Comfortable loft – this durable truss system, beautiful and reliable roofing and hydro-, steam – and heat insulation, and a convenient window. If all this is of high quality, properly selected and technically correctly installed, the attic for many years will be the best place in the house. But there is another important and integral part of any country house, and especially a house with an attic – a drainage system designed to collect and remove melt and rain water from the roof. About it and will be discussed in this article.
Modern design and a variety of colors turn the gutter into a decorative element that gives a complete look to the roof and makes the whole appearance of the home stylish and elegant.
For mansard roofs, an external drainage system is used, located along the perimeter of the building. Its construction consists of many elements. The number and standard sizes of gutters, receiving funnels, fasteners, tees, elbows, bends, nets for garbage collection and other components of the drainage system are determined mainly by the catchment area.
Calculation of drains
Most often, the catchment area is taken as the area of the slope or the area of the projection of the slope on the horizontal plane. The more components, the more opportunities to organize the optimal system.
The total number of drains is calculated based on the surface area of the roof and the location of the gutters. When placing gutters, pipes and funnels take into account the appropriateness of their location, the architectural solution of the roof and the catchment area. Then estimate the capacity of the system, taking into account the number of drains and the design of the system – the length and departure of the cornices, the diameters of the gutters and pipes, the slope and length of the gutters. The last two parameters have a great influence on the operation of the entire system: with insufficient slope of the gutter, “overlap” is possible, and with a very strong overflow of water intake funnels.
The choice of material for drain
Manufacturers offer a huge selection of gutter systems of different colors and shapes (round or rectangular) and from different materials: galvanized, color-coated, copper, zinc-titanium alloy, aluminum, plastic. PVC and galvanized steel gutters with polymer coating are in great demand. Let us consider them in more detail.
Metal gutters
Durable and beautiful metal gutters are characterized by:
- high mechanical strength,
- reliability,
- resistance to repeated bending.
They are made of cold – rolled hot-dip galvanized carbon steel with a double-sided polymer coating-polyester, plastisol or Pural. The coating allows the use of such drains at temperatures from-50ºC to + 120ºC.
A large range of components allows you to quickly and easily mount the drain. Experts advise to purchase gutters and roofing one company to achieve a single color scheme.
If your attic is decorated with copper roof, it makes sense to perform a drainage system of the same metal. Copper gutters will serve for many years and always look decent, as almost not corroded.
Over time, the copper gutter Browns, and then covered with a noble greenish patina. Some firms artificially accelerate the aging of copper and offer drains of the required stage of aging.
PVC drains
Drainage systems made of PVC are becoming more and more popular every year. They are frost-resistant, well tolerate significant temperature changes and ultraviolet radiation. Their mobile connections remain sealed in the temperature range from-50ºC to +50ºC.
PVC drains do not lose their technical properties over time. On their surface deposits practically do not accumulate. They are lighter than metal, do not corrode and have the property of elastic deformation – after removing the deforming loads easily take the original form.
Details of such a drain can be easily cut with a conventional hacksaw and mounted independently, using the instructions.
As a rule, drainage systems made of PVC are produced in several colors.
When choosing a drainage system should try to eliminate some unpleasant moments of its operation. This is especially true of the attic floors. What to do:
- to protect the gutter from sliding off the roof snow;
- prevent the formation of ice with a special cable anti-icing system;
- with the help of a special grid to prevent clogging gutters leaves, needles and other debris.
In General, many problems that arise during the operation of the attic can be avoided if you entrust the design, installation and Assembly of the drainage system to experienced professionals.
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