| This study investigates the construction practices of the most important element in a residential building, the roof, with great emphasis on the most important component in roofing, the waterproofing. There is a large variety of materials that are available in the market for each roofing component. Owners usually spend lots of time trying to have the best roofing by looking for the best materials for each roofing component and at the end they face problems. The study reveals that wasting time by trying to get the best materials is the wrong approach to having a good roofing system; rather the selection of a reputable contractor is much more vital. Problems caused by materials are insignificant compared to design and construction methods.;More than a third (36%) of houses encountered major roofing problems. Three percent encountered disastrous problems where the whole roof had to be dismantled and replaced by completely new roofs. These problems were faced as a result of bad designs and construction practices such as: poor inspection and maintenance, bad slope, use of small size of drainage outlets, installation of sloping concrete screed on a non-firm base with no reinforcement and/or expansion joints, having dead level roofs until problems occurred, and installation of waterproofing membrane on a non-sloped surface. |
