History Of Flat Roofs

A history of flat roofs.

History of flat roofs.

Wood and slate shingles and clay tiles were the predominant roofing choice until the mid 19th century when metal and bituminous roofing systems made low slope applications possible. It wasn t until the ancient greeks and roman civilizations that tiles became common in europe. A flat roof is a roof which is almost level in contrast to the many types of sloped roofs. While standard sloped roofs typically have shingles that are overlapped like.

Flat roofs came into widespread use in europe and the americas in the 19th century when new waterproof roofing materials and the use of structural steel and concrete made them more practical. The slope of a roof is properly known as its pitch and flat roofs have up to approximately 10. Flat roofs have been around for a very long while. This was a flat roof made of.

Then in the mid 1800s tar roofs built up roofing were invented. Tiled and thatched roofs china has a long history of advanced architectural techniques and reportedly they had been using clay tiles as far back as 3 000 bc. The roof normally was thatched such as that the material that made up most of the roof was straw leaves or branches. Flat roofs or low slope roofs are also commonly found on commercial buildings throughout the world.

Sometimes mortar was applied between the courses to secure the tiles in a heavy wind. The plain or flat rectangular tiles most commonly used from the 17th through the beginning of the 19th century measured about 10 by 6 by 1 2 and had two holes at one end for a nail or peg fastener. It has a very low slope between 1 4 to 1 2 inch per foot so that it drains water. Other articles where flat roof is discussed.

Because of climate issues hot countries such as spain have had flat roofs for century. Back then this idea was fairly prevalent since there were no useful applications for having a tilted roof and our ancestors weren t too keen on aesthetics. Both farm villages and victorian london had sloped roofs made of wood thatch tile or slate. From switzerland to the fabled hanging gardens of babylon humans have been growing plants on flat roofs.

Flat roofing is not actually flat. How did flat roofs start. Main types of roofs are flat roofs and sloping ones. But such a low slope holds snow and water much longer than a steeply pitched roof and therefore needs a very different material to stay watertight.

This is the traditional design of their buildings.