Roof construction is one the most important aspects of building a house. The cost of getting a new roof takes a substantial portion of the budget for building a new home. The structure of the roof and the material choice for covering will largely determine the price you pay for your roof construction. It’s quite simple to work out the cost of roof construction with a little bit of knowledge from your 7th grade maths to help you calculate the surface areas.
Basically roof construction consists of the following components – superstructure or roof framing made of wood, wood sheathing, roofing felt, flashing and the surface of the roofing material or the final roof covering.
The cost of superstructure or the basic skeleton over which the shingles go remains largely the same for most types of roof construction. Your costs might go up slightly if you need to add a reinforcement to the roof construction order to take heavier tiles.
Roof frame construction is basically of three types. Traditional roofs or cut roofs, trussed rafters and beam roofs. Homeowners select a roof type depending on how the roof space will be put to use. The simplest way to build a roof is to make use of closed trussed rafters which are usually available pre-fabricated and delivered to the construction site. The big disadvantage of closed roof trusses are that the enclosed roof space is completely useless and has to be simply sealed off.
If the space underneath the roof is to be made use then the other roof construction options of Cut roofs or Beam and Panellized roofs need to be considered. Open trussed rafters or attic trusses are also an option here. Here cost of creating the frame is not a major factor as the homeowner is basically interested in making use of the space under the roofing.
The beam and panel roofing system works best for simple roofs with not much detailing. For the more complex designs it is best to get a traditional roof that is made to fit your roofs requirements on the site itself. Whatever the type of roof you do have to plan for the roof edge. Whether you want to overhanging eaves or closed off ones and the gables have to be decided by the homeowner.
A major factor in the roof construction is complexity of the roof shape. Every new feature will add to the costs. The valleys, junctions, hips, gables, chimneys, dormer windows, abutments and roofs at different heights any roof extensions for sun rooms will all add to your roof cost. Keeping it simple to design and put up cuts down your cost by nearly 50 percent. But, the extra space created and the improved looks of the home by the addition of these features will probably pay for itself over time if you wish to put it up for sale a few years down the road.
The next cost in roof construction is for roof sheathing. Plywood or OSB boards, wood shingles or spaced boards are used to make the substrata for the roofing materials that go over the top. A heavy black paper called roofing felt is laid on top of the wooden boards. This felt is saturated with asphalt and acts as an effective barrier against any moisture seeping through the finishing material on top. The felt at the same allows moisture from inside the house to escape out.
Flashing is used at the junctions of any chimneys, dormers and other roof components that jut out of the roof structure to effectively seal them against water seepage and prevent any leakages.
Based on whether you choose cheapest shingles or the more elaborately designed interlocking handmade tiles your price for the covering of the roof will vary by about 6 times or more. The installation costs does not vary as much but it can still be double the price. Metals are by far the most expensive covering materials for the roof and cost nine times the price of cheapest concrete interlocking tiles. The final choice of the covering depends on several factors like the local climate, the location and budget planned for by the homeowner. The lifespan of the covering will depend on the quality of the material chosen and also on the snow, frost, moisture and heat variations that it is subjected to.
