How to choose roofing materials?

As you understand, there is no universal answer to this question. If you do not know how to choose roofing materials, first decide on your own priorities. What you will primarily pay attention to is the price of the roof or its consumer characteristics.

In addition, there are general criteria for choosing a roof. When choosing a roofing material, you should take into account the type of building, the shape of the roof, the service life, and much more.

House type

When deciding which roof to choose, it is worth considering the functional purpose of the building. That is, what you plan to cover: a summer cottage, a residential building, a country cottage or a barn. Agree, it makes no sense to spend money on a durable and durable roof for a street toilet or a tool shed.

Rebate roof

The most common for a country house is a folded metal roof. The roof got this name due to the seam formed as a result of the connection of the layers between themselves - the fold. Thanks to this method of fastening, it is possible to cover the roof quickly and without the use of additional consumables. In the construction and finishing works, both painted roofs and galvanized sheets are used. The last option of roofing materials can be attributed to the cheapest type of coating. However, winning in price, galvanizing significantly loses to its brothers from an aesthetic point of view.

There is also a seam roof made of copper. The peculiarity of copper sheets is that they are very durable. However, they also have a drawback. Over time, the copper rebated roof changes color. In the first year, it retains a red tint, then turns to brown, and after a couple of years it turns black. This is a natural oxidation process. Plus, in some places, patins appear on the roof - spots that characterize natural oxidation. These oxides have a malachite color and do not look very aesthetically pleasing. However, they protect copper from corrosion and spoilage, thereby prolonging the service life of the roofing up to several hundred years.

Metal tile

Very popular pitched roofing. Externally, it is a profiled sheet with imitation of natural tiles. Based on galvanized steel. Bottom sheets are covered with a protective layer, and on top - a layer of soil and decorative polymer coating. The wear resistance of the roof depends on the choice of polymer.

Metal tiles are usually used on roofs of a simple form. If the budget of the roof and the ease of installation are important, then when deciding which roof to choose, it is worth paying attention to the metal tile.

The disadvantages of metal are as follows:

1. a large number of additional components and accessories, such as valleys, skates, end plates, ventilation devices, etc.
2. high noise during rain and wind. You can fix this problem by laying an additional layer of soundproofing materials.

Flexible tile

If we are not talking about a tiny cottage, but about a comfortable mansion, then there is no point in saving on the roof. It makes sense to think about flexible or bituminous tiles. Such a roof is similar to a layer cake and consists of many elements.Outside - colored stone chips, then a layer of bitumen applied on two sides to fiberglass. And the last lower layer is rubber-bitumen. This layer is adhesive. Its main task is to ensure good adhesion and tightness of the coating.

The main advantage of flexible tiles over their counterparts is its resistance to corrosion and decay. It does not delaminate and during installation a minimum of waste is generated. In addition, in the market of building and finishing materials there is a wide variety of colors and shades.

There is only one minus here, deciding which roof to choose, you will see a high price. In addition, laying flexible tiles requires a perfectly even base. Usually, a wooden or plywood crate is placed under the tile.

Natural tile

Two types of roofs belong to such a tile: ceramic and cement-sand.

Ceramic roofing is made of clay. Russian manufacturers do not deal with this type of roof. Hence the first minus is the almost complete absence of highly qualified specialists who are fluent in the skill of laying elite tiles. Meanwhile, this elite roofing material is the queen of the roof and emphasizes the status and wealth of its owners. The ceramic roof has the highest indicators of wear resistance, does not rustle with gusts of wind and rain, does not fade, is not afraid of heat and frost, and can serve its owners for more than a century. Evidence of this can be the architectural monuments of Europe, which have survived to this day.

The weight of such a roof is very large. Therefore, if you want to cover the roof with a ceramic roof, it is necessary to lay in the project an additional load on the foundation and the rafter system.

Cement-sand roofing

Such a roof is a symbol of prestige and prosperity. Slate is the most aesthetic and refined finishing material. The gray color of wet asphalt with a shimmering shine creates a unique noble effect of antiquity. Roof tiles can be laid with flakes, diamonds or rectangles. Thus, each coating is exclusive and strictly individual.

And, as you know, originality costs money and sometimes considerable. The cost of 1 square meter of cement-sand roofing can go up to 300 dollars. However, such a roof will be nothing. Slate tiles are not afraid of rain, snow, wind, heat, cold, or fire.

Wooden roof

Previously, our ancestors did not know other roofing materials than natural ones. Then the wooden roofs remained only at street toilets, baths and sheds. Today, a wooden roof is experiencing a new peak in popularity. The most valuable is the roof, which was made manually from deciduous or coniferous trees. Sq price meters can vary between 50 and 70 euros.

Externally, the wooden roof seems fragile, but the test of time gives different results. In addition, treatment with modern means that prevent the negative effects of the environment will extend the service life of a wooden roof by not a dozen years.

Thatched roof

Those distant times when a straw roof was associated with a village hut long ago. Today roofs made of reeds and straw have become the prerogative of exclusively elite houses. However, despite the low cost of raw materials, thatched roof is quite an expensive pleasure. Sq price meters of natural roofing - from 60 to 120 euros.

Natural material and unique laying technology provide protection against temperature changes no worse than modern finishing materials. Plus, such a roof does not require the installation of additional ventilation and thermal insulation devices.

Roof Architectural

The type of roofing directly depends on what kind of roof you have - a simple gable roof or with complex ridges and valleys.So, for example, the flexibility and plasticity of the seam roof allow it to cover roofs of even the most non-standard forms. And in order to cover an ordinary shed roof, you can use a metal tile or corrugated board. If you use these materials to cover the roof with a complex architectural solution, then the difficulties encountered during installation may cast doubt on the feasibility and economic benefit of such an action.

If round or oval elements, various arches and domes are embedded in the roof project, then it is worth paying attention to such roofing material as bituminous tiles. It is worth noting that this coating option is the most optimal and you can even say the only one, in this case.

The appearance of the roof

Remember, when you approach your beloved house, whether it be a summer house or a cottage, first of all you pay attention to the roof. It is the finishing touch and the appearance of the house is highly dependent on the type of roof chosen. Modern suppliers of roofing materials offer a huge variety of spectacular pitched roofs. Architects and designers are also advised to pay particular attention to the color of the coating. This is especially true for flexible tiles. It is desirable that the color of the roofing material is in harmony with the facade, combined with the fence and well suited to the surrounding landscape. So, red and bard roofs look good drowning in colors, blue roofs are ideal for a site where there are various ponds and streams. The green roof is in good harmony with sprawling trees and lush bushes. Keep this in mind when deciding which roof to choose.

Roof weight

When you designed and planned your house, when you erected floors or laid the foundation, did you take into account how much roofing materials will weigh? Meanwhile, the mass of natural tiles exceeds the weight of metal tiles by an order of magnitude. Cement and sand tiles are even lighter than natural, about 20-30 kg. However, it is difficult to attribute to light roofing materials. Under it, it is necessary to initially lay the margin of safety in the foundation and walls, plus to this, the rafters should be selected and built only taking into account the recommendations of the roof manufacturer.

Thus, if the answer to the previous question is negative, then it is necessary to immediately exclude heavy roofing materials from the shopping list. Roof weight has a significant impact on the total cost of roofing.

Life time

Experts say that basically the life of any roofing is determined by the level of skill of the roofers. That is, no matter what characteristics the roof possesses, if its installation was carried out poorly and in haste, then one can hardly expect good results.

In addition, any roof during service is regularly exposed

• precipitation
• strong winds and even hurricanes
• sun rays
• temperature differences
• mechanical loads
• microorganisms, insect pests, etc.

The average manufacturers warranty for their products is as follows:

• 15-20 years on soft tiles
• 5-15 years on a metal tile
• 20-30 years for natural and ceramic tiles. Actual life may exceed 1-2 centuries.
• 10 years on slate
• 15 years on bituminous wavy sheets. No warranty on color retention
• 15-20 years on corrugated board and roofing steel (g
• 30-40 years on shale roofs. Actual life may exceed 1-2 centuries.
• 15-20 years on folded roofs

The actual service life with proper installation and regular maintenance may exceed the warranty at times. At the same time, the actual durability can exceed these indicators by several times.

Temperature mode

When deciding what is better to cover the roof of the house, it is necessary to pay special attention to the stability of the roof to the effects of temperature changes, that is, whether the roof retains its shape at low or vice versa high temperatures. So, for example, flexible tile is based on non-woven fiberglass or polyester, plus it is always impregnated with modified bitumen, which determines its flexibility and resistance to temperature extremes. The most popular polymer components for impregnation from Russian manufacturers are styrene-butadiene-styrene (SBS) and atactic polypropylene (APP). APP is more resistant to high temperatures, but does not tolerate frosts. SBS is less resistant to heat, but it has high frost resistance.

In Russia, which has a cold climate, it is recommended to use styrene-butadiene-styrene.

UV Resistance

Also, an important criterion in choosing what to block the roof of the house should be its resistance to ultraviolet radiation. This resistance depends on three main factors:

1. The presence of a polymer component. The absence of such an additive in bitumen makes the roof less resistant to sunlight;
2. The density of mineral chips that is on the outside of the tile. Basalt, or any other material, creates a protective layer on the roof surface, making it more resistant to the negative effects of ultraviolet radiation.
3. The quality of adhesion of microparticles with bitumen. In case of unfair production and violation of technology, adhesion can be changed. In this case, a quick shedding of mineral chips and an early exposure of the bitumen layer will occur.

Metal durability

The service life of metal tiles depends on:

1. steel profile thickness
2. the thickness of the zinc layer,
3. type of polymer coating.

The optimum sheet thickness is 0.45-0.8 mm. If the steel is thicker, it is more difficult to mount and profile. Thin layers will be subject to deformation and destruction.

But with the zinc layer, things are a little different, the bigger it is, the better. Indeed, its presence guarantees the protection of the roof from corrosion. In addition, it is not enough to apply one layer of zinc to the sheet. Galvanization must be double-sided with a primer layer. This will protect the metal from oxidation.

The type of polymer used in the manufacture of metal tiles affects not only the service life, but also the external characteristics of the roof. So, plastisol, for example, applied to a metal tile with a layer of 200 microns, guarantees resistance to mechanical damage. However, it loses its protective properties at an air temperature of more than +60.

Polyester tolerates high temperatures up to 120 ° C, however, it is completely defenseless against mechanical stress. Keep this in mind when deciding how to block the roof of a house.

The polyvinyl fluoridacryl (PVF2) polymer layer shows good resistance to UV and temperature extremes. It is stronger than polyester, but less resistant to damage, unlike the same plastisol.

Pural can be called a kind of compromise between all polymers. It is equally resistant both to temperature fluctuations, and to ultraviolet and corrosion.

Money issue

The monetary issue in construction, as in any other business, plays an important role. Especially when it comes to the end of construction, when finances are coming to an end, and the roof needs to be covered with high-quality and durable materials. Everyone knows that roofing materials are a pretty significant budget line. Thus, it is very important to find a balance between the type of roof and the economic opportunities of the builder. The cost estimate should include not only the cost of roofing material taking into account all consumables, but also the complexity of installation, as well as the presence of waste during installation.

The choice between heavy and light roof types must be made already at the design stage. During installation, you, perhaps, manage to abandon heavy coatings and lay bituminous tiles on the roof, but on the contrary - hardly.

It is worth noting that the choice of such light and inexpensive materials as corrugated board, odulin, bituminous tiles or metal tiles will become a convenient and profitable acquisition, both at the purchase stage and at the installation stage. Expensive and heavy roofing materials, such as ceramic and cement-sand tiles, require not only high costs at the time of acquisition, but also more expensive roof systems.

So what roofing material to choose? Beautiful? Durable? Or cheaper? These questions individually can be answered without hesitation. However, in reality, you need to consider all the selection criteria in a complex, then the roof will please you for many years and will reliably protect against any weather.