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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Mud RoofA roof finished with compacted earth or clay over timber beams and a layer of matting or brush, traditional in dry regions worldwide; also called an earth roof.
- Palm and Grass ThatchThatch made from palm fronds, leaves or tropical grasses, used for traditional and resort buildings across tropical Africa, Asia, the Pacific and the Americas.
Roof Shapes & Forms
Standards, Codes & Testing
Manufacturers
- BMI GroupBMI Group is Standard Industries' European-based roofing and waterproofing group, formed in 2017 from Braas Monier and Icopal.
- EternitEternit is a fibre-cement trademark from Ludwig Hatschek's process patented in 1900, held in many markets by Belgium's Etex; other firms use it elsewhere.
- Everest IndustriesEverest Industries is an Indian maker of fibre-cement roofing sheets, boards and pre-engineered steel buildings, founded in 1934 as Asbestos Cement Ltd.
- Tata Steel Colors (formerly Tata BlueScope Steel)Tata Steel Colors, formerly Tata BlueScope Steel, is an Indian coated-steel and roofing maker founded in 2005 as a Tata Steel-BlueScope joint venture.
History of Roofing
- Chaitya VaultThe chaitya vault is the ribbed barrel-vaulted ceiling of ancient Indian Buddhist prayer halls, carved in rock to copy lost roofs of timber and thatch.
- 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.
- History of Copper RoofsCopper has roofed temples, cathedrals and castles for centuries, prized for its long life and the green patina it develops over decades.
Roofing Around the World
- Bangla RoofThe bangla roof is a curved, drooping-eave roof form from Bengal, copied from thatched village huts into brick temples and later Mughal and Rajput buildings.
- Bhutanese Shingle RoofThe traditional Bhutanese roof is a gently pitched roof of loose pine shingles held down by stones on laths, raised above an open, ventilated loft.
- Burza Pash Roof (Kashmiri Birch-Bark Roof)Burza pash was the traditional Kashmiri roof of timber boards, birch bark and a layer of earth, which in spring flowered with tulips and irises.
- ChhatriA chhatri is a small domed pavilion raised on pillars, used in Rajput and Mughal architecture as a rooftop ornament and as a memorial canopy.
- Kath-kuniKath-kuni is the Himachal Pradesh building tradition of mortarless timber-and-stone walls under overhanging roofs of local slate or wooden shingles.
- Kerala Sloping RoofThe long, steep, deep-eaved timber roofs of traditional Kerala architecture in south-west India, shaped by heavy monsoon rain.
- Mangalore TileInterlocking red clay roof tile first made industrially in Mangalore, India, in 1865; widely used on the west coast of India.
- Mangh (Sindhi Windcatcher)A mangh is a fixed rooftop windcatcher of Hyderabad, Sindh, in Pakistan, that scooped the south-west breeze down into the rooms below.
- Newar Pagoda RoofThe Newar pagoda roof is the tiered timber roof of Kathmandu Valley temples, carried on carved struts and covered with small terracotta jhingati tiles.
- Onion DomeBulb-shaped dome tapering to a point, typical of Russian Orthodox churches and also common on churches in Bavaria and Austria.
- Roofing in AfghanistanAfghan houses are traditionally roofed either flat, with timber beams, mats and mud, or with mud-brick domes (gunbad), as in the villages around Herat.
- Roofing in BangladeshAbout three-quarters of Bangladeshi homes have corrugated tin (CI sheet) roofs; the curved thatched hut roof of the delta inspired the bangla roof.
- Roofing in BhutanBhutan's traditional roofs are low-pitched pine-shingle roofs held by stones over open lofts; most dzongs now have iron roofs, and sloping roofs are law.
- Roofing in IndiaIndian roofing runs from rock-cut chaitya vaults and Mughal domes to Mangalore tiles; today concrete slabs, tiles, metal sheets and thatch cover most homes.
- Roofing in NepalNepal is known for the tiered, tile-roofed Newar pagodas of the Kathmandu Valley; its houses use thatch, tile, slate, iron sheet and concrete.
- Roofing in PakistanPakistani roofs are mostly flat: concrete slabs in cities, and roofs on steel girders, timber or bamboo in villages, in a country of high earthquake risk.
- Roofing in Sri LankaMost Sri Lankan homes have asbestos-cement sheet or clay tile roofs; older roofs range from the bronze-tiled Lovamahapaya to Kandyan tiled image houses.
- Roofing in the MaldivesThe coral stone mosques of the Maldives record a shift from coconut-palm thatch on timber roofs to clay tiles and then metal sheet.
Climate, Hazards & Sustainability
- Cool RoofA roof with high solar reflectance and high thermal emittance that stays cooler in sunlight, reducing cooling loads and urban heat.
- Hurricane Roof DamageHow tropical cyclones (hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones) damage roofs, from lost coverings and edges to deck blow-off and wind-driven rain.
- Rainwater Harvesting from RoofsCollecting rain that falls on a roof for storage and reuse, and how the roof material affects the quality of the collected water.