History Of Roofing Materials

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 providing protection against rain snow sunlight extremes of temperature and wind.

History of roofing materials.

The romans used copper as roof covering for the pantheon in 27 b c. Copper in architecture in the 3rd century b c copper roof shingles were installed atop the lovamahapaya temple in sri lanka. Rome was called the city of tiled roofs. Those materials have a long history and their evolution has been largely driven by performance.

Wood and slate shingles and clay tiles were the predominant roofing choice until the mid 19th century when metal and bituminous roofing systems made low slope applications possible. Practical building co nser va tion. A roof is part of the building envelope. H u t g a nd ng l a ir.

Asphalt shingles are an american invention by henry reynolds of grand rapids michigan. It is helpful to establish a sequence of construction history for the roof and roofing materials. The most common residential roofing material used in the united states asphalt shingles are popular because they are economical and easy to install. The romans introduced middle europe to their excellent characteristics and long.

Any historic fabric or pertinent evidence in the roof should be photographed measured and recorded for future reference. Siding and roofing richa wilson intermountain regional architectural historian kathleen snodgrass project leader s y r or n. They were first used in 1903 in general use in parts of america by 1911 and by 1939 11 million squares of shingles were being produced. Traditional roof designs evolved largely in response to local climatic conditions and the building materials and skills available although they were also much infl uenced by local practice regulations wealth.

From there they made their way via egypt and greece to rome. Early 20th century building materials. Copper has played a significant role in architecture for thousands of years see. 5000 years ago clay roofing tiles have been used in babylon.

These shingles can be reinforced with fiberglass or organic materials cellulose without changing the appearance of the shingle. Today s versatile roof materials are a legacy of the development of roofs throughout history and cultures. During the repair work useful evidence might unexpectedly appear. Roofing 6 sep 2013 with eh corrections indd 14 17 09 2013 07 53.

National board of fire underwriters campaign to eliminate the use of wood shingles on roofs was a contributing factor in the growth in popularity of. The characteristics of a roof are dependent upon the purpose of the building that it covers the available roofing. Take a look back at how roofing has evolved. Centuries later copper and its alloys were integral in european medieval architecture.