easily repaired if necessary, the appearance of such a roof is not the richest. Therefore, the material is best used for laying on flat roofs or for outbuildings.
- Liquid, or mastic roofs. They are covered by pouring a viscous one or two-component composition directly onto the concrete base of the roof. After hardening, the mastic takes the form and properties of a continuous rubber membrane.The ability to pour the material on concrete, bitumen or metal, high durability give many advantages over other materials. Resistance to the most optimal temperatures (from -45° to +100°), plasticity, water resistance and long service life can also be added to a number of advantages.
- Bituminous tiles. Belongs to the category of soft roofing materials. Meets all the requirements that modern roofs must meet. The basis is glass roofing material, with stone chips applied to the surface. Basalt topping serves both as a protection and has a decorative function. Due to its plasticity and ease of installation, the material can be laid even on the most complex roofs. Tiles can be glued on the surface even at low temperatures. Withstands mechanical stress, moisture resistant, not affected by ultraviolet radiation, lightweight and inexpensive. Service life is at least 25 years.
- Euroslate or ondulin. The undulating surface and appearance are very reminiscent of the familiar ordinary asbestos-based slate to all of us. However, with the usual appearance, its composition has undergone great changes over time. In euroslate, fiberglass or cardboard impregnated with bitumen serves as the basis. Moreover, the bituminous coating can have a huge selection of different colors, which makes it possible to choose the material for the style of any home. The material, unlike its predecessor, has plasticity and is completely non-toxic. Withstands temperatures from -75° to +100°, is durable, impervious to moisture, easy to install and lasts from 20 years or more.
- Decking. Sheets of galvanized steel, machined. The result is a material with a corrugated, wavy surface.Moreover, the variety of not only colors, but also the shape of the profiles will surprise even the most fastidious. The corrugation serves not only decorative purposes, but also gives the sheets increased rigidity. The wave-like surface dampens the noise of raindrops, and the grooves allow water to flow evenly into the gutters. No wonder modern roofing systems are often decorated with this material. The material is lightweight, affordable, transportable and can be mounted without problems on roofs of any design. Fireproof, resistant to corrosion, mechanical stress and temperature extremes. It looks quite impressive on the roof, it lasts a very long time, it does not require effort to maintain.
- Roof made of standard metal tiles. It differs from corrugated board in smaller sheets and a multilayer coating. Galvanized steel is covered with a protective layer from the wrong side and several layers from the top. This treatment makes the material extremely resistant to any impact. The wavy profile of the sheets imitates tiles, therefore, the laid material cannot be distinguished from individual tiles. Profiling gives not only rigidity, but also a spectacular appearance. Choose any color and shade is not difficult. Transport, as well as installation, is easy and without damage to the material. The coating will last at least 30 years, will be a reliable protection against rain and snow, will not fade or rust.
- Ceramic tiles. Natural material made from fired clay. It has been used to cover roofs for more than one century. The material, proven for centuries, however, has several drawbacks - heavy weight and fragility. Despite this, ceramic tiles are still quite popular.This is due to a very long service life, spectacular appearance, resistance to fire, water and temperature differences. If you decide to use this material, then the roof frame device will be slightly different from the standard one. The rafter system must be additionally reinforced due to the large weight of the future coating.
Modern insulation materials
While preparing the roof system for the final coat, you should definitely think about protecting the roof from steam, water, and also about its insulation.
Note! Before laying the final coating, a so-called roofing pie is drawn up. First, a vapor barrier layer is laid that protects the insulation from moisture coming from inside the building. Then comes the insulation, on top of which waterproofing is applied. And only after that you can decorate the roof with the coating of your choice.
What materials for this are now the most popular?
Membrane vapor barrier. Two or three layers roofing PVC membranes, capable of retaining steam and preventing it from reaching the insulation in order to avoid rotting.
As a rule, a special layer is applied to them, which allows you to collect condensate on yourself for further withdrawal. Thus, the film adsorbs moisture and prevents it from harming the next layers.
roof insulation. They are produced in plates of different thicknesses and densities. This allows one or more layers of material to be laid as desired.
The basis is mineral wool fibers, a very durable and fire-resistant material.
Waterproof film. Even with the best coverage, the roof is not immune from leaks.Local damage to the roofing, wind blowing rainwater, mechanical depressurization can lead to water ingress into the room.
It is this film that will not allow trouble in case of unforeseen leaks. Moreover, modern waterproofing membranes do not let moisture in, but are able to release condensate out.
That is, the effect of ventilation is obtained, where excess moisture from the inside of the room, passing through the membrane, is already removed under the final roofing.
In order for a modern roof to meet all the requirements, choose only high-quality materials. You should not save on what should please with its long service life and reliability.
After all, the roof serves not only as decoration, but also as protection for the house.
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