Houses with a flat roof in our climate. Features of using a flat roof

Houses with a flat roof in the total mass of low-rise buildings are unique and therefore attract a lot of attention and cause controversy about the wisdom of using this type of top coating of the building in our conditions.

Tradition is a serious thing

Russia is a forest country. The tree has always been the main, if not the only available material for the construction of housing. Russia is a snow country. The chopped log huts drilled through the pipes for many people are still a symbol of our country. These two factors largely determined the type of traditional Russian house with a gable roof.

It is easier to make a ridge roof with inclined rafters from logs and sawn timber (unless, of course, it's a dugout). It's easier to install it on log walls. The roofing space of the pitched roof is an additional insulation of the living space. This and the place for the chimney (low pipe - bad traction!). All this has confirmed the roof of a triangular shape in the minds of builders and developers almost at the genetic level.

New trends

The fashion for architectural styles changed, the window to Europe opened and closed. Today, few people have not seen warm countries and southern cities. Architects are not limited in their fantasies either by material or technology. And the customer in individual residential construction is still mostly a supporter of traditional architecture.

Meanwhile, the fashionable minimalism now has Russian roots. Domestic architectural avant-garde of the twenties influenced the subsequent generations of architects from all over the world. It was in the creative work of constructivists that large areas of glazing appeared, a minimum of decor, expressiveness of simple geometric forms. Houses with a flat roof - this is also one of the proposals of young avant-garde architects.

Freedom and novelty

It is the novelty of architecture, the expressiveness of the visual image usually inherent in residential houses with a flat roof. Such designs are more organic for low-rise buildings of advanced, futuristic architecture. A modern house with a flat roof is mostly built by a man of new views, a man free from the web of the old, a creative person. And if he finds a real professional architect and builders who own new technologies, we get an original and exclusive object that talks a lot about its owner.

The use of flat roofs implies great freedom for the architect to create a comfortable living environment. The layout of a house with a flat roof does not depend on the need for competent coupling of the roof slopes to avoid the formation of snow bags, etc.

If the roof is made exploitable, houses with a flat roof receive an extra useful area. Accomplishment of the roof for recreation areas - places for sunbathing and training on simulators, playgrounds for children or barbecue - is impossible with a roof with inclined ramps. Greening the roof, for example, creating a lawn or planting shrubs, it is possible not only on the coast of Florida or the south of France. Modern roofing and landscape technology also allows you to arrange a flower garden or a garden on the roof of a suburban house outside Moscow.

Inability to correctly compare

It is difficult to compare sloping and flat roofs according to functional or economic parameters. Any roof, regardless of form and design, must fulfill the main task - to protect the inhabitants and parts of the building from the impact of unfavorable external factors. Any roof and roof must meet the requirements for moisture resistance and heat capacity, the ability to withstand wind and snow loads.

It is impossible to say exactly which roof will be cheaper or more expensive, even for buildings of the same shape and area. The roof area at the sloping roof in this situation will be larger, the higher the cost of roofing and thermal insulation materials, but the cost of waterproofing a flat surface due to increased requirements for it can offset this difference. One-story house with a flat roof can be more expensive than a three-story frame house with a high roof, and a large villa with a greenhouse on the roof will cost less than a house with a high attic, covered with natural tiles.

On a flat roof it is more convenient to mount numerous modern house systems: antennas, solar panels, ventilation and air conditioning systems, etc. With inclined slopes it is easier to monitor the condition of the waterproofing from the attic space and easier to repair.

Technological features of a flat roof

In addition to the mentality of the customer and the builder, the appearance of new houses with flat roofs is hampered by the belief that snow and water will accumulate on a flat roof, which will inevitably lead to leaks and destruction of the floor. Of course, to achieve complete tightness of flat roof is more difficult. But the experience of operating the roofs of multi-storey buildings speaks of the reality of accomplishing such a task.

The most suitable for the device of flat roofs are the inverted roofs. They are different from the usual other arrangement of layers of roofing "pie". Typically, the waterproofing is carried out closer to the outer surface of the roof (under the sheet or piece roof) or under the directly upper layer (rolled and fused roofs). The subsequent layers (steam and heat insulation) are laid down below. In the inverse roof, waterproofing is performed on the floor (in the case of a flat roof - usually a concrete slab), then the insulation is laid, the sealing layer of expanded clay is poured and a slope for the drainage of water is formed (angle is 5 degrees). The top layer can be any solid coating - decking, tiles, etc. With this design, the roof life time increases significantly.

Individual approach

The choice of the shape and design of the roof should be linked to the general architectural solution of the residential building, with the capabilities of the builder and contractor of the construction work. Technological obstacles for the device of a flat roof do not exist. In any climatic zone it is possible to build a comfortable and reliable house with a flat roof. Photo of such a house, covered with snow, you can see in the article.

The originality and high functional qualities of the best samples of residential houses of this type are the guarantee of their wider distribution.