Bituminous tiles are a classic roofing material. This soft roof covering has been used by many generations of people.
If until the 19th century the houses of peasants and aristocrats were covered mainly with straw or wooden log cabins, scientific and technological progress made changes to the rules for the construction of residential buildings, bituminous tiles appeared.
In which country did shingles originate?
This roofing material did not appear at all in Europe. The birthplace of the well-known shingles is the United States of America. The American industry began producing composite materials for roofs in the 19th century. The estimated time of their appearance is 1840-1880.
Then sheets similar to roofing felt were impregnated with bitumen. But it was not yet the classic roofing material in rolls, which humanity knows in the 21st century.
In 1903, it was decided to replace the rolled roofing with a cut type of ordinary tiles.
10 years before that, mankind had learned how to impregnate simple cardboard with bitumen. This was the "ancestor" of soft roofing - shingles.
The inventor familiar to the user of the 21st century is called Henry Reynolds. He represented Grand Rapids. This person owns the idea of cutting roll materials into small shingles (pieces). The first soft matter had two varieties of form:
- rectangles;
- hexagons.
Important to remember. The Americans and Canadians gave the name "shingles" or "shingles" to roofing sheets. And the concept of "bituminous tiles" was inherent in Europeans.
What happened in the shingle industry after 1920
In the 20s of the twentieth century, ordinary cardboard, cut into pieces, served as the basis for bituminous tiles familiar to mankind. Its rag variety, made from classic cotton, was used. The cost of raw materials rose in 1920, and cotton began to be replaced by other materials.
The beginning of the 2nd World War led to an increase in demand for shingles. With its help, military buildings were built. Importing cotton was difficult and expensive. During the war period, they began to mass-produce bituminous tiles from cellulose roofing paper.
In the middle of the twentieth century, 2 options for bituminous tiles were in demand:
- Organic (this is how the organic version of shingles is marked). These are products with a cardboard layer. Manufacturers could cover such shingles with two types of outer layer: soft impregnation, hard coating. This required a stabilized variety of bitumen.It was applied from the front and back sides of the cardboard canvas. The future outer part was covered with stone chips.
- Fiberglass soft shingles (fiber glass). Such shingles in the 21st century can be ordered on the website #, and Californians saw in the 1960s of the last century. It was characterized by low weight, good water resistance, stable parameters, and increased fire resistance. In its manufacture, stabilized bitumen and fiberglass were needed. Manufacturers made high demands on the chemical composition and properties of the product.
In the United States, three-leaf shingles adorned the roofs of 45 percent of cottages.
Did the article help you?