"Rod" wrote in message
...
D.M. Procida wrote:
This may turn out to be a stupid question, but I have nothing to
prove...

I don't understand why it isn't possible to make roofs cheaply, using
board materials instead of tiles or glass fibre. It's possible to make
boats waterproof, with appropriate sealing materials and pain, so why
not roofs, which have to deal with a lot less water?

It would be convenient and cheap to put large plywood boards on a roof,
make sure that there's some kind of overlap or flexible seal where their
edges meet, and finish them with thoroughly waterproof paint.

I'm assuming that I'm not a genius who has thought of something that has
never occurred to anyone else, and there is a reason why this isn't done
- what is it?

Daniele

One of the things that really hit me on a visit to Latvia was the number
of painted roofs. Mostly red. But I did not get to see what was under the
paint - maybe galvanised panels? (I think I could see seams on some of
them.) And many others had obvious corrugated sheets.

If the panels could be made full length (from ridge to gutter), it could
make sense. Even better if the sheet edges could be non-flat (like tiles -
with some waviness or shaped edges) so that there isn't a simple overlap.
But even then, one of the biggest problems is expansion and contraction -
over the temperature range of a typical roof I'd guess that was pretty
considerable.

--
Rod

Hypothyroidism is a seriously debilitating condition with an insidious
onset.
Although common it frequently goes undiagnosed.
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we seem to be stuck in a methodology which requires all parts of a house to
be handled by hand.

I recently saw a (temporary) structure for a supermarket which was
undergoing development - it was build from foam filled aluminium panels
about 20 feet by 10 feet - and 5 inches thick. Insulation would have been
good.