Raising the roof

Everyone wants a strong and sturdy roof over their head. K R Srikanta Prasad gives advice on various roofs, their advantages, disadvantages and maintenance.

One milestone that features in everyone’s life is to get a roof over their head! Achieving this milestone gives one a sense of safety, security, confidence, satisfaction and belonging.

While building a house, roof-casting is the most important stage. Typically, during the construction of a custom-made house, the owner’s whole family will turn up to supervise how the roofing is progressing. Once it is done, everyone joins in the celebration. Let us look at the technicalities to be kept in mind while building a roof.

The options are many. The choice of roofing depends on a number of factors like strength, durability, cost and aesthetics. While conventional reinforced concrete is usually used for roofs these days, there are many other options and specifications
worth considering. A little research might present you with much better options.

Roofs can either be sloped or flat depending on the design and its purpose. Usually the highest roofs are constructed as sloping roofs. This adds a certain beauty to the structure but the lack of an extra flat terrace is a compromise which might have to be made. Sloping roofs are a boon in regions with heavy rainfall. On the other hand, flat roofs provide us with additional floor area but must be water-proofed to ensure its durability.

Cool comfort

Sloping roofs have been in use for centuries. They can be thatched or tiled. A well-made thatched roof makes the house cool and comfortable, however, finding skilled workers in this day and age can be a hassle. A Mangalore roof or Mangalore tiled roof is quite popular and easier to get done. But the wooden frames usually used for this kind of roof are now being replaced with steel which makes it more expensive. Alternatively, these tiles can be fixed over a concrete sloping roof which gives us the best use of both materials. Sometimes AC sheets or metal sheets are used instead of the tiles. Being light and cost-effective, these are widely used in industrial sheds. Fibre glass is also popular in specific shelters and light-weight roof coverings.

The RCC kind of roofing is commonly used for buildings because of its flexibility and durability. It covers large spaces and is easy to construct. But too much of concrete has led to inefficient energy management, so there is a need to ponder while making the design. These days a huge consumption of steel and cement is seen which is not environment-friendly.

This has led to the design of composite roofs and filler slabs. Here the concept is to minimise the quantity of concrete and steel which goes into the building of the structure. Filler materials can be clay bricks, tiles or hollow terracotta slab units.
Composite roofs made out of these are relatively eco-friendly. They also breathe and insulate. But the downside is that they are labour intensive.

Apart from these, we have the old-style roofs like Madras terrace and jack-arch roofing. These are the days of pre-cast units and such options are also available. But these specifications and sizes must be incorporated during the design stage. They save time and thus, cost.

With an intelligent approach, designers could arrive at feasible roof options. One also needs to be aware of the amount of material resources which will be consumed and their negative aspects. After all, more often the roofs outlive the humans who built them! Home owners and builders need to be aware that there are meaningful alternatives available before blindly pouring concrete upon concrete! Because, roofs matter!

(The writer is a civil engineer.)