The roof of any house performs a very specific function - it is designed primarily to protect the building from precipitation and maintain a comfortable thermal regime. In addition, various types of roofs perform decorative functions - roofs are very important in architecture. Often it is the unusual roof that is the main decoration of the house.
However, let's not forget that the roof of the building performs protective functions and must comply with certain norms and standards. We'll take a closer look at these requirements later, but for now, let's get some terminology out of the way.
- The roof is a part of the building that closes it from above and protects the interior from the effects of precipitation, wind, solar radiation and provides thermal insulation of the room. The roof is a complex architectural element, consisting of load-bearing structures (truss system), on which the weight of the roof itself and precipitation falling on it is distributed, as well as the roof that directly protects the house from wind, cold and precipitation.
- The roof is a multi-layer "pie" that protects the building from rain and cold. The roof consists of:
- roofing;
- waterproofing;
- one or more layers of thermal insulation;
- vapor barrier.
The roof is the part of the roof that is visible from the outside. Therefore, it is she who is the element that, in addition to protective ones, also has an architectural and decorative function.
However, not only the choice of roofing depends on the impression of the roof of the house. Of great importance for the overall design of the house is the type of roof chosen.
A variety of classic and unusual roofs that exist today allow you to create houses with a unique design.
We list the types of roofs of houses that exist today:
- flat roofs are the easiest type to design and build. The slope of roofs of this type is 2-3%. It is mainly used in the construction of multi-apartment high-rise buildings and other massive structures. It is extremely rare in the construction of private houses due to the zero design value and the ability to accumulate snow cover, which imposes increased requirements on the strength of the roof and load-bearing structures;
- pitched roofs - roofs with a slope of at least ten degrees. The most widely used in the construction of private houses for a number of reasons.
We list briefly the advantages of pitched roofs:
- high ability to self-cleaning from precipitation;
- the ability to organize an attic or attic room;
- unlimited space for the implementation of the ideas of the designer-architect.
Just list the types of pitched roofs:
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- lean-to. There is nothing to paint in detail - just an inclined plane;
- gable (aka gable) - has two slopes connected at the top by a roof ridge;
- hip (aka four-slope) - has four slopes. The length of the ridge is reduced, the pediments are replaced by two slopes (hips);
- half-hip - only parts of the gables, upper or lower, are replaced with half-hips;
- hipped - all four slopes converge at one point. The skate is missing;
- conical - like a tent, it does not have a ridge. More often used for gazebos, verandas, etc.;
- multi-gable - a roof for buildings of complex shape in plan;
- domed - like a cone, it covers buildings that are round in plan. It has a very complex frame, which implies installation only by specialists
- pyramidal;
- attic (aka broken) - very common, as it allows you to use additional space as a living space;
- vaulted - covers long corridors, has a rounded shape;
- hip with broken slopes - one of the varieties of the attic;
- lancet - in cross section it resembles old Russian onion domes;
- with a variable slope - roofs-parabolas or hyperbolas. Often used in the construction of shopping centers, sports facilities and the like ...
- and the variety of pitched roofs is far from exhausted by this list. In addition, often the roof of buildings with a complex plan is made combined.
To your attention! When designing pitched roofs, it is imperative to ensure reliable drainage of water and snow from the roof. If you are thinking, for example, how to make a round roof on a gazebo or over a veranda, calculate what load the load-bearing structures of the walls can take on and, accordingly, choose the slope of the roof and the type of roofing material.
There is a very large choice of roofing materials today - from classic slate, which is still widely used for roofs of outbuildings, to modern materials such as metal or composite tiles.
Today, a plastic roof is not uncommon overhead - modern materials allow you to create durable, reliable and beautiful plastic tiles of any color. .
Roof waterproofing is also produced by various materials - from time-tested roofing material to modern technologies for waterproofing roofs with liquid rubber. Ruberoid in any of its forms is roof bitumen applied to a fabric base.
Now, most often, roofing material is used as a roofing material for flat roofs of a large area - warehouses, hangars, residential high-rise buildings.
It is interesting that initially the roofing material was cardboard sheets about a meter per meter, covered with bitumen on one side.
Such a cardboard roofing material was distinguished by a very low durability, but several times accelerated the work on covering the roof. Modern roofing materials are often made on the basis of fiberglass, which guarantees a service life of at least twenty years.
Before laying the roofing material, it is very important to properly prepare the surface - to level the roof in order to ensure a snug fit (and fusion) of the roll to the base.
Fastening the roof truss frame to the walls
The basis for the roofing cake of any pitched roof is the truss frame. But, even if you know how to build it, you still need to know exactly how to attach the roof to the walls of the building.
By her own pitched roof has a large area, therefore, is a kind of sail. A strong enough wind can rip it off or at least move it.
In both cases, the roof will be damaged, which we absolutely do not need. Therefore, reliable fastening of the roof to the walls is the key to its stability and durability.
The rafter legs are mounted on a special beam - Mauerlat, which, in turn, is securely attached to the walls of the building. As a rule, a 15x15 cm beam or, less often, a 15x10 cm board is used as a Mauerlat.
Mauerlat is attached to the walls with anchor bolts or screwed onto bolts pre-embedded in the walls. For reliability, often the timber is additionally tied with burnt fittings embedded in the walls.
Each Mauerlat beam, in addition to fastening to the wall, is securely connected to two adjacent ones.
Such a roof trim is a reliable foundation for the rafter frame and roof. In addition, such strapping helps to properly redistribute the load on the walls of the building.
The rafter legs are mounted on a special beam - Mauerlat, which, in turn, is securely attached to the walls of the building. As a rule, a 15x15 cm beam or, less often, a 15x10 cm board is used as a Mauerlat.
Mauerlat is attached to the walls with anchor bolts or screwed onto bolts pre-embedded in the walls. For reliability, often the timber is additionally tied with burnt fittings embedded in the walls.
Each Mauerlat beam, in addition to fastening to the wall, is securely connected to two adjacent ones.
Such a roof trim is a reliable foundation for the rafter frame and roof. In addition, such strapping helps to properly redistribute the load on the walls of the building.
lightning protection
When designing and building a roof, remember that the roof ridge is the highest point of the building, therefore you need metal roof lightning protection.
A lightning strike on the roof of a building can easily set it on fire or injure people in the attic or attic. To prevent this from happening, it is necessary to properly organize the grounding of the roof.
Advice! In fact, such lightning protection is steel pins with a diameter of at least 8 mm, fixed along the edges of the roof ridge and on pipes. The height of the pins must be at least a meter above the roof level, and the distance between them should not exceed 12 meters.
A wire of the same diameter is welded to the lower end of the pins, which is a down conductor. This down conductor, with special clamps, is attached to the roof and walls of the building (often to a drainpipe) and descends to the ground.
In the ground, at a distance of at least a meter from the walls of the building, to a depth of half a meter, three steel pipes are immersed, connected to each other by a welded steel strip.
These pipes are a ground conductor - a down conductor is bolted to them, and then scalded for reliability.
Such a grounding scheme guarantees reliable lightning protection even in severe summer thunderstorms.
If during the construction of the house you followed all the rules and regulations for tying roofs, installing a rafter frame and a roofing pie, then you will not have to think for a long time about how to fix the roof or eliminate the leak.
All kinds of roofs, although they have a completely different design, different types of roofing material, should be selected based not only on aesthetic requirements, but on the reliability characteristics.
Modern roof should serve without major repairs for at least 20 years.
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