Residential Roofing Specifications
There are so many different types of roofing that it boggles the mind. If you want to see some of them hop in your car and drive around. You will find very interesting roofs right near where you live. There are many styles and different structures and the specifications on all these may vary greatly in what is required to use them.
- Generally there are two types of classifications of roofs. Low slope roofs and steep slope roofs. Low slope roofing uses weatherproof (or impermeable) type of materials and is on slopes of less than 14-degrees. Steep slope roofs uses mostly water shedding types of materials and are on slopes of over 14-degrees.
- In steep slope roofing there is six classifications of coverings. Those would be:
- Synthetic
- Clay tile and concrete tile
- Metal systems designed for steep slope installations
- Wood shakes and wood shingles
- Asphalt shingles
- Slate
- Steep slope roofs are made up of three components that are each installed separately. Those would be:
- The actual deck of the roof (normally oriented strand board - OSB)
- The underlayment (protection until primary water shedding is installed)
- Roof covering - the actual water shedding material of the roof
- With low slope roofing there are five classifications of coverings. Those are:
- Single ply membranes
- Built up roof membranes (BUR)
- Metal panels for low slope applications
- Polymer modified bitumen sheet membranes
- Spray polyurethane based roof systems (SPF)
- The majority of the low slope membrane roof has three major components. Those would be:
- They have a weatherproofing layer or layers
- They are re-enforced for strength and puncture resistance
- They may be surfaced to protect from sunlight and weather degradation
- Low slope membrane roofing may also have increased fire, hail and other qualities as well. Some of the membrane roof materials may perform more than one of the above features.