I'm building a new house and can't decide what type of roof is best. I live in a tropical country where the day temperature is always above 32 degrees celcius. The criteria I want for the roof are:
– doesn't turn my house into an oven
– zero or low maintenance
– less leak problems
– no pests
– better performance during earthquake
I intially wanted a hip, tile roof, but I hesitate at the thoughts of having to clean the gutter often and rats getting inside the ceiling.
Your feedback will be much appreciated.
Best Answer
I'm a big fan of corrugated steel roofs. They are noisy in a rain, especially if you have the windows open, and have little or no insulation in the ceiling space. They are quieter if they are firmly attached to mass: E.g. a steel roof over 3/4" OSB over trusses will be quieter than steel over 2x4 purlons over truss.
Steel roofs are commonly done on trusses at 4 foot spacing here for machine sheds Roofing fluctuates a lot in price, but my latest shed it was 2.35 Canadian per running foot 3 feet wide. Call it 80 cents per square foot. They last about 40-50 years. Nowadays you can get them in a large variety of colours. In a tropical climate I would get white, or very pale yellow.
In a tropical climate I would consider very oversize trusses so that you have and 8-10 foot overhang all the way around. This reduces solar heating, and gives you a bunch of outdoor space that normally doesn't get wet.