History Of Roofing Materials

Today s versatile roof materials are a legacy of the development of roofs throughout history and cultures.

History of roofing materials. 5000 years ago clay roofing tiles have been used in babylon. 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. H u t g a nd ng l a ir. 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.

Siding and roofing richa wilson intermountain regional architectural historian kathleen snodgrass project leader s y r or n. 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. During the repair work useful evidence might unexpectedly appear.

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. Practical building co nser va tion. Any historic fabric or pertinent evidence in the roof should be photographed measured and recorded for future reference. Centuries later copper and its alloys were integral in european medieval architecture.

A look into clay tile history it is said that the first historically known clay roofing tiles have been used in neolithic china as early as 10 000 b c. Rome was called the city of tiled roofs. Figure 1 following national trends the forest service often used wood. 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.

Early 20th century building materials. The romans introduced middle europe to their excellent characteristics and long. Design of traditional roofs. 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.

Those materials have a long history and their evolution has been largely driven by performance. The characteristics of a roof are dependent upon the purpose of the building that it covers the available roofing. Copper in architecture in the 3rd century b c copper roof shingles were installed atop the lovamahapaya temple in sri lanka. Copper has played a significant role in architecture for thousands of years see.

Asphalt shingles are an american invention by henry reynolds of grand rapids michigan. Take a look back at how roofing has evolved. A roof is part of the building envelope. From there they made their way via egypt and greece to rome.