For every home, the roof is an important element, just like walls or foundations. It is designed to shelter and protect the building from the effects of precipitation, and also gives it a complete look. A do-it-yourself slate roof is a very real enterprise. For the arrangement of the roof, it is necessary to calculate, think over everything and perform all the work with high quality.
roof construction
A do-it-yourself slate roof should be built taking into account the cost of materials and the more materials, the higher the cost. During construction, the slope of the structure plays an important role.
What is the slope of the roof for, and what is it like? When the slope is from 3 to 5 degrees, then such a roof is considered flat, and if the slope is up to 40 degrees, then this is a pitched roof.
If you live in an area where there is a lot of precipitation, then you need to make a slope of 45 degrees, and in windy areas it is best if the design is gentle.
The angle of inclination is determined by the choice of material. If the roof is made of slate, then the angle should be about 22 degrees, since with a minimum slope precipitation can accumulate at the joints, such do-it-yourself slate roofing last for more than a dozen years.
A shed roof made of slate should have a slope of 20 to 30 degrees, while a gable roof should have a slope of 25-45 degrees.
shed roof
For the construction of such a roof, you will need wood, which is used as:
- rafters;
- beams;
- crates.
To your attention! For the construction of such a structure, slate roofs are the best option. From this material, roofs have always been practical, and they also have many advantages:
- strength;
- frost resistance;
- moisture resistance;
- resistant to ultraviolet rays.
In order to make a slate roof device, follow these steps:
- Beam laying. They are laid in increments of 70-80 cm on a flooded seismic belt, the tops of walls or a mauerlat, which is installed in the upper row of brickwork. Next, the rafters are fixed vertically on the laid out beams - supports for the upper part of the roof.
The number of supports must correspond to the same number do-it-yourself beams in a pitched roof. Thus, a right triangle was formed from a vertical rafter leg and a beam.
Then the rafters are fixed, which will be a support for fastening the crate - while one edge should be located at the bottom of the edge of the beam, and the other on the vertical rafter. For each beam, the process is repeated, and you also need to make sure that the height and the resulting angle are the same throughout the structure.
At the heart of any roof is a truss system, which is the basis for other elements of the roof.
The truss system consists of the following components:
- struts;
- crate;
- rafters;
- Mauerlat.
And also the roofing pie must necessarily include a heat-insulating layer, a counter-lattice, a roofing and additional hydro- and vapor barrier.
- To give the structure additional rigidity and strength to the roof, it is necessary to build a crate. In addition, the crate secures the slate and connects the rafters. Bars 50x50 mm are used as laths for lathing, which are settled across the laths and thus nailed to the rafters. The distance between the slats should be such that the slate sheet overlaps with a small margin two slats in a row -15 cms on each side.
- Then we cover the roof with slate, which must be laid from the bottom in rows, starting from the bottom first row, and so on until the end of the roof.
All sheets are pierced with slate nails to the crate in those places where four adjacent slates converge, and at the same time one nail will hold four slate sheets at the same time, and two nails must be punched along the edges so that the wind cannot lift the slate. Next, you should proceed to fixing the pediment from the wind protection.
How to put on a roof covering?
Having chosen a building material for the roof, the question arises, how to properly cover the roof with slate?
- To your attention! The first thing to do is to lay a waterproofing layer. To do this, they usually buy reinforced polyethylene or roofing material, which covers the structure.
Then you need to put a vapor barrier material, and on top - a heater. But immediately before laying the waterproofing layer, the old roofing and all debris that is on the roof surface should be removed.
Next, you need to examine the wooden boards and if some of them are rotten, then they should be replaced, and if necessary, build a new frame, so as not to subsequently carry out do-it-yourself heavy slate roof repair.
All wooden boards should be treated with a protective polymer paint.
In order to properly lay the roofing, you should follow the instructions.
Tip! A very important tip - do not try to lay the flooring in cold and wet weather. Before covering the roof, each sheet should be carefully checked for defects.
If you are building a roof yourself, then you involuntarily ask yourself this question, how to raise the slate on the roof?
Slate sheets can be lifted to the roof with a rope and two steel hooks. Each sheet of slate is hooked from below with hooks, to which a strong rope is tied and rises to the roof.
For the installation of slate sheets on the roof, professional builders use two methods:
- The first method is that holes for fasteners are drilled in the slate with a drill and then they are raised to the roof.
- The second way is that all the sheets are lifted to the roof, they are carefully settled, and then holes are drilled for fastening.
The correct laying technology is as follows: installation must be carried out from the bottom up, that is, from the eaves to the ridge itself.
And fastening should be done only in the slate comb, while it is necessary to use washers for self-tapping screws, which are made of special polymeric materials.
These washers create the necessary seal between the screw head and the slate and prevent moisture and water from getting under the roofing material. Useful advice - you should not save on fasteners, as there will inevitably be leaks.
After the slate is laid, the ridge of the slate roof should be installed, which will be the final link in the slate roof.
This element protects the roof from destruction, and the roof from getting wet. Where the roof is adjacent to the pipe, it is necessary to close the joints with asbestos-cement corners or metal ones.
Choice of building materials
A do-it-yourself slate roof will last much longer if you choose the right building materials, and most importantly, high-quality ones.
More than 30 years is the service life of slate sheets made of asbestos cement, which has a fairly low water resistance and will well protect the house from atmospheric precipitation. In addition, the material perfectly withstands temperature changes, is resistant to snow loads, and also protects against ultraviolet radiation.
Asbestos cement is significantly different from other materials, as it is not combustible.Slate roofs made of this material are also attracted by the fact that this material is several times lower in cost, unlike other roofing options.
Asbeto-cement sheets are basically a roof for the people. The composition of slate includes materials such as cement with the addition of shale and asbestos.
How to make a slate roof correctly? First, the roof structure must be thought out and calculated so that it can withstand any load.
This includes its own weight, the load from external factors, as well as the weight of a person who will subsequently carry out maintenance. Also, an insignificant margin of safety should be included in the calculation, taking into account emergency circumstances.
The roof per square meter must withstand - at least 200 kg. In addition, the characteristics of the roofing materials used must also be taken into account.
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