Between heaven and earth

In the roof two duties, and each - basic. First, protect the house from the weather, and secondly, to give him a personal appearance. To cope with these duties, each roofing material provides its own set of "special means". About that, what are the characteristics of basic materials for covering pitched roofs, and will be discussed. Ceramic Tiles of clay tiles used for roofing unit for several millennia. It can rightly be called a natural material. The "serious" producers raw mixture from which the tiles are produced by almost 100% composed of clay (usually combinations of several shale rock) and clay - is a compound of silicon oxide, aluminum and iron. Why not 100%? Because the mixture may be added such as barium carbonate, which prevents the appearance of efflorescence on the surface of the product, and others, exclusively organic additives that improve the quality of the product. The manufacturing process of tiles is as follows: damp, cleansed of foreign inclusions, compacted clay molded by the press, after which the day is dried and fired at temperatures above 1000 ° C. One of the main advantages of ceramic tile - elegant "appearance". Distinguish tiles coated with or without him. It is part of raw materials and the firing temperature determine the color tiles without the coating. Characteristic red color is produced due to high content of clay-iron oxide. Yellowish color indicates the presence of calcium in the clay, brownish - manganese. You can find tiles, dark brown or grayish-black color that results from a double (the so-called reduction firing): the first time in the usual way, the second - in the oven with a lower temperature (about 800 ° C) and the absence of oxygen. Tiling is of two kinds: engobed and glaze. Engobed - a layer of liquid clay with the addition of minerals or metal oxides, applied to the product before firing. Engobed significantly expands the color gamut of tile: a rich red, yellow, earthy, black, etc. A special coating technology engobe spots can achieve the effect of antique tiles. There is engobed matte and glossy. In the latter case, the mixture is added to the glaze (based on -, ground, pre-melted glass), but the tile is not covered by a continuous layer of glass, its pores are open. Continuous glassy layer is formed on the glazed tiles. Most often, the glaze is painted in the mass of inorganic pigments or coloring substances on the basis of clay. Color capabilities "glazed" roof tiles are practically unlimited: red, green, blue, black, white, blue, etc. It is important to note that engobed and the glaze - it's decorative coatings, without affecting the protective properties of the tiles. In addition to beauty, ceramic tile is an extraordinarily long life - more than 100 years (when the factory warranty - 20-50 years old). But this only applies to high-quality products - with high frost resistance, durability, color stability. The advantages of ceramic tile should also include fire resistance, color fastness, good sound insulation, ability to does not accumulate static electricity. Due to the relatively large weight (30 to 60 kg / sq. M) tiling is slowly heated hot day and just as slowly cools down at night, thus contributing to the ventilation, the underlay of the space needed roof of any material. "Gravity" roof - and even a guarantee that it does not "fly" with gusts of gale-force winds. And despite the fact that compared with light roof section or increase the number of rafters for tiled roofs will be negligible. The most common tile two forms: slot (castle) and flat ("beaver tail"). Tile first type of "cling" not only for the crate with a special projection, but for the slots (locks) adjacent tiles (usually two slots - both vertical and horizontal). Each lock gives the tile can move to 3-4 mm, due to which the tiling is easy to tolerate thermal expansion and contraction, shrinkage of the building, etc. When installing the "beaver tail" of each tile from the top row covers a junction of the other two in the bottom row. Because it does not lock, it is easy to cut, which allows laid "beaver tail" on the roof of curved shape. Though there are special grooves tiles from which to cook segments to cover the towers, "waves" over the dormer windows, etc. We add that the crate under the tiles - the steps and the optimum angle for her - from 22 to 60 degrees. When you select "ceramic" should be borne in mind that if the roof complex geometry, it would take quite a number of additional elements (half-hearted, spinal shingles, ventilation components, components for valley, places of contiguity, etc.). This will entail additional costs, but at the same time the roof will look elegant, but all the nodes it will be safe. Cement-sand tile is "sister" ceramic, often unite them under the name "natural tiles. She also produced from natural raw materials - quartz sand and cement. The latter is a mixture of fine-grind limestone and clay fired at a temperature of about 1000 ° C, which is then added gypsum. Manufacturing of tiles is as follows: a cement-sand mixture, which included organic dyes (iron oxide), molded, pressed, then the day is dried at 60 ° C and then stained a second time (now acrylics), passes through a tunnel oven and becomes a finished product. Since the tile is painted in a mass, it can give almost any color. Second, acrylic layer is very thin, it is necessary for more long-term preservation of color under the sunlight. But even when he was 25-30 years old come down tiles would still be "colored." It is not necessary to spread some ill will, which exists among us in relation to the concrete, the concrete roof, because it is deprived of its main weaknesses: the inability to breathe. Tiling perfectly breathes through the joints of tiles. Cement-sand tile has all the advantages of clay "sisters", but perhaps less elegant, and even then - sometimes. Increasingly, on the contrary, to the naked eye is difficult to distinguish from one another. However, in comparison with some "representatives" of pottery, a cement-sand tiles may be higher durability and frost resistance, which is important given the severe nature of our winter (hence the fairly good guarantee - 20-35 years old). Form of cement-sand tiles, as a rule, grooving, though often just one notch - vertical. With regard to the application, additional elements, installation, etc., then the difference between "sisters" there. But the price - ie: cement and sand is cheaper. Gres name of the material speaks for itself. In appearance it resembles a natural stone - granite or marble. On the composition of raw mix it looks like ceramics: a combination of clay, kaolin, feldspar and metal oxides. He is close to ceramics and method of production: press molding and firing. But then start basic differences. First, the raw mixture for granite tile passes through the press with the pressure - 800 kg / sq. cm, or more than a thousand tonnes on each tile. Second, the firing takes place at very high temperatures - up to 1300S, resulting in raw mixture is fused to a state monolith. Performed in such a way tile has a very high density and, hence, low moisture absorption (0.1%) and as a consequence, the special frost. Raw mixture is colored in the mass of pigment-containing, usually salts of rare earth metals (cobalt, zirconium, chromium), this - good color fastness of granite. Add to this the high strength and hardness of the material and it becomes clear why the warranty on it is 50 years. Colours and varied geometry tiles contribute to translating into reality the original architectural solutions. Granite tile has a flat profile, but is easily cut by hand or mechanical tile usual "grinder." This allows you to cover the tiles radial cornices, indirect angles of roof slopes, places of conjugate planes with the cylindrical walls, etc. The tiles are attached to the crate rather original way: they have a molded in the production of the mounting hole, like a "keyhole" and they just hang to screw, nailed to the sheathing walking. This allows adjacent tiles to move relative to each other on the principle of "fish scales", relieving installers of extra work on the trim, as well as compensating for the shrinkage of the building.