The roof of a building is
its most important feature, but all too soon after its completion the structure begins to
show early signs of deterioration due to the difficulties experienced with the traditional
method of constructing roof overhangs. With current timber roof overhangs these
difficulties only add to future maintenance costs and if regular maintenance is neglected, as is so often the case,
it will soon lead to costly repairs or even to total replacement.
The cheapest and least attractive finish to the roof is to terminate it in line with the
brickwork. Absence of timber overhangs eliminates maintenance, but the lack of an overhang
means that the roof offers no weather protection to the top of the walls.
As a result noticeable water staining of the brickwork or render is often found
on the gable walls.
The major problems which affect the durability and appearance
of timber over time are moisture and sunlight. The weather will soon
penetrate any surface weakness in the natural timber, at nail heads or along construction
joints and also the use
of poor quality timber all contribute to the problems associated with timber
based roof overhangs.
The trend in today’s construction
industry is to reduce the maintenance on the exterior of a building, already timber doors
and windows have been replaced with maintenance-free alternatives.
RoofCLAD fills the last gap in the exterior of a buildings structure, overcoming all of the problems associated with
the current overhangs by providing for a totally maintenance-free exterior for both
traditional and timber frame construction in long-lasting GRP.
The new and innovative
RoofCLAD system is a simple two part assemblage formed in high quality Glass-fibre
Reinforced Plastic. The 6m long interlocking RoofCLAD
section and a one-piece universal end corner cap are designed to
replace the current high cost timber or uPVC/vinyl overhangs for either a flat, hipped or pitched roof .
The
GRP roof overhang is easily constructed as the return on the top
outside edge of the RoofCLAD section is supported by the
fascia/bargeboard where it is secretly nailed in place whilst the inside edge
can be either fixed to the wall or to the underside the roof rafters.
The overhang is then finished at the corners for a pitch roof by
cutting the end cap to the required roof pitch, and for a flat or hipped
roof with a mitre cut soffit.
Significant cost savings can also be made
when finishing the exterior of the building as the RoofCLAD section provides
a deep integral recess
in its base. This is designed to hide the top edge of the exterior
cladding thus ensuring a correct fit, especially at the gable wall
when cutting it to match the slope of the roof. Importantly for timber
frame, this recess also provides
an essential movement gap between the top of the exterior cladding and
the inner timber structure to allow for differential movement.
Using
a preformed
overhang with interlocking joints at both ends not only ensures a consistent quality product, but it also reduces the waste of
expensive materials on site. The RoofCLAD overhang provides the necessary weather protection to the
top of the walls, and being unsusceptible to rot or insect attack, it
will never need replacing. The one-piece RoofCLAD section speeds-up
construction forming a more durable overhang, and because it can accept all of the conventional
roof coverings it also retains that all-important traditional look to the finished roof.
|
Eaves Detail
Eaves Detail
Cantilevered Eaves Detail
Verge Detail