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Flat Roof Blog post
Do you have a flat roof? A house may have various types of roofs. Some of them are slanted. Whenever there is rain or snowfall, it makes it easier to run off the snow and water. However, flat roofs give you extra space to relax or use it for specific purposes. However, flat roofs cannot get rid of the water, snow, or debris like the angular ones.
It is vital to construct a flat roof with a drainage system in mind. Otherwise, the water can corrode the wall, slab, or run off inside the house and damage the interior.
There are three drainage systems used in a flat roof. They are;
Visibly, the drainage system is similar to the drainage of your washroom. There are drains installed to collect water from the roof.
Usually, you will find these in areas where most water is collected. The drain takes the water into pipes. From here, the water reached the downspouts of the building.
For a flat roof, this is the most expensive drainage system. Another common problem you will face with the drainage system is clogging. You see, rainwater is not the only thing that you need to remove from the roof.
Along with that comes the debris, twigs, dust, dirt, etc. All these can collect and clog the drainage pipe. It can also damage the tubes that can cause further issues.
To avoid this problem, you can use a drain strainer. It can keep the solid particles on the bay, only allowing water to flow into the pipes.
A damaged pipe needs repairing, and there is a cost related to repair. When the drainage pipe is damaged, only a professional technician can fix that.
It is one of the most effective methods of removing water from the roof. Here large openings are made on the rooftop to draw rainwater out of the building.
Usually, these openings extend to throw the water at a safe distance. So, it cannot damage any building structure anymore. Sometimes downspouts are also made to collect water from the roof.
The entire construction is a well-thought structure, which takes away the water without causing any harm to the building.
Since they are part of the building structure, there is no risk of clogging the pipe or bearing costs for repairing. If the right person is in contact, the scupper design can be innovative and attractive to viewers.
It is a cost-effective method to get rid of the unwanted water from the roof. The structure hardly gets clogged or causes any problems. It is easy to maintain, as they are larger and are easily accessible.
Although scupper is one of the best solutions for removing water from the roof, it still has some disadvantages. For example, it may draw the water out of the rooftop, but the floating debris can clog the drainage system.
Usually, the water runs from a scupper out of the building into a pipe drainage system. Hence, debris can flow along with water and reach the pipe.
It can block the passage and cause further problems. To avoid this, owners must check the drainage system regularly.
On top of that, the scupper drainage system is not efficient in heavy rain and snowfall. If the roof is pure flat, then there is nothing to guide the water to the scuppers. The scupper drainage does not work in this condition as well.
For scuppers to be effective, it must be well-designed to avoid all the problems mentioned above.
Gutters are cost-effective as well as a satisfactory solution for removing water from the rooftops. In this system, the rainwater drops on the edge of the roof.
It automatically changes direction to the downspout. From here, it gets dispensed from the top at a distance where it cannot harm the building structure.
Once again, debris can affect the system here. It can accumulate in the passage blocking the water flow in the drainage system.
The gutter system needs frequent cleaning to stop the tunnel from clogging from debris. This is one major problem with the gutter drainage system.
In case if you forget cleaning the passage once, water will collect on the roof. During heavy rain, the water can overflow and dampen the wall, windows, and other parts of the building. It can ruin the building fabric and cause severe damage, which will cost a lot of money for repairs.
These are the three drainage systems for flat roofs. There are many other drainage systems, but you will find these in most of the buildings.
You can pick any one of the three we have mentioned above or look for a drainage system with a better solution.
However, other drainage systems can be expensive and useful as well. Keep this in mind before making your final decision on the matter.
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