Roofing Materials
- Asbestos-Cement RoofingRoof sheets and slates made of cement reinforced with asbestos fibres, widely used in the 20th century and now banned in many countries as a health hazard.
- Bamboo RoofingRoofs built with bamboo, either as split culms laid like interlocking half-pipes or as a frame for thatch and other coverings, common in tropical Asia and Latin America.
- Brazilian SlateSlate from Minas Gerais, Brazil; widely used for flooring and cladding but generally considered less suited to roofing in freezing climates.
- Clay Roof TileA roofing unit moulded or extruded from clay and fired in a kiln; one of the oldest and most widespread roof coverings in the world.
- Corrugated Iron (Corrugated Galvanised Iron)Corrugated iron is sheet metal rolled into parallel waves for stiffness; patented in 1829, it became a defining roofing material of farms, colonies and industry.
- Fibre-Cement SlateA thin, flat roofing slate made of cement reinforced with fibres; a uniform, lower-cost manufactured alternative to natural slate.
- Interlocking Clay TileA pressed clay roof tile with grooves on its sides and head that lock into neighbouring tiles; the French or Marseille tile is the classic form.
- Mission TileA two-piece curved clay roof tile system of half-round pans and covers, also called barrel tile or monk-and-nun tile.
- Natural SlateA fine-grained metamorphic rock split into thin, durable roofing units; among the longest-lasting roof coverings in use.
- Spanish TileA one-piece clay or concrete roof tile with a deep S-curve that imitates two-piece barrel tiling in a single unit.
- Tejuela (Chilean Wood Shingle)Hand-split wooden shingle of southern Chile and adjoining Argentina, used to clad roofs and walls, notably in Chiloé and Aysén.
Roof Shapes & Forms
Manufacturers
History of Roofing
- Catalan VaultA shallow vault of thin flat tiles laid in layers without formwork, from Catalonia and Valencia; brought to the US by Rafael Guastavino.
- Churches of ChiloéWooden churches of Chile's Chiloé archipelago, clad in timber shingles; 16 are UNESCO World Heritage Sites inscribed in 2000.
- Global Spread of Corrugated IronHow corrugated galvanised iron travelled from Britain to colonial Australia, Africa, the Americas and Asia, becoming one of the world's most common roofs.
- Jesuit Mission Roof Tiles of South AmericaFired clay roof tiles made at the Jesuit missions of Paraguay, Argentina, Brazil and Bolivia from the 17th century, replacing straw roofs.
- Joya de CerénMaya farming village in El Salvador buried by a volcanic eruption around 600 CE, preserving earthen buildings and their thatched roofs.
Roofing Around the World
- Andean Ichu ThatchGrass thatch of the high Andes, made from ichu bunchgrass and used on Inca buildings, tied to stone gables with pegs and rope.
- BohíoPalm-thatched house of the Taíno of the Greater Antilles, still built in rural Cuba and recorded in Dominican census roof categories.
- Chattel HouseSmall, movable timber house of Barbados with a steep roof, set on loose coral-stone blocks; a symbol of post-emancipation Caribbean housing.
- Haitian Gingerbread HouseOrnate timber and masonry house of Port-au-Prince (1885-1925) with steep roofs and turrets, now mostly corrugated steel; many survived the 2010 earthquake.
- MalocaLarge communal thatched longhouse of Indigenous peoples of the northwest Amazon, especially the Tukanoan peoples of Colombia and Brazil.
- Maya Thatched HouseThe pole-and-thatch house of the Maya world, roofed with palm leaves or grass, used from ancient times to the present in Mexico and Central America.
- PalapaOpen-sided shelter or house roofed with dried palm leaves, common in coastal and rural Mexico and Central America and on beaches and resorts.
- QuinchaEarthquake-resistant building system of timber frames filled with cane and mud, used in Peru and Ecuador, often carrying light earth-covered roofs.
- Roofing in Antigua and BarbudaAntiguan and Barbudan roofing: timber and concrete houses with metal-sheet roofs under a mandatory OECS-based code; Hurricane Irma stripped Barbuda's roofs in 2017.
- Roofing in ArgentinaArgentine roofing: Andean grass thatch, Jesuit mission clay tile, the corrugated-iron houses of La Boca, and hand-split shingles in Patagonia.
- Roofing in Argentina and ChileOverview of Southern Cone roofing: Andean grass thatch, colonial clay tile, Chiloé's wooden shingles, metal sheet in the south, all with seismic design in Chile.
- Roofing in BarbadosBarbadian roofing: the movable timber chattel house with its steep hip or gable roof, corrugated iron and concrete, under a 1993 national building code.
- Roofing in BelizeBelizean roofing: Maya pole-and-thatch houses of bay leaf and cohune palm, Garifuna thatch, and timber and metal roofs shaped by hurricanes.
- Roofing in BoliviaBolivian roofing: Andean grass thatch and clay tile, tiled Jesuit churches of Chiquitos, and metal sheet (calamina) on about half of homes (2015 survey).
- Roofing in BrazilBrazilian roofing: Indigenous thatch, Portuguese colonial telha, fibre-cement and concrete laje; 81.9% of homes had tile or sheet roofs in 2019 (PNAD).
- Roofing in ChileChilean roofing: Andean thatch, Mapuche ruka, Chiloé's shingled churches, Valparaíso's zinc; metal and fibre-cement sheets cover 68% of homes (2024).
- Roofing in ColombiaColombian roofing: Amazonian palm-thatched malocas, colonial clay tile in Cartagena, bahareque coffee-region houses, and fibre-cement 'eternit' and zinc today.
- Roofing in Costa RicaCosta Rican roofing: metal sheet on lightweight frames dominates under a seismic code first written after the 1972-73 earthquakes and revised in 2025.
- Roofing in CubaCuban roofing: the palm-thatched Taíno bohío, colonial tile, and today a near even split between concrete roofs and light sheet roofs, repeatedly tested by hurricanes.
- Roofing in DominicaDominican (Commonwealth) roofing: Hurricane Maria in 2017 damaged 98% of roofs, prompting stronger housing standards with thicker rafters and purlins.
- Roofing in EcuadorEcuadorian roofing: colonial tile over earthen walls in Quito and Cuenca, cane-and-mud quincha houses on the coast, and metal and fibre-cement today.
- Roofing in El SalvadorSalvadoran roofing: Joya de Cerén's ash-buried thatch of about 600 CE, bahareque and tile houses, and metal and concrete roofs in a quake-prone land.
- Roofing in GrenadaGrenadian roofing: timber and concrete houses with metal-sheet hip roofs under an OECS-based code; Hurricane Beryl in 2024 destroyed or damaged most buildings on Carriacou.
- Roofing in GuatemalaGuatemalan roofing: Maya thatch and stone vaults, colonial tile in Antigua, and today metal sheet on 68.1% of homes (2018 census).
- Roofing in GuyanaGuyanese roofing: timber houses raised above floods with shingle or metal roofs, palm thatch inland, and St George's, a giant wooden cathedral.
- Roofing in HaitiHaitian roofing: Taíno thatch, timber gingerbread houses of 1885-1925, then heavy concrete slabs whose failures in the 2010 earthquake reshaped rebuilding.
- Roofing in HondurasHonduran roofing: Maya stone and thatch at Copán, Garifuna thatched houses on the Caribbean coast, colonial tile, and modern metal sheet.
- Roofing in JamaicaJamaican roofing: Taíno thatch, Georgian timber and zinc, and modern concrete; a 2018 Building Act adopted the International Building Code.
- Roofing in MexicoMexican roofing: Maya corbel vaults, palm thatch and colonial tile and brick vaults; today 78.6% of homes have concrete slab roofs (2020 census).
- Roofing in NicaraguaNicaraguan roofing: colonial tile and the vaulted León Cathedral, Caribbean-coast thatch and timber, and metal sheet in a hurricane- and quake-prone country.
- Roofing in PanamaPanamanian roofing: colonial tile in the Casco Antiguo, palm and straw thatch in Indigenous comarcas, and metal sheet and concrete in modern homes.
- Roofing in ParaguayParaguayan roofing: Guaraní straw roofs replaced by fired clay tile in the Jesuit missions of the 17th-18th centuries, a tradition still visible today.
- Roofing in PeruPeruvian roofing: Inca ichu thatch, Uros reed houses, Lima's quincha and earth roofs; today concrete covers 42.8% and metal or fibre-cement 39.2% (2017).
- Roofing in Puerto RicoPuerto Rican roofing: concrete slabs and zinc sheet over a Taíno and Spanish past; after Hurricane Maria in 2017 nearly 60,000 homes received temporary blue roofs.
- Roofing in Saint Kitts and NevisKittitian and Nevisian roofing: timber and concrete houses with hip roofs and metal sheet, regulated through the OECS Building Code adapted for the federation.
- Roofing in Saint LuciaSaint Lucian roofing: steep hip and gable roofs on timber houses, corrugated metal sheet, and building regulation based on the OECS model code.
- Roofing in Saint Vincent and the GrenadinesVincentian roofing: metal-sheet hip roofs on timber and concrete houses under the OECS code; Hurricane Beryl in 2024 damaged about 90% of homes on Union Island.
- Roofing in SurinameSurinamese roofing: Paramaribo's UNESCO-listed timber houses with steep roofs, mostly of corrugated iron, rebuilt after the fires of 1821 and 1832.
- Roofing in the BahamasBahamian roofing: timber and shingle traditions under an early mandatory Caribbean building code, tested by Category 5 Hurricane Dorian in 2019.
- Roofing in the CaribbeanOverview of Caribbean roofing: steep hip roofs, corrugated metal and concrete slabs, shaped above all by hurricane winds.
- Roofing in the Dominican RepublicDominican roofing: from the Taíno bohío to zinc and concrete; the 2022 census found 50.9% of homes with concrete roofs and 47.5% with zinc sheet.
- Roofing in Trinidad and TobagoTrinidad and Tobago roofing: steep-gabled Victorian gingerbread houses with dormers, colonial slate and timber roofs, and modern sheet and concrete roofs.
- Roofing in UruguayUruguayan roofing: Portuguese-Spanish colonial tile in Colonia del Sacramento, and modern concrete, metal sheet and tile in a temperate, low-seismicity land.
- Roofing in VenezuelaVenezuelan roofing: Yanomami palm-thatched shabonos, earthen colonial Coro with Dutch Caribbean influence, and modern concrete and metal sheet.
- Ruka (Mapuche House)Traditional Mapuche house of Chile and Argentina: a timber frame thatched with straw or reeds, with one east-facing door and a central hearth.
- ShabonoRing-shaped communal dwelling of the Yanomami of Venezuela and Brazil: a continuous palm-thatched lean-to roof around an open central plaza.
- Spanish Mediterranean Terracotta RoofLow-pitched roof of curved terracotta tiles laid in alternating channels and caps, typical of Spain and the Mediterranean and of Spanish colonial architecture.
- Uros Totora Reed HousesHouses of totora reed built by the Uros on floating reed islands in Lake Titicaca, Peru, with walls and roofs of woven reed mats.
Climate, Hazards & Sustainability
- Earthquakes and RoofsHow roof weight, attachment and bracing affect building performance in earthquakes, and why heavy tile roofs on weak frames are a known risk.
- Hurricane TieA metal strap or clip that fastens a rafter or truss to the wall to resist wind uplift; also called a hurricane clip or hurricane strap.
- Roof-to-Wall ConnectionThe joint that fastens rafters or trusses to the top of the walls; a key link in the load path that keeps a roof on in high winds.