Modern man used to all that he needs to buy. And the construction of your own home is no exception: having started such an important business, we first get acquainted with the opportunities and innovations of the market of building materials.
When choosing materials to cover the roof of your own house, pay attention to natural. Giving preference to natural roofing materials, you can demonstrate the inherent ability of a real man to earn a lot of money, because eco-roof — expensive.
This article provides an overview of the natural materials used to cover the roof.
Reed, straw, Heather, banana leaves and algae
In addition to wood, for the device of the roof in the course were other parts of the plants: leaves and stems. And not even plants, because algae are not plants.
The choice of material depended on its availability: if bananas grow nearby, then banana leaves were used for the roof. And if the forest is cut down for fuel for furnaces, as, for example, on the island of Forest in Denmark, then there is nothing left, how to make a roof of algae brought by the sea.
Algae and palm leaves are exotic types of roofing materials. Straw and reeds (or reeds) are much more common (especially in the southern regions).
Straw, reeds or the same algae — is not only the roof covering that protects the underlying structure of the roof from rain, but also the heat insulator. The technology of laying cane (straw, reeds, Heather or any other plant material) involves the creation of a thick layer (40-50 cm). The thermal resistance of this coating is comparable to the technical characteristics of extruded polystyrene. So, arranging cane or straw roof, you kill two birds with one stone: and get waterproof coating, and there is no need for insulation of the roof.
The ground — also roof covering
Clay, due to its qualities, can serve as a waterproofing, creating a “clay castle”. In some regions the roofs were covered not only with pottery made of clay (ceramic tiles), but also laying clay on the roof surface. The basis for such a coating could serve all the same straw and cane. A layer of clay on top of straw eliminated the main disadvantage of the roof of vegetable material — fire hazard.
The most common such roofs in Asia. The flat Adobe roofs here are an exploited part of the house, a yard Supplement. However, the roofs of Adobe bricks are available not only in small private houses: mosques, khanaks and mausoleums of Bukhara, Samarkand also have roofs and domes of clay bricks.
Adobe roofs in hot areas are used to save coolness inside the buildings. Where it is not as hot as in Central Asia, on the roof covered with soil, you can grow a lawn or flower bed, creating a green roof.
Green roof
Greening of roofs is a fashionable trend today at the junction of landscape design and architecture. The fashion and environmental trend of “green roofs” to increase green spaces in cities, relieving stress on stormwater and increases energy efficiency of buildings.
Turf roofs are not a modern invention. Perhaps this is one of the oldest types of roofing, artificially created by man to protect their homes. A layer of turf protects the room from heat and cold.
Roofs in the style of eco-gaining popularity direction. It is beautiful and stylish, and often natural roofs are more technological than their counterparts made of artificial materials. They create a more correct, from the point of view of human life, microclimate — the optimal balance between heat, humidity and ventilation. As for durability and repairability in no way inferior, and often superior modern coatings.
But, like all fashion, natural roofing materials are expensive. However, for those who want to arrange for their home eco-friendly, functional and original roof, the use of natural materials opens up opportunities. In contrast to artificial coatings, almost all of these options are available for self-implementation of the roofs. Really, it is difficult to imagine that you undertook to make a bituminous tile at yourself in a shed.
But to make yourself a wooden shingle is quite possible, because the ancestors did exactly that. And, by the way, for the production of modern wooden shindel, which cost a lot of money, most of them today use manual labor.
Reed and straw coatings do not require any prior manufacture. To create a turf roof there are modern analogues of birch bark, and to arrange a lawn or plant a flower garden on the roof of the summer residents on the forces. Maybe we should try it.