A roof is a roof is a roof. Basically the same construction – no matter if you are roofing your home, your shed or your garage. Of course there are some differences, and we will discuss them in this article.
What is the purpose of a garage? It may have more than one, but certainly a garage is where you park your car to protects it against the elements; including the criminal ones. Most people also need some extra storage space, and a garage can often fill that need easily. About the only thing we usually don’t do in our garages, is live in them.
What does this mean for the construction of our garage roof? It means we want a solid, leak-free roof (we always do) but there are some features and qualities that can probably be omitted. This mostly concerns the size and complexity of the roof construction – we don’t need roof trusses that provide space for a full-height attic, and we don’t need skylight windows or dormers. Chimneys are not exactly seen a lot on garages either, so we can strike that as well. What is left, is a simple roof design that must still be soundly designed and structurally solid. It must still be able to withstand extra loads from snowfall or a repairman walking on it, it should be insensitive to most normal windspeeds, should keep out rainwater and should be built with a reasonably long lifespan in mind. These are our basic design criteria then. What this boils down to, is a simple roof, pitched or flat, no larger than it needs to be to cover the base area of the garage. How heavy duty the trusses need to be, depends largely on the weight of the roofing material chosen – which in turn depends on what we want from the roofing material in terms of looks, durability and lifespan. One thing which could add to the complexity of the construction, is if the garage is to be heated. In that case, we might want to try to reduce the heat leaking out somewhere from beneath the roof. This means we may have to add insulation some where in the roof construction and also reduce physical openings – while still making sure the underside of the roof is adequately ventilated. If the garage is unheated, we can easily achieve the right level of ventilation, by leaving substantial openings for circulation underneath the eaves, or through a roof ridge vent. Rain gutters are also a good thing to add, as they increase the lifespan of the entire building by draining away rain water, which may otherwise cause serious damage to roof, walls and foundation. Plastic damp barriers are often used in homes, to keep moisture from entering the construction where it might cause rot or mold. This is probably not necessary in a garage – unless you are actually living in it. This because the moisture in the air in our homes comes from our use of water, drying clothes (you really shouldn’t do that indoors) and not least moisture from our bodies – from perspiration and breathing.
This covers most of the basic considerations for designing a garage roof. Of course the actual practicalities are a whole different matter, but keep the above factors in mind, and you will have your bases covered when you proceed to the actual design phase.
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