Materials and products in sloped roofs

What is roof ?

The roof is a building element that separates and limits the building/structure with a free atmosphere. The roof is one of the main elements in ensuring architectural integrity and should not be isolated from the building it covers. When looking at different climate and geographical regions of the world, it is seen that roofs differ significantly according to climatic, cultural characteristics and material possibilities. For example, if you want to use In areas where precipitation is low, roofs are designed with little slope to be called almost flat, while in climates where precipitation is high, roofs are sloping and sliding materials are used to immediately remove rain and/or snow water.




Roofs by Slope

• Low Slope (Flat) Roofs: Roofs with a tilt angle of up to 5 degrees.
• Medium Inclined Roofs: Roofs with a tilt angle between 5 degrees and 40 degrees.
• Steep Roofs: They are roofs with a tilt angle of more than 40 degrees.

Roofing materials

Roofing materials can be made of various materials depending on their resistance to nature. On the market, it is possible to divide it into six as metal, clay, cement, plastic and bitumen based and other materials. Among these, the most commonly used are flat or profiled metal sheets such as copper, zinc, lead, hair aluminum, ondule asbestos, ondule synthetic fiber sheets. If the roof slope is to be high, tile, cement, asbestos sheets are used. In places where there are climatic geological formations, natural stone profiles and reeds can be used.

• ROOF PITCH

The slope, or pitch, of a roof is typically expressed as the amount of vertical rise (in inches) for every foot of horizontal length along the gable.  A roof with a rise of six inches per foot would be called a 6/12 roof.  
Conventional slope roofs, with a pitch between 4/12 and 9/12, are the most common in residential work.  Roofs with a pitch exceeding 9/12 (37 degrees) are termed steep slope roofs.
In commercial work, low-slope roofs (with a pitch between 2/12 and 4/12) are most common.  Roofs with a pitch of less than 2/12 are considered flat, even though they technically have some slope.  The minimum allowable slope for drainage is ¼” per foot. 
Steeper sloped roofs are generally more visually pleasing and tend to last longer, as the water runs off immediately and ice damming is avoided. However, they also cost more because of the additional materials required to build them, and are impractically tall for larger buildings. 
Roof material selection is highly dependent on roof slope.  For instance, single-ply or torch-down roofs are not appropriate for high-slope applications.  On the other hand, visually appealing roofing products such as shingles or tiles do not work well on low-slope roofs. 



For conventional and steep-slope roofing, shingles and tiles are the best way to go.  They have been used for roofing for hundreds of years, and are still a great choice for conventional roof pitches.  
Clay tiles and natural slate have a proven track record stretching back centuries, and modern products will last a lifetime if properly applied.  Warranties of 75 years are not uncommon.  The primary drawback to tiles is their cost and weight.   
Concrete roof tiles are available at prices similar to clay, and can imitate both slate and clay tiles.  They’re typically warranteed for at least 30 years.




For steep and conventional pitched roofs (4/12 and above) shingles and tiles are an attractive option that perform well. Asphalt (top) is most economical. Tile (middle) provides a long-lasting roof with little maintenance. Synthetic wood and slate (bottom) are durable, long-lasting, and appear identical to the natural materials they imitate.



Asphalt shingles are economical, versatile, and work well on most residential roof pitches. They’re easy to install, relatively long-lasting, and available in virtually any color and style an architect could desire. The main drawback to asphalt shingles is related to the service life.Asphalt roofing shingles are available in grades with an expected life of 20-50 years depending on the price. However, durability issues and wear-out or material failures occur earlier than expected in some situations.”

 It should be noted that unlike the other products mentioned so far, asphalt shingles can be used on low-slope roofs with a pitch between 2/12 and 4/12, but they require special underlayments and installation techniques to handle ice damming and other water issues.




Metal Roofing

The two most common metal roofing materials are painted aluminum and steel. Copper and stainless steel are also metal roofing options, but their cost is high enough that they’re seldom used.  Aluminum has become a top choice because it does not rust, it muffles the sound of rainfall, and can simulate cedar shakes, tiles, and slate. Metal can be used as a roofing material on any roof pitch. For low-slope structural roofing, standing seam roofing is generally used. Some low slope metal roofing requires machine seaming during roof installation to ensure a watertight seal. A seaming apparatus is simply rolled along the panels to crimp the panel seams together.
In summary, metal roofs can provide easy installation, a long service life, low maintenance requirements, light weight, and meet sustainability and recyclability concerns.



Metal roofs are perhaps the most versatile system




Although roofs are made in desired shapes and with different designs, there are a number of criteria to be considered in choosing roofing products again. These criteria; roof slope and shape, environmental conditions, aesthetic values of the structure, economic features and service life. Regardless of the way the roof is, these features should be considered and the ideal roofing product should be selected to meet these features. On the other hand, roofing products on sloping roofs should not be discarded, let's not forget the need to be robust, water resistant, simple to program, maintain and repair against internal and external atmospheric conditions, and have properties that do not disturb human health. Roofing programs to be made with roofing products that are robust and have the desired properties against all these factors bring the first important stage in the application of an accurate roof.