Should I choose a roofing material for a flat roof? Tips + Videos

In construction, the roof arrangement goes in two main directions, such as:

• volumetric pitched;
• horizontal flat.

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Flat roofs are widespread in southern and Asian countries, and pitched ones - in Russia and European countries.

This is due to the fact that the roof must provide reliable waterproofing of the house and withstand various loads of atmospheric precipitation. That is why in southern countries, where the weather is mostly sunny, they choose a flat roof during construction. In northern regions with high rainfall, a pitched roof is preferable, although more expensive.

Features of flat roofs

In Russia, until some time, flat roofs were intended only for industrial buildings or multi-storey buildings.

But recently, with the development of building technologies, flat roofs began to be used for individual residential buildings. This was to a greater extent manifested after the removal of all restrictions on the area and number of storeys in private housing construction.

Today, when creating a project for a cottage, the second or third floor is already being designed. And on the resulting horizontal roof area, you can safely place a resting place, a greenhouse or a fitness area.

All these advantages contribute to the high growth in the popularity of flat roofs, and new technologies and roofing materials will simplify and reduce the cost of the construction process, provide it with high strength, durability and reliability.

The main advantage of a flat roof is its simplicity and low cost. Investments in a flat roof are mainly determined by the cost of insulating the upper floor, and ensuring high-quality waterproofing.

Roofing materials for flat roofs

Two main types of material are used for high-quality waterproofing of flat roofs:

1. Guided roofing. Such a coating is glued to the surface of a flat roof with bitumen resin, having previously melted it with special burners.

2. Self-leveling mastic coatings. On the surface of a flat roof, they create a monolithic layer after curing the liquid mastic.

Sometimes these two types are combined with each other. To increase the aesthetic properties of the protective layer, various decorative coatings, artificial turf, ceramic tiles, etc. can be placed on top of it.

Multi-profile roofs decorate the structure, give it individuality, but from the point of view of practicality and functionality, a horizontal roof is much more preferable ...

The increased load on the building in winter due to the large amount of snow is compensated by a significant reduction in the total weight of the flat roof and the use of modern building materials and technologies in the construction of the walls of the house.And cleaning a flat roof from snow is a less laborious process.

Basic properties of roofing materials for flat roofing

Roofing materials for a house, used for flat roofs must provide good waterproofing of the building - this is the main requirement for them.

Today, more requirements are imposed on roofing materials for flat roofs, such as:

• strength and resistance to ultraviolet rays;
• lightness and durability;
• thermal insulation and sound insulation;
• frost resistance and heat resistance;
• bio-resistance and fire resistance;
• chemical protection;
• ease of use and economy.

Bituminous roll roofing materials

Basically always for roofing material and roofing felt were used for flat roofs, but their main disadvantage is a short service life, due to low resistance to ultraviolet rays, low temperatures and mechanical stress. Over time, this material will crack and collapse, which means that you will have to transfer the coating every ten years of use.

That is why roofing material gave way to new bituminous roofing materials.

They are based on the following roofing materials:

1. Modified bitumen, fiberglass and fiberglass, which have high strength, efficiency, durability and other performance indicators.
2. Polypropylene and polyester roofing materials.
3. Aluminum foil: metal insulation and waterproofing. They are used in waterproofing pipelines.

Types of roofing materials for the roof

Base of a flat roof are materials reinforced with a special plastic mesh.

Membrane roofing materials are more expensive than bitumen-polymer ones, and have high resistance to atmospheric precipitation, as well as good strength, durability and elasticity.

Unlike polymer-bitumen materials, membrane coating technology does not require the use of open fire. The seams are connected with adhesive tapes and hot air.

Soft roofing materials

The main disadvantage of the material of rolled roofing products is the presence seams of connections.

Because of them, noticeable irregularities appear on the surface, and this is a fairly common reason for the violation of the waterproofing layer.

Seamless roofing with mastics based on polymer resins is devoid of this drawback. When exposed to air and humidity, they begin the polymerization process, which creates a durable and waterproof coating.

There is also a roofing material such as "liquid rubber", which is based on artificial rubber.

This coating is applied by brush, roller or by spraying.

The main advantage of mastic roofs is the simplicity and speed of their application. To a greater extent, this applies to cold mastics, their layer can be smoothed over the roof surface with a stiff brush or brush, without preheating. There are special mastic materials that can be diluted with water, but their durability is not so high, although the simplicity of the process allows such work to be performed annually.

This will significantly increase the durability and quality of the protective layer. In addition, a combination of pouring and welded roof technologies can give an ideal result.

Modern roofing materials

A flat roof does not create a characteristic air gap, and does not provide thermal protection to the living quarters of the house. Waterproofing protection of a flat roof can be performed when creating an external heat-protective coating based on modern building materials:

• mineral wool;
• polymer expanded polystyrene;
• foam concrete.

After installing the heat-shielding layer, work is performed on high-quality waterproofing of the roof, and the use of internal thermal insulation of buildings in the form of stretch ceilings will completely eliminate the disadvantages of a horizontal roof.

The use of high-quality roofing materials and technologies will allow you to leave the standard roof design and will help diversify individual solutions and options.