Recently, in the construction of both residential and commercial buildings, a flat roof is gaining more and more popularity - a roof whose slope angle is quite low, not exceeding 3º.
This article will briefly talk about how this type of roof is arranged and what types of flat roofs exist.
Difference from pitched roof
Projects of houses with a flat roof differ from houses with pitched roofs in that the construction of flat roofs requires bitumen, polymer or bitumen-polymer materials that require a solid roofing carpet.
The elasticity of the roofing should allow to perceive various mechanical and thermal deformations of the base roofs. The base can be either a layer of thermal insulation material, or cement screeds or load-bearing boards.
The plan of a flat roof is most often a bearing slab covered with a layer of vapor barrier, on top of which a heat-insulating material is laid, to protect it from precipitation, a waterproofing carpet is laid on top..
This method of roofing is popular in the construction of residential and industrial buildings due to its efficiency at a fairly low cost.
flat roofs can have an attic space, and according to their purpose they are divided into two groups: operated and non-operated.
The base of exploited flat roofs should be more durable, since their surface can be used as an additional usable space, such as a winter garden, car parking, summer cafe, greenhouse, etc.
The project of a house with a flat roof in operation provides for installation under a layer waterproofing of the rigid base of the roof , allowing the roof structure to withstand quite serious loads, which are most often unevenly distributed over its surface.
In addition, the base must prevent the violation of the integrity and punching of the waterproofing carpet.
For non-exploited roofs, there is no need to lay a rigid base under the waterproofing; in addition, soft heat-insulating material can be used for such roofs. Most often, this type of roofing is used on buildings, the roof of which does not require periodic maintenance.
If it becomes necessary to lift a person onto such a roof, special bridges or ladders are mounted on it, allowing the resulting pressure to be distributed evenly over the roof surface. Non-exploited roofs are significantly cheaper, but their service life is much shorter.
The atmospheric load on a flat roof is quite high both in summer and in winter. The snow cover in winter partially melts under the influence of the heat rising from the interior of the house, therefore, in the absence of an attic, mechanical snow removal for a flat roof may not be required.
In addition, it is recommended that the fences of such roofs be made not solid, but in the form of lattices, so that additional cleaning of the roof from snow can be carried out with the help of wind.
Important: in the event of heavy snowfalls or when the roof is used in winter, mechanical snow removal may be necessary even for a flat roof without an attic.
In order to prevent damage to the roof during snow removal, special walkways should be mounted on it. Recently, such methods of dealing with snow on a flat roof, such as roofs equipped with heating and anti-icing systems, have also gained popularity.
A significant disadvantage of flat roofs without an attic is that constant monitoring of the moisture content of the insulation layer and the tightness of the waterproofing carpet becomes impossible.. Their defects can only be recognized by the formation of leaks on the ceiling.
The cost of flat roofs with an attic is much higher than the cost of roofs without an attic, but they have several significant advantages:
The ability to control the tightness of the waterproofing carpet even at a low attic height;
Monitoring the state of thermal insulation and the possibility of drying it, if necessary, by ventilation, for which it is enough to open the dormers;
The separation of the roof structure results in a separation and a calculated difference between indoor and outdoor temperatures.
With proper construction and proper care, both exploited and non-exploited flat roofs are able to serve well for quite a long time. In addition, this type of roof often allows you to save a lot when building a house, although you should not reduce costs by purchasing low-quality material or hiring illiterate workers.
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