Even though flat roofing Stockport has become relatively commonplace over the course of the past few years, this design has its origins in Egyptian, Arabic, and Persian architecture. This means that flat-roofs have been in existence for centuries spread out across the world. Consequently, a range of different construction materials are used for building flat-roofs as determined by a combination of tradition, availability of raw materials, and weather conditions. Fortunately, a professional roofer Cheadle should be more than capable of constructing a flat-roof with the most commonly used construction materials to withstand the ravages of time and weather.
Roofers used a very varied range of construction materials for flat roofing Stockport. Traditionally used construction methods such as built-up flat roofing primarily required coal-tar pitch, asphalt tar-paper and gravel. However, the arsenal of raw materials available to a skilled roofer Cheadle have greatly increased over the past few decades as a consequence of which built-up roofing is no longer the most dominantly used construction method. Today, with advances in technology, a number of other revolutionary methods have been introduced involving the use of EPDM synthetic rubber membranes, fiber-glass, PVC membranes, and polyolefin that have greatly added to the durability and weathering capabilities of flat-roofs.
Construction methods that have traditionally been in vogue were usually dangerous and often involved the use of hazardous materials. For instance, the built-up roofing method, which is still used for flat roofing Stockport, typically used torch-down techniques to heat coal-tar or asphalt to a temperature high-enough to force it to melt and stick to the tar paper. The massive amount of heat generated and the use of carcinogenic materials posed significant health risks to workers. However, nowadays far safer construction methods are used for building roofs, largely made possible by the discovery of materials like modified bitumen, synthetic rubber, polyesters as well as construction techniques like cold process application of coal tar and liquid roofing among many others. A professional roofer Cheadle should be able to guide you about the comparative advantages and disadvantages of construction materials so you can make an informed choice.
Select your construction materials depending on how much time and effort you are willing to expend on its upkeep. Despite the prevalence of flat roofing Stockport, it is not entirely true that flat-roofs are maintenance free. This makes it all the more important to exercise a great deal of caution whilst selecting your building materials. To illustrate, a coal-tar pitch roof has a much longer life-span than roofs built out of other construction materials even though it requires regular maintenance. Similarly, asphalt and bitumen roofs also require a fair bit of maintenance to ensure that there is an even layer of gravel on their surface to guard against the often irreversible effects of moisture induced damage. This is why many a roofer Cheadle might recommend you to install an EPDM rubber membrane on your roof’s surface or to use high quality asphalt during construction for long-lasting built-up roofs.
Finally, remember to factor in your budget considerations. Though a lot of newer materials like synthetic rubber membranes and polyolefins cost only a small fraction of their initial cost, many older materials still remain the most affordable which explains their continuing use for flat roofing Stockport. Materials used for built-up roofing are still some of the cheapest in use today. However, fiber-glass or rubber membranes require little maintenance expenditure if any unlike traditionally used materials like coal-tar and asphalt products which are cheap to build but relatively expensive to maintenance. A decent roofer Cheadle should be able to assist you with selecting your construction materials based on your intended budget.
Flat roofing Stockport http://www.rooferstockport.co.uk/flat-roofing is a continuation of roofing tradition that has been a part of human civilization since the era of ancient kingdoms. However, it has come a long way since then and getting into consultation with present-day roofer Cheadle http://www.rooferstockport.co.uk will enable any home owner to make an informed choice as regards how to go about it.