Sturctural Support For A Clay Roof

Your roof structure must be able to handle the weight of a tile roof which may be as much as 850 pounds per square for clay tile and 950 pounds per square for concrete tile.

Sturctural support for a clay roof.

Still it is important to seek the advice of a structural engineer for certainty. Clay tile roofing is commonly applied to steeper pitches. That means that the framing of your roof supports must be sturdy enough to carry all that extra weight. Clay tile roof battens are nailed at minimum 24 inches on center with spaces for drainage every 48 inches.

A house frame constructed with lightweight prefabricated roof trusses is generally not intended to support the loads imposed by a clay tile roof. Nevertheless even with heavier tiles most homes will require only minimal reinforcement. An asphalt roof by comparison weighs only around 225 to 325 pounds per square. Roof frame support reinforcement requirements since tile is a heavy roofing material concrete is lighter than clay 600 to 1 200 pounds per square as opposed to 1 000 to 1 500 pounds per square the structural support of the building must be taken into account.

This is not a diy project. Lay out battens to provide equal courses with a minimum 3 inch head lap unless the tile profile is designed for a specific head lap. Typical structural clay products are building brick paving brick terra cotta facing tile roofing tile and drainage pipe. So all things being equal if you were able to use a rafter table for dead loads of 10 pounds per square foot for the asphalt roof you should be able to use a rafter table for dead loads of 15 pounds per square foot for the tile roof.

The clay tiles you are using weigh about 8 pounds per square foot adding 5 pounds to the design dead load. A clay tile roof is a weighty choice like concrete tile a clay tile roof is a very heavy roofing material more than three times the weight of a comparable asphalt composite shingle roof. Clay tiles are typically selected only for roofs that have a pitch greater than 4 inches.