FACTOID # 22: The Jewish population in Iran is larger than Poland and Spain's combined.
 
 Home   Encyclopedia   Statistics   Countries A-Z   Flags   Maps   Education   Forum   FAQ   About 
 
WHAT'S NEW
RECENT ARTICLES
More Recent Articles »
 

SEARCH ALL

FACTS & STATISTICS   

Search encyclopedia, statistics and forums:

 

 

(* = Graphable)

 

 


Encyclopedia > Roofing

Jump to: navigation, search
A roof tiled in imitation of thatch at Croyde, north Devon, England
A roof tiled in imitation of thatch at Croyde, north Devon, England
Rooftops in Vietnam
Rooftops in Vietnam

A roof is the top covering of a building that prevents the ingress of weather into the building interior. Roofing comes in sloped or 'flat' form; however, roofs should never be truly flat. Flat roofs are often covered with tar and gravel and provided with drains to run off rain and snow. Other materials used include b.e. PVC. A roof tiled in imitation of thatch. ... A roof tiled in imitation of thatch. ... Image File history File links Vietnam_roof. ... Image File history File links Vietnam_roof. ... Building is either the act of creating an object assembled from more than one element, or the object itself; see also construction. ... TAR can mean: An abbreviation for Tar (file format) The Amazing Race, a reality television program An abbreviation for Tibet Autonomous Region The Third Assessment Report of the IPCC Thrombocytopenia Absent Radius syndrome An abbreviation for Teenage Republican, a member of the orgainization Teenage Republicans. ... Gravel being unloaded from a barge Gravel is rock that is of a certain size range. ... Drain can refer to: A tube used to remove pus or other fluids from a wound. ... Rain falling For other uses see Rain (disambiguation). ... A fresh snowfall in Colorados (USA) high forests. ...


Roof shapes and pitches are often the product of material constraints and climactic concerns. Buildings in mild climates or where there is little precipitation tend to exhibit flat roofs; thus the flat roofs of traditional adobe construction in the American Southwest and that of the Middle Eastern deserts. The pitches of most Greek and Roman temples are rather low: most are below 33 degrees. Rain is not a major concern in those areas, and neither were large amounts of snow, for that matter. However, as you go north these concerns grow: in the far north, where snow accumulated on roofs can remain for months and months at a time, roof pitches can exceed 45 or 50 degrees. The sheer weight of accumulated snow can cause major damage to the structure, and the slow melt at the end of winter can cause devastating leaks and water damage (especially when snow melts, then refreezes inside a crack, which then expands) that won't be discovered until too late. High pitches shed snow and rain very efficiently just by the effects of gravity.


Some building styles, for example, geodesic and A-frame, blur the distinction between wall and roofs. Pitched roofs are often covered with asphalt shingles (in the US) although thatch, wood shake, steel, corrugated galvanised iron, slate and tile roofs are used elsewhere. The American Pavilion of Expo 67, by R. Buckminster Fuller(Teen Fs Uncle), now the Biosphère, on Île Sainte-Hélène, Montreal A geodesic dome is an almost spherical structure based on a network of struts arranged on great circles (geodesics) lying on the surface of a... An A-frame is a basic structure designed to bear a load in a lightweight, economical manner. ... A wall is a usually solid structure that defines and sometimes protects space. ... Asphalt is a type of bitumen, a highly viscous liquid that occurs naturally in most crude petroleums. ... The word shingle has several distinct meanings in the English language: Photograph of wood shingles, also called shakes, as used in roofing. ... ... Thatching is the art or craft of covering a roof with vegetative materials such as straw, reed or sedge. ... A tree trunk as found at the Veluwe, The Netherlands Wood is the xylem tissue of woody plants, notably trees but also shrubs. ... A shake is a wooden shingle that is made from split logs. ... The old steel cable of a colliery winding tower Steel is a metal alloy whose major component is iron, with carbon being the primary alloying material. ... Corrugated galvanised iron, commonly abbreviated CGI, is a building material composed of sheets of hot-dip galvanised mild steel cold-rolled to have a linear corrugated pattern in them. ... Alternate meanings in Slate (disambiguation) Slate Slate is a fine-grained homogeneous sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash which has been metamorphosed (foliated) in layers (bedded deposits). ... Mission, or barrel, roof tiles For the towns named Tile, see Tile, Somalia and Tile, Lebanon. ...

Contents


Sheath materials

The sheath material is the topmost or outermost layer, exposed to the weather. Many different kinds of materials have been used as sheath material:

  • Shingles
    • Slate
    • Ceramic
    • Metal
    • Cement (usually reinforced with fibers of some sort)
    • Composition (heavy bitumen embedded in a fiber mat)
    • Wood (cedar is popular)
  • Membrane
    • Thermoset plastic (e.g. EPDM synthetic rubber). Synthetic rubber strips chemically welded together.
    • Thermoplastic plastic (e.g. PVC). Plastic strips welded together with solvents. Can be rewelded.
    • Modified bitumen ("torch on"). Asphalt embedded in a fiber mat, seams sealed by locally melting the asphalt with a torch.
    • Built-up roof ("tar paper" strips glued together with hot mopped tar, topped with gravel)
    • Spray-on foam (isocyanurate foam with an elastic rubber top coat)
  • Panel
    • Corrugated metal
    • Standing-seam metal
    • Flat-seam metal
  • Fabric
    • Dacron/polyester
    • Teflon embedded in fiberglass
  • Straw thatch

Durability and Cost

Typical shingle roofs last approximately 20 years. They are relatively inexpensive and you can put on up to 2 - 3 layers of shingles before weight becomes a problem. Once the 3rd layer is done, the roof has to be stripped some times to the rafters and new plywood installed. Even though older houses may have lap-board installed, roofing companies will take this off too because they won't guarantee that the shingles will become uneven and start leaking.


Slate roofs, when properly installed, are considered the best there is. They last around 75 - 150 years depending on the slate used, but are extremely expensive to install (sometimes the same price as the rest of the house) and it should be installed by someone that knows what they're doing. Often, the problem with slate shingles is that the nails used to hold the shingles in place rust out before the shingle starts to wear out.


Steel roofs last about 50 years and are in between shingle roofs and slate roofs when it comes to price.


Solar roofs

Newer systems include solar shingles which generate electricity as well as cover the roof. There are also solar systems available that generate hot water or hot air and which can also act as a roofcover. Solar Panel (photovoltaic array) A laundromat in California powered by solar panels on the roof. ... Electricity is a general term applied to phenomena involving a fundamental property of matter called an electric charge. ...


There are different types of integrations of solarsystems in roofs.

  • integrated in the covering of pitch roofs b.e. solar shingle.
  • mounted on an existing roof b.e. solar panel on a tile roof.
  • integrated in a flat roof b.e. PVC.
  • mounted on a flat roof with a construction and additional weight to prevent uplift from wind.

Several systems of construction transmit the weight of the roof to the walls of the building and tie the roof into the structure. These include: ashlar-piece, brace (can be arched or wind), collar-beam, crown-post, hammer-beam and -post, king (or queen) post, purlin, rafter (common or principal), ridge beam, ridge-board, strut, tie-beam (Tie rod), truss, and wall-plate. Solar Panel (photovoltaic array) A laundromat in California powered by solar panels on the roof. ... Mission, or barrel, roof tiles For the towns named Tile, see Tile, Somalia and Tile, Lebanon. ... A tie rod is a slender structural rod used as a tie and capable of carrying tensile loads only. ... Truss bridge for a single track railway, converted to pedestrian use and pipeline support. ...


A roof has different areas. For example, the eaves are the area where the rafter ends form the edges of the roof that run horizontally across the façade. West façade of the Notre-Dame de Strasbourg Cathedral A facade (or façade) is the exterior of a building – especially the front, but also sometimes the sides and rear. ...


By extension one can speak of the roof of a tent, automobile, etc. A convertible is an automobile built with a folding, retracting, or removable roof. In a car, a moon roof is a see-through opening in the roof of the car, whereas a sun roof typically opens up. A tent is a shelter, consisting of sheets of fabric or other material draped over or attached to a frame of poles. ... A small variety of cars, the most popular kind of automobile. ... Saab 900 Convertible Convertible can also refer to a convertible (security) A convertible is an automobile with a folding or retracting roof. ...


Terminology

  • An attic is the story under a non-flat roof.
  • Galvanized roofs are normally used on sheds.
  • "Pavillion" is a term used by architects to refer to any autonomous, self-contained structure, regardless of size or roof configuration.

Meanings for the term include: Attic (always capitalised) is an adjective for something or someone coming from Attica or Athens. ... A hardwood floor (parquetry) is a popular feature in many houses. ...

Roof shapes

Roofs can be shaped to shed water easily. These include:

  • lean-to
  • single-sloped or shed roof
  • ridged
    • pitched or gabled
      • shaped gable
      • Dutch gable - a hybrid of hipped and gambrel
      • crow-step gable
      • corbie-step gable
      • salt-box
    • saddleback
    • hip roof
    • half-hipped
    • mansard
    • gambrel
    • pavilion
  • conical
  • domical
  • pyramidal

Mansard in architecture refers to a style of hip roof characterized by two slopes on each of its four sides with the lower slope being steeper than the upper slope. ...

See also

A roof garden is any garden on the roof of a building. ... The rocket-like church at Ostrov near Moscow is considered typical for Boris Godunovs reign. ... Construction on the North Bytown Bridge in Ottawa, Canada. ... A green roof is a roof of a building which is partially or completely covered with plants. ...

Further reading

  • Francis Ching; Building Construction Illustrated, Visual Dictionary of Architecture, Architecture: Form, Space, and Order."
This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality.
This article has been tagged since August 2005.
See How to Edit and Style and How-to for help, or this article's talk page.

  Results from FactBites:
 
Software for Shingles Roofing, Roof Calculator, Roof Contractor -$89.50   (593 words)
Complex roofs are computed in sections, with a Job Summary Tabulation showing the job squares, and total feet for ridges and valleys.
Fortunately, roofing calculator software is out there, and available to anyone who wants to bring more precision, and hence more profit, to their roofing jobs.
Roof Calculator 6.1 was designed by a roofing contractor with years in the business.
Roof Terms and Terminology (890 words)
Roof shapes determine how well the structure can withstand certain elements, while the slope of the roof and its overhang system are often dictated by the climate and dominant style of the region.
The degree of slope, steepness, of the roof from ridge to eave or valley.
A roof whose angle or pitch is from 30 to 45 degrees.
  More results at FactBites »

 

COMMENTARY     


Share your thoughts, questions and commentary here
Your name
Your location
Your comments
Please enter the 5-letter protection code


Lesson Plans | Student Area | Student FAQ | Reviews | Press Releases |  Feeds | Contact
The Wikipedia article included on this page is licensed under the GFDL.
Images may be subject to relevant owners' copyright.
All other elements are (c) copyright NationMaster.com 2003-5. All Rights Reserved.
Usage implies agreement with terms.