ROOF

A roof is the top covering of a building, including all materials

and constructions necessary to support it on the walls of the
building or on uprights; it provides protection against rain,
snow, sunlight, extremes of temperature, and wind.
There is a wide variety of roof shapes, frames and coverings
from which to choose. The choice is related to factors such as
the size and use of the building, its anticipated life and
appearance, and the availability and cost of materials. Roofs
may be classified as-
1. Pitched Roofs or Sloping Roofs
2. Flat Roofs
3. Shelled Roofs
4. Domes
A. PITCHED ROOFS
Pitched roofs are the most common types of roof found on
buildings. They are most often used because they are
effective at shedding water. Therefore, these are generally
used where rainfall is heavy. These roofs are provided with
a considerable slope. The shape of the roof depends on
the area covered, availability of materials, height and
ventilation required.
ELEMENTS OF PITCHED ROOFS
Following are the elements of pitched roofs:
a. Span- Span of roof is the clear distance between the
two supports on which roof is positioned by some
other elements.
b. Ridge- The apex of the angle which is developed at
top by the inclined surfaces at the top of slope.
c. Rise- The vertical distance or height of top of ridge
from wall plate is called as rise.
d. Wall plates- Wall plates are provided at top of wall or
supports. And these are generally made of wood and
are used to fix the common rafters.
e. Pitch- Pitch is nothing but slope of roof with the
horizontal plane and is calculated as the ratio of rise
to span.
f. Eaves- The bottom edge of sloped roof surface is
called as eaves from which rain water is drops down
during raining.
g. Hip- Hip is a place where two sloping surfaces meet,
where exterior angle is more than 180°.
h. Hipped end- At the end of a roof sloped triangular
surface is formed which is called as hipped end.
i. Valley- It is also a place where two sloping surfaces
intersect but the exterior angle is less than 180.
j. Verge- Verge is the edge of gable roof which runs
between ridge and eaves.
k. Purlin- Purlins are wooden or steel members
supported by truss or wall. If the span is large they are
used to support the common rafters.
l. Battens- Battens are usually made of wood and they
are nailed to the rafters to give supports for the roof
covering material.
m. Eaves board- The ends of lower most roof covering
materials are rests on eaves board. It is made of wood
and usually 25mm x 25mm thickness and width. It is
placed at the feet of common rafters.
n. Rafters- The members which support the roof
covering material are called Rafters.

TYPES OF PITCHED ROOFS

a. Lean-to-Roof: The lean to roof is defined as single
slope roof with its upper edge adjoining a wall or a
building. Lean to roof is the simplest type of pitched
roof. Lean to roof is a free standing structure. The
wall of one side is taken higher than the wall on the
other side. In this lean to roof, the upper part of the
 common rafters is located on a wooden wall plate and
also placed with corbel. This corbel is made from
stone, brick or iron. The lower ends of common
rafters are notched and nailed to a wooden post-
plate. It is commonly used for covering verandah,
sheds, out houses etc.

b. Couple Roof- Couple Roof is the simplest form of

pitched roof. In this roof construction, the common
rafters slope upwards from the opposite walls and
they meet on a ridge piece in the middle. This form of
pitched roof is a pair of rafters acting like two arms
pinned at the top and hence it is called couple roof.
The battens are laid over the rafters at suitable
intervals. This type of roof is suitable for a maximum
span of 3.6 meters and slope of rafter should not be
less than 40 degrees.
c. Couple close roof- It is similar to a couple roof but the
legs of the common rafters are closed by a horizontal
tie known as tie beam near the lower end of the
rafters. This tie beam prevents the rafter from the
spreading and thrusting out of the wall because it is
connected to the feet of the common rafter. This tie
beam is made from the wood and steel rod. It can be
used to a span of 5m.

d. Collar Beam Roof- It is similar to couple close roof

with the only difference that the tie beam is fixed at a
height of half to one third of vertical height between
 the wall and ridge. The tie beam when fixed at a
higher level is known as collar beam. This roof can be
used up to a span of 5.5m.

e. Collar And Tie Roof- It is used when roof span

exceeds 5.5m, length of rafters becomes quite large.
To reduce size of rafter, intermediate, supports called
strut are introduced under the rafters. This roof is a
combination of collar beam roof and couple close
roof.
f. King Post Truss- This truss is suitable for roofs of span
varying from 5m to 8m. For such spans, no
intermediate supporting walls are available for
purlins. The spacing of truss is about 3m. The Wooden
King Post Truss Consists Following components:
i. Tie Beam
ii. Two Inclined principal rafter
iii. Two struts
iv. King post
v. Ridge Beam
g. Queen Post Truss- It is suitable for spans varying
from 9-14m. It differs from the king post truss in
having two vertical members, called queen post. The
upper ends of the queen posts are put apart by a
horizontal member known as straining beam. The
truss consists of following components:
i. Two Queen posts
ii. Two Principal Rafters
iii. Struts
iv. Tie Beam
v. Straining beams
vi. Straining sills
vii. Purlins
 h. Mansard Roof Truss- It is combination of a king post
and queen post truss. The upper part of this truss is of
king post and lower part is queen post type. The truss
has two pitches, the lower varying from 60°-70° and
the upper varying from 30°-40°. This type of truss is
economical in cost and space, but because of its odd
shape it is not used.

B. FLAT ROOF
They are nearly flat. These are laid at an angle of less
than 10° to the horizontal to cause rainwater to flow off
 rapidly and easily. It may be constructed by Reinforced
Cement Concrete, Precast Concrete etc.
Advantages:
a. It provides better architectural appearance to the
building.
b. Its construction is easy and simple.
c. The roof area can be used for roof gardening, playing
etc.
d. It possesses good insulating properties.
Disadvantage:
a. In case of heavy rainfall the flat roofs are not suitable.
b. It cannot be used over large spans.
c. Initial cost is high.
d. It is difficult to rectify leakage.