Roofs

Between two really nasty hurricanes including a huge
tornado outbreak in east Florida one thing is very
clear - wooden roofs SUCK.

Your house may be concrete brick, but everything IN
it is hostage to the integrity of the roof.

Roofs are almost always made of wood - and as little
as the code (+bribes) allows. Exceptions are concrete
flat roofs - but strong winds create a sort of vacuum
vortex and it sucks off all the waterproofing stuff.

Steel roofs with strong steel supports seem the answer.
Alas there IS an issue here ... steel expands and
contracts with temperature - and much more/quicker than
the concrete. So, when it's a hot sunny day, your all-
steel roof gets BIGGER and thus exerts a strong outward
force on your walls. Winter, opposite, the roof shrinks
fast and tries to pull-in your walls.

"Sliding" joints where roof meets concrete can be a
solution ... but such fixes are rarely seen and may
not to be to code in a lot of places. (codes tend to
be 25 years behind engineering tech).

ALL-concrete roofs ???

Well, CAN be great - but they're very very HEAVY
and expensive.

You'd need thicker walls first off to handle the
weight. Also the ordinary 'low-triangle' roofs,
even if concrete, tend to exert outward pressure
on the walls.

The fix is a somewhat-high arched roof, catenary
curve at least. This directs most of the weight
and stress more or less downwards onto the walls
instead of pushing them in or out.

Alas, again ... this means a lot of concrete and
the aesthetic challenges of a roof almost as tall
as the walls. Less of a challenge for 2+ floor
houses.

Pre-fab roof sections of 'ribbed' design - like
two inches of mesh-reinforced plus 3-4" bar-
reinforced ribbing inside would make a great
roof. GETTING such panels though .....

In any case, something NEEDS to be done with
roofs. The old cheap style just ain't cutting
it anymore folks.

Well, I guess you could use laminated 2x6's as an
ultra-solid wooden roof, but wood ain't cheap these
days either. Gotta figure out how to properly tie
such a roof to the walls as well. EF-3 tornado ???

"Domes" ... great, but ALWAYS leak like a sieve
unless literally cast as one piece (limits there).