Flat roof do it yourself

06-03-2018

Useful

It is believed that a country house with a flat roof looks quite attractive and emphasizes the consistency of its owners, the sophistication of their taste and originality of thinking. The flat roof can be not only original, but also quite practical. That is why such a construction is often used in regions with low average monthly precipitation.

If you wish to equip a flat roof in areas with a large amount of precipitation, you should take into account the permissible loads on the floors and reinforce the supporting structural elements.

This article describes how to make a flat roof yourself and discusses the features of various types of roofing.

Advantages and disadvantages

The advantages of flat roofs include the following properties:

The originality of the appearance of the structure, as well as the possibility of arranging on the roof of the site, used to taste the owner.
Saving money on the construction of the roof, which does not require the use of complex roof systems and has a small area of coverage.
Repair of a flat roof in comparison with pitched structures is quite simple and will not take you much time.

The disadvantage of flat type floors is the need for careful design, taking into account possible maximum loads on the structure and the type of material used as a coating. In this case, the project lays the angle of inclination of the future roof (ranging from 3 to 12 degrees - depending on the annual precipitation rate).

Types of flat roofs

The basis for flat roofs are usually either reinforced concrete floor slabs or beam structures made of metal profiles. At the same time, not only the composition of the roofing cake, but also the technology of its production depends on the type of base you have chosen.

According to the method of forming the roofing pie, all known flat roofs are divided into the following groups:

classic monolithic roofs;
the so-called inversion coatings, which are a specialized version of traditional roofs;
roof of corrugated.

According to their intended purpose, all such coatings are divided into exploited and unexploited, differing in the index of the base stiffness.

Monolith

Monolithic coating refers to the traditional and widely used types of structures (the so-called "soft roofs"). In the section, such a roof consists of a slab-base with a film vapor barrier placed on it and insulation, as a rule, which is used mineral wool.

Above the insulation is laid waterproofing carpet, made of rolled bitumen containing material. The advantages of this kind of multilayer coatings include their relatively low cost and extreme ease of installation.

Sometimes, for the preparation of a flat roof of the “monolith” type, metal I-beams with a cross section of 12–15 cm are used, on the lower shelves of which a continuous sheathing of boards is installed that is covered with roofing felt. The fittings are placed on top with a gap, after which the space is poured with concrete.

After the concrete mixture has set, a classic “soft” coating of rolled materials is laid over the ceiling.

Roof of corrugated

Decking is the most economical option for the base used in the manufacture of a flat roof. This material can be used only in those cases when the roof is not intended to be used as a permanently used platform.

The formation of the roofing pie in this case is practically no different from that already described earlier, except that such a roof needs additional warming.

Typical composition of the roofing pie

In the context of a flat roof structure is a team of multi-layered structure, which includes the following mandatory elements:

flat base;
vapor barrier layer;
insulation layer;
waterproofing protection.

The roof vapor barrier is usually made of polyethylene film, which does not allow the air vapor rising from the premises to act on the heat-shielding layer of the roofing pie.

The function of insulating pads in a flat roof can perform a variety of materials, namely:

mineral wool slabs;
expanded clay and gravel;
polystyrene plates.

The waterproofing gasket is traditionally made of rolled materials made on a bitumen basis. In addition, modern materials such as special mastics or sprayed membranes can be used for these purposes.

Features of inversion coating

The design of the so-called "inversion" cake is fundamentally different from all the types of roofs we considered earlier and requires separate consideration. In the context of such a coating can be represented as follows:

On the base plate, with the help of a bitumen primer, waterproofing is mounted, over which plates of rigid insulation are mounted with a drainage layer with a reinforced coating placed on top of it.
All this "sandwich", or rather, its last layer is covered with a special geotextile fabric, which protects the insulation from external damaging influences.
As a final coating of inverted roofs, any material suitable for their use (including paving slabs) can be used.

Such a roof can withstand quite large loads and can be used as a constantly operated recreation area.

Roofing device

According to the current SNiP, the arrangement of a flat roof should provide a slight slope in one of its sides (within 1? 4 °), to avoid the accumulation of rainfall on the surface of the coating. It should be borne in mind that even a small amount of residual moisture represents a tangible threat to the safety of the entire roofing pie as a whole. All deformations and destruction of the outer coating, which often occur during the operation of the roof, are usually the result of repeated freezing and thawing of residues of accumulated moisture.

As a rule, the angle of inclination of flat coatings is determined by the location of the main elements (floor beams) and is strictly controlled during their installation. In the composition of flat roofs for unheated buildings, as a rule, the following elements are used:

load-bearing beams or hollow core slabs;
batten rack (with a step of about 50? 70 cm);
typical "soft" rolled coverings.

When equipping the roofs of buildings of heated type, this list is expanded by additionally used steam and waterproofing, as well as the insulating layer, which is mandatory for this case.

Video

How is the installation of a flat exploited roof, see the following video: