UNIT-- I

Contents:
STONE AND BRICK MASONRY:

Technical terms,

Types of bonds in brickwork and their suitability,

Classification of stone masonry, Walls,

Classification of walls,

Floors, Technical terms, Types of ground floors,

Roofs, Technical terms, Classification of roofs,

Steel sloping roofs,

Roof covering materials,

Types of flat roofs.

MASONRY: Masonry refers to the construction of building units bonded together with
mortar. It is usually used for the construction of foundations, walls, columns and other similar
structural components of buildings. The main advantages of masonry constructions are
1)supporting loads 2)subdividing space 3)providing thermal and acoustic insulation 4)affording
fire and weather protection etc.,

Based on the type of building units used, various masonry types are : 1) Stone masonry 2) Brick
masonry 3)Hollow concrete blocks masonry 4)Reinforced brick masonry 5) Composite
masonry .

TECHNICAL TERMS:
FACE: It. is the surface of the wall exposed to the weather.
BACK: The inner surface of the wall which is not exposed to

the weather is known as back.

FACING: The material used in the face of the wall is known

as facing.

BACKING: The material used in the back of the wall is known

as backing.

HEARTING: The inner portion of the wall between the facing and backing is known as hearting.

COURSE: It is a horizontal layer of masonry unit. The thickness of a course will be equal to the
height of the stone or modular brick plus thickness of one mortar joint.

HEADER: It is a full stone unit or brick which is laid that its length is perpendicular to the face of
the wall.

STRETCHER: It is a full stone unit or brick which is laid that its length is parallel to the face of the
wall.

HEADER COURSE: A course of brick work showing only headers on the exposed face of the wall.

STRETCHER COURSE: A course of brick work showing only stretchers on the exposed face of the
wall.

BED: It is the lower surface of a brick or stone in each course.

BOND: It is the overlapping of bricks or stones in alternate courses, such that no continuous
vertical joints are formed and the individual units are tied together.

QUOINS: The exterior angle or corner of a wall is known as Quoin.

JOINT: The junction of adjacent units of stones or bricks is known as a joint.

CLOSER: It is the portion of a brick cut in such a manner that its one long face remains uncut
(or) it is a header of small width.

QUEEN CLOSER: It is a brick which is half as wide as the full brick.

KING CLOSER: It is the portion of a brick cut in such a manner that

it has half width at one end and has full width on other end.

BEVELLED CLOSER: It is the special form of king closer.

MITRED CLOSER: It is a brick whose one end is cut splayed or

mitred for full width.

BAT: It is the portion of a brick cut across the width.

HALF BAT: If the length of the bat is equal to half the length of the original brick, it is known as
half bat.

THREE QUARTER BAT: Length of the bat is equal to three quarters of the length of a full brick.

BEVELLED BAT: A bat has its width bevelled.

LAP: It is the horizontal distance between successive vertical joints.

PERPEND: It is an imaginary vertical line which includes the vertical joint in alternate courses.

FROG: A depression on the top face of a brick made with the object of forming a key for the
mortar to lower al support provided for door or window.

TROUGH STONE: It is a stone header.

SILL: Lower horizontal support provided for door or window.

LINTEL: Upper horizontal support provided for door or window.

PLINTH: A wall constructed above ground level to floor level.

PLINTH COURSE: It is the uppermost course of the plinth masonry.

STRING COURSE: It is the continuous horizontal course of a masonry

provided at every floor level and sill level projecting from the face of the wall for shedding rain
water off the face.

JAMBS: These are the vertical sides of a finished opening for the door, window, fire place etc.

REVEALS: These are the exposed vertical surfaces left on the sides of an opening after the door
or window frame has been fitted in position.

CORBEL: It is a projecting stone which is usually provided to serve as support for joist, truss etc.

CORNICE: It is a projecting ornamental course near the top of a wall or at the junction of wall
and the ceiling.

COPING: It is a covering of stone, brick etc. placed on the exposed top of a wall to prevent
seepage of water.

WEATHERING: It is the term to denote the provision of the slope on the upper surface like sills,
cornices etc.

THROATING: It is a groove provided on the underside of projecting elements such as sills,

cornices etc. to clear rain water on wall surface.

PARAPET: It is a low height wall constructed along the edge of the roof to protect the users.

ARCH: It is an arrangement of wedge shaped blocks of stone or brick arranged in the form of a
curve supporting wall or load above the opening.

GABLE: It is a triangular shaped masonry work provided at the ends of a sloped roof.
FREEZE: It is a course of stone placed immediately below the cornice to improve the
appearance of the wall.

BLOCKING COURSE: It is another course of stone placed immediately above the cornice to give
stability of the cornice against overturning and also improve the appearance of the wall.

TOOTHING: These are the bricks left projecting in alternate courses for the purposes of bonding
future masonry work.

LACING COURSE: It is the horizontal course of stone blocks provided to strengthen a wall made
of irregular courses of small stones.

SPALLS: These are the small pieces of stones obtained as a result of cutting big blocks of stones
into the regular stone blocks. These are used in filling the interstices of stone masonry.

STOOLINGS: These are the horizontal stones provided to receive jambs and mullions.

TEMPLATE OR BED BLOCK: It is a block of stone or concrete provided under a beam or girder to
distribute the concentrated load over a greater area of the bearing surface.

COLUMN: It is a vertical load bearing member of masonry and whose width does not exceed
four times its thickness.

PIER: An isolated vertical load bearing member of masonry and whose width exceeds four
times its thickness is called pier.

PILASTER: A vertical load bearing member made monolithic with the wall and projecting a little
beyond to support the ends of a beam or truss etc, then it is called a pilaster.

BUTTRESS: It is a sloping masonry projection from a tall wall intended to strengthen the wall
against the thrust of a roof or arch.

OFFSETS: These are the narrow horizontal surfaces which are formed by reducing the thickness
of the wall. These are provided in masonry footings or in walls of tall buildings.

THRESH HOLDS: It is the arrangement of steps provided from the plinth level to ground level.

TYPES OF BONDS IN BRICKWORK AND THEIR SUITABILITY:

The various types of bonds provided in brick work are 1)Stretcher bond 2) Header bond 3)
English bond 4) Flemish bond 5) Facing bond 6) English cross bond 7) Brick on edge bond 8)
Dutch bond 9) Raking bond 10) Zigzag bond 11) Garden wall bond
STRETCHER BOND: In this bond, the length of the bricks or stretchers is laid along the direction
of face of the wall. This pattern is used only in 9 cm. thickness walls. It is mainly suitable for
partition walls, chimney stacks or division walls.

HEADER BOND: In this bond, the width of the bricks or headers is laid along the direction of face
of the wall. This pattern is used only in 18 cm. thickness walls. In this bond three-quarter brick
bats are used as quoins in alternate courses. It is not suitable for load bearing walls as the
pressure does not transmit in the direction of the length of the wall. It is mainly suitable for
curved brick work and in the construction of footings.

ENGLISH BOND: This bond is the strongest bond and suitable for all wall thicknesses. It consists of
alternate courses of headers and stretchers. In this bond, queen closer is placed immediately after the
quoin header in each header course.
FLEMISH BOND: Each course consists of alternate headers and stretchers. Quion closers are
placed next to the quoin header in every alternate course to develop the face lap. Flemish
bonds are of 2 types: 1) Double Flemish bond 2) Single Flemish bond

1) DOUBLE FLEMISH BOND: The facing and backing of the wall have the same appearance.
It consists of Flemish bond on both facing and backing.

2) SINGLE FLEMISH BOND: It consists of Flemish bond facing and English bond Backing and
hearting in each course.

FACING BOND: In this bond, a header course is provided after several stretcher courses. The
vertical distance between the successive header courses is kept equal to the least common
multiple of the thickness of backing and facing bricks. It is suitable where bricks of different
thickness are to be used in the facing and backing.

ENGLISH CROSS BOND: Alternate courses of headers and stretchers are provided as in English
bond. Queen closers are placed next to quoin headers. A header is provided next to the quoin
stretcher in every alternate stretcher course.
BRICK ON EDGE BOND (SILVERLOCK’S BOND OR SOLDIER’S BOND): In this bond the bricks are
arranged as headers and stretchers in such a manner that headers are placed on bed and
stretchers are placed on edge. It consumes less bricks and economical but weak in strength. It is
used for garden walls, compound walls etc.

DUTCH BOND: Alternate courses of headers and stretchers are provided as in English bond.
Every stretcher course starts at the quoin with a three-quarter bat. A header is placed next to
the three-quarter brick bat provided at the quoin in every alternate stretcher course.

RAKING BOND: In this bond, the bricks are arranged in inclined direction in the space between
the external stretchers of the wall. The raking or inclination course is provided in opposite
direction in alternate courses at a regular interval of four to eight courses in between the two
stretcher courses of the wall.
DIAGONAL BOND: In this bond, the bricks are arranged at 450 in such a way that extreme
corners of the series remain in contact with the external line of stretchers. It is best suited for
walls of 2 to 4 bricks thickness.

HERRING-BONE BOND: In this bond, the bricks are arranged at 450 in two opposite directions
from the centre of the wall thickness. It is used for ornamental finish to the face work, brick
flooring.
ZIG ZAG BOND: It is similar to herring-bone bond, except that the bricks laid in zig- zag fashion.
This bond is commonly used for making ornamental panels in the brick flooring.

GARDEN WALL BOND: It is suitable where the thickness of the wall is one brick thick and the
height does not exceed two metres. It is not so strong as English bond, but is more attractive.
Garden wall bonds are of three types:

a) GARDEN WALL ENGLISH BOND: In this bond, the header course is provided only after
three to five stretcher courses. A queen closer is placed next to quoin header in each
header course. Quion headers are placed in alternate stretcher courses.
b) GARDEN WALL FLEMISH BOND: Each course contains one header after three to five
stretchers continuously placed, throughout the length of the course. Each alternate
course contains a three-fourth brick bat in between a quoin header and a header, and a
header is laid over the middle of each central stretcher.
c) GARDEN WALL MONK BOND: Each course contains one header after two successive
stretchers. Every alternate course contains a quoin header followed by a three-quarter
brick bat.
CLASSIFICATION OF STONE MASONRY: Based on the arrangement of stones
in the construction, type of vertical joint, degree of refinement used in shaping the stone and
finishing adopted, stone masonry can be classified into two types: A) Rubble masonry B) Ashlar
masonry.
A) RUBBLE MASONRY: The blocks of stone are undressed or roughly dressed. It has wide
joints. Rubble masonry is of four types: 1) Random rubble a) Uncoursed b) Built to
 courses 2) Square rubble a) Uncoursed b) Built to courses c) Regular coursed 3)
miscellaneous types a) Polygonal walling b) Flint walling 4) Dry rubble masonry.

1.a) RANDOM RUBBLE (UNCOURSED) OR UNCOURSED RUBBLE MASONRY: Sound bond

should be available both transversely and longitudinally. Number of headers used in
transverse bond and larger stones are used for quoins and jambs. It is roughest and cheapest
form of stone walling.

RANDOM RUBBLE (UNCOURSED)

b)RANDOM RUBBLE (BUILT TO COURSES): In this method, quoins are built first and the
intervening walling is filled by using different size of stones in a serial order to form courses of
30 to45 cm.
 RANDOM RUBBLE (BUILT TO COURSES)
2. a) SQUARE RUBBLE (UNCOURSED) OR SQUARE-SNECKED RUBBLE: square rubble
masonry uses stones having straight bed and sides. In this method, risers (large stones),
levelers (thinner stones) and Sneck or check (small stone) are placed depth wise in the
ratio 3:2:1 respectively to get good appearance and to prevent long continuous joints.
b) SQUARE RUBBLE (BUILT TO COURSES): Each course may consist of quoins, jamb stones,
bonders and throughs of the same height, with smaller stones built in between them upto the
height of the larger stones, to complete the course.

c)SQUARE RUBBLE (REGULAR COURSED) OR COURSED RUBBLE MASONRY: In this

method, the height of the each course is same or equal.
 3. a) POLYGONAL WALLING OR POLYGONAL RUBBLE MASONRY: In this method,
the stones are of polygonal shape and face joints are running irregularly in all directions.
Polygonal walling is two types: 1)Rough picked work : In this pattern, the stones are roughly
fitted 2)Close picked work : In this pattern, the stones are closely fitted.

b) FLINT WALLING: In this method, flints or cobbles of 7.5 to 15 cm. thickness and 15 to 30 cm.
length silica nodules are used as stones. Flint wall strength may be increased by placing thin
long stones or bricks course at vertical interval of 1 to 2 meters.
4.DRY RUBBLE MASONRY: In this pattern, mortar is not used in the joints. It is the cheapest
method and used in compound walls etc.

ASHLAR MASONRY: It consists of blocks of accurately dressed stone with extremely fine bed
and end joints. The blocks may be either square and rectangular shaped of 25 to 30 cm. height
stones. Ashlar masonry is 6 types: 1) Ashlar fine tooled 2) Ashlar rough tooled 3) Ashlar rock
faced 4) Ashlar chamfered 5) Ashlar block in course 6) Ashlar facing.

ASHLAR FINE TOOLED: This is the finest type of stone masonry. Headers and stretchers are laid
alternately and the thickness of mortar joint is kept uniform and it should not be more than 5
mm. The beds, joints and faces are chisel dressed in this method.
ASHLAR ROUGH TOOLED OR BASTARD ASHLAR: In this method, the beds, sides and joints are
finely chisel dressed whereas the exposed face is dressed by rough tooling such that the
projections on the exposed face should not exceed 3 mm. in any direction. The thickness of
mortar joint should not be more than 6 mm.

ASHLAR ROCK FACED (RUSTIC OR QUARRY FACED) : In this type of masonry, the exposed face of
the stone is not dressed. The projections on the exposed face (bushings) exceeding 80mm. in
height are removed by light hammering. The thickness of mortar joint may be upto 10 mm.

ASHLAR CHAMFERED: It is a special form of rock -faced ashlar masonry .The strip provided
around the perimeter of the exposed face is chamfered or bevelled at an angle of 45 0. Around
this bevelled strip, another strip of 15 cm is dressed with the help of chisel. The large bushings
inside this strip in excess of 80 mm. are removed by a hammer.

ASHLAR BLOCK IN COURSE: This type of masonry is intermediate between rubble masonry and
ashlar masonry. The faces of each stone are hammer dressed, and the height of blocks is kept
the same in any course. It is used in heavy works such as retaining walls, bridges etc.

ASHLAR FACING: It is provided along with brick or concrete block masonry to give better
appearance. In this pattern, the sides and beds of each block are properly dressed while the
exposed faces of the stone are rough tooled and chamfered. The backing of the wall may be
made in brick masonry.
WALLS: A Wall may be defined as a vertical load bearing member and the width or length of
which exceeds four times the thickness. The main aim of a wall is to enclose or divide space of
the building to make it more functional and useful. The uses of walls are to provide privacy,
support to floors and roofs, afford security and give protection against heat, cold, sun and rain
etc.

CLASSIFICATION OF WALLS (OR) TYPES OF WALLS: Walls may be

basically divided into two types: A) Load-bearing wall B) Non-load bearing wall.

A) LOAD-BEARING WALLS: These walls carry super imposed loads besides their own weight.
These walls are of two types:

1) Internal load bearing wall: A load-bearing partition wall is called an internal wall or internal
load bearing wall.

2) External load-bearing walls: These are further divided into a) Solid masonry wall b) Cavity
wall c) Faced wall d) Veneered wall.

a) SOLID MASONRY WALL: These are built of individual blocks in horizontal courses and
cemented together with suitable mortar.

b) CAVITY WALL: It is a wall comprising two leaves separated by a cavity and tied together with
metal ties or bonding units such that the two leaves act as a single unit. Each leaf is built with
structural units. The cavity may be left empty or filled with non-load bearing insulating material
and water proofing material.

c) FACED WALL: It is a wall in which the facing and backing are built of two different materials
which are bonded together.

d) VENEERED WALL: It is a wall in which facing and backing are not bonded together.

B) NON-LOAD BEARING WALLS: These walls carry their own load only. These are two types.
 1) External non-load bearing wall: a) Panel wall: It commonly related to framed
structures.
b) PARTY WALL: It is a wall separating adjoining buildings belonging to different
owners or occupied by different persons.

2) Internal non-load bearing wall: Partition or Separating or Divide wall: Divide the
space within the same building.

CURTAIN WALL: It is a self- supporting wall carrying no other vertical loads but subject to lateral
loads.

CROSS-WALL CONSTRUCTION: It is a particular form of load-bearing wall construction in which

all the loads are carried by internal walls, running at right angles to the length of the building.

FLOORS: Floor is a level surface provided for supporting the occupants of a building,
furniture, equipment, internal partitions etc.

GROUND FLOOR: The floor resting directly on the ground surface is known as ground floor.

UPPER FLOOR: The floor of each storey, situated above the ground level is known as upper
floor.

BASEMENT FLOOR: The floor lies below ground level.

TECHNICAL TERMS
PARTS OR COMPONENTS OF A FLOOR: A floor consists of two essential parts: 1) Sub-floor or
base course or floor base: The floor base is a structural component contains sand filling and
base supports the floor covering such that it does not settle and also provide damp resistance
and thermal insulation. 2) Floor covering or Flooring or Topping.: The top most layer of a floor
provided over the under layer or over the base course in the absence of under layer.

UNDER LAYER: It is an intervening layer between base course and topping.

FLOOR FINISH: The top surface of floor is called floor finish.

SCREEDS: The narrow strips of wood, bands of plaster, or pieces of tiles laid on floor to act as
guide for bringing the topping to a true and even surface are known as screeds. This process is
known as screeding.
POINTING: It is a process to fill the joints in between tiles or slabs.

TYPES OF GROUND FLOORS: Ground floors are basically two types:

1) SOLID FLOORS: The floors supported directly on the ground are known as solid floors.

2) SUSPENDED FLOORS: The floors suspended above the ground level are called suspended
floors.

Based on construction material used, various types of ground floors are as follows:

MUD FLOORING: In this flooring, a 25 cm. thick selected moist earth is spread over a well-
prepared ground and is then rammed well to get a compacted thickness of 15 cm. Finally, a thin
layer of cow –dung is spread above it. It is easy to construct, maintain and has good thermal
insulation. It is used in low cost houses in rural areas

MURAM FLOORING : A 15 cm. thick layer of muram is laid over prepared subgrade. A 2.5 cm.
thick layer of powder muram is spread above it along with water and rammed well with thapies
for 3 days. Then the surface is smeared with a thin paste of cow-dung and rammed again for
two days. It is used in low cost houses in rural areas.

BRICK FLOORING: It is constructed in two ways: 1) In this method, a 7.5 cm. thick layer of sand
is spread over well- prepared subgrade and a course of bricks laid flat in mortar above it. It
forms the base course, over which a 12 mm. thick brick flooring is laid in cement or lime mortar.
2) In this second method, the 12 mm. brick flooring is laid over a 15cm. thick layer of lean
cement concrete at its base. It is used in ware houses, stores, godowns etc.
FLAG STONE FLOORING: A 15 cm. thick lime concrete or cement concrete is laid over well-
prepared subgrade. Then, the flag stones are laid over 20 to 25mm. thick layer of bed mortar.
This type of work is also called paving.

CEMENT CONCRETE FLOORING: This floor consists of two parts: 1) Base concrete 2) Topping or
wearing surface. The two parts can be constructed either monolithically or non-monolithically.
In this method, the base course consists of 7.5 to 10cm. thick lean cement concrete or lime
concrete is laid over well-compacted soil. After the base course has hardened, the base course
is wetted at its surface and a thin layer of cement slurry is applied to get proper bond of
topping with the base course. Then the topping consists of 4 cm. thick cement concrete is laid
by using some wooden panels on it. It is used for residential, commercial and some industries
where soft wearing surface is required.

GRANOLITHIC FINISH: It is a special type of cement concrete flooring. In this method, a 25 to 35

mm. thick layer of granolithic finish consisting of coarse aggregate of granite, basalt etc. is
applied on the topping of cement concrete flooring. It is used for industries where hard wearing
surface is required.
TERRAZZO FLOORING: It is a special type of cement concrete flooring In this method, a thin
layer of cement and marble chips is laid over concrete topping. It is widely used in residential,
hospitals, offices, schools and other public buildings.

MOSAIC FLOORING: In this method, a 7.5 to 10 cm. thick layer of base course is laid over well-
compacted soil and over it 5 to 8 cm. thick lime or cement mortar is spread and leveled. Then
small pieces of broken tiles or marble pieces are arranged in definite patterns and hammered
into the lime or cement layer.

TILED FLOORING: Tiled flooring is similar to that for flag stone flooring. In this method, clay,
cement concrete or terrazzo tiles are used instead of flag stones. It is used for residential,
offices, schools hospitals and other public buildings.

MARBLE FLOORING: In this method, base course is built as in the concrete flooring.20 mm. thick
layer of mortar is laid over it. Then square or rectangular shaped marbles are laid on the mortar
and pressed with wooden mallet and leveled. It is used in bath-rooms, kitchens, hospitals,
sanitoriums, temples etc. where extra cleanliness is required.

TIMBER FLOORING: Timber floors may be suspended type or solid type (fully supported on the
ground). In suspended floors, the hollow space between the flooring and ground level is kept
either empty or filled with air bricks in outer walls and voids in the sleeper wall. In solid floors,
wooden block flooring is laid over a layer of mastic asphalt placed on a base concrete. It is
constructed in places where the problem of dampness is not acute.
ASPHALT FLOORING Asphalt flooring is of many types:

1) Asphalt mastic flooring: A 2.5 cm. thick layer of asphalt mastic containing asphalt
and sand is laid in continuous sheets on the concrete base course.
2) Asphaltic tiles: Asphaltic tiles made up of asphalt, asbestos fibres, inert materials
and mineral pigments are laid on the concrete base course or wooden floors by
using an intervening layer of mastic asphalt.
3) Asphalt mosaic: A 2. 5 cm. thick layer of asphalt mosaic containing asphalt and
marble chips is laid in continuous sheets on the concrete base course.
4) Acid proof mastic flooring: The asphalt blocks are first laid on concrete base course
then acid proof asphalt is uniformly spread over the surface of the blocks.

LINOLEUM FLOORING: A 2 to 6 mm. Linoleum sheet made up of linseed oil, gum, resins,
pigments, wood floor, cork dust etc. is spread directly on concrete or wooden flooring or
Linoleum tiles are fixed on concrete base or wood floor. It is not used in wet rooms like bath-
rooms, kitchens etc.

CORK FLOORING: A 5 to 15 mm. thickness Cork carpet or Cork tiles is fixed on the concrete
base course by inserting a layer of saturated felt. It is used in libraries, theaters, art galleries,
broadcasting stations etc.

GLASS FLOORING: A 12 to 30 mm. thick structural glass in the form of tiles or slabs is fixed in
closely spaced frames. It is used where transmit light from upper floor to lower floor is needed.

PLASTIC OR P.V.C. (POLY -VINYL-CHLORIDE) FLOORING: The p.v.c. tiles are laid on the concrete
base course with an intervening layer of adhesive material. It is used in all residential as well as
non-residential buildings.

ROOFS: A roof consists of structural elements like trusses, portals, beams, slabs, shells or
domes etc. which support roof coverings.
TECHNICAL TERMS:
SPAN: It is the clear distance between the supports of an arch, beam or roof truss.

RISE: It is the vertical distance between the top of the ridge and the wall plate.

PITCH: It is the inclination of the sides of a roof to the horizontal plane.

EAVES: It is the lower edge of the inclined roof surface.

HIP: It is the ridge formed by the intersection of two sloping surfaces, making an external angle
greater than 1800.

VALLEY: It is the ridge formed by the intersection of two sloping surfaces, making an angle less
than 1800.

HIPPED END: It is the sloped triangular surface formed at the end of a roof.

VERGE: The edge of a gable, running between the eaves and ridge, is known as a verge.

RIDGE PIECE, RIDGE BEAM OR RIDGE BOARD: It is the horizontal wooden member provided at
the apex of a roof truss.

COMMON RAFTERS OR SPARS: These are the inclined wooden members running from the ridge
to eaves.

PURLINS: These are the horizontal supporting members provided to the common rafters when
span is large.

HIP RAFTERS: These are the sloping rafters which form the hip of a sloped roof.

VALLEY RAFTERS: These are the sloping rafters run diagonally from the ridge to the eaves for
supporting valley gutters.

JACK RAFTERS: These are the short rafters run from hip or valley to the eaves.

EAVES BOARD OR FACIA BOARD: It is a wooden board fixed to the feet of the common rafters at
the eaves.

BARGE BOARD: It is a wooden board used to hold the common rafter forming verge.
WALL PLATES: These are long wooden members provided on the top of wall for fixing the feet
of the common rafters.

POST PLATES: These are similar to wall plates except that they run parallel to the face of wall
and support rafters at their feet.

BATTENS OR SCANTLINGS: These are thin strips of wood nailed to the rafters for lying roof
materials above.

BOARDINGS: These are similar to battens nailed to common rafter.

TEMPLATE: This is a square or rectangular block of stone or concrete placed under a beam or
truss, to spread the load over a larger area f the wall.

CLEATS: These are short sections of wood or steel fixed on the principal rafters of trusses to
support the purlins.

TRUSS: A roof truss is a framework in triangular shape generally to support the roof covering or
ceiling over roofs.

CLASSIFICATION OF ROOFS: Roofs are of 3 types: i) Pitched or sloping roofs 2) Flat

roofs or terraced roofs 3) Curved roofs. The selection of the type of roof depends upon the
shape or plan of the building, the climatic conditions of the area and type of construction
materials available.

PITCHED (OR) SLOPING ROOFS: A roof with sloping surface is known as a pitched roof. These
are suitable for buildings with limited width and simple shape and in heavy rain fall or snowfall
areas. Based on shape of the pitched roof, various pitched roofs are as follows:

FLAT OR TERRACED ROOF: A roof with flat surface is known as a flat roof. These are suitable for
buildings of any shape and size, in plain, hot and moderate rainfall regions.

CURVED ROOFS: A roof with curved surface is known as curved roof. These are more suitable
for public buildings like libraries, theatres, recreation centres etc. The curved surface may be
cylindrical, parabolic or hyperbolic etc.

VARIOUS TYPES OF SLOPING (OR) PITCHED ROOFS:

Lean-to-roof: It has slope only one side and suitable for a small span or a single room.

Gable roof: It has slope in two directions with a ridge at its center.

Hip roof: It has slopes in four directions with a central ridge.

Gambrel roof: It has slopes in two directions but there is a break in each slope.

Mansard roof: It has slopes in four directions with a break at each slope.

Deck roof: It has slopes in four directions with a plane or deck surface at its top.

Pitched roofs are broadly classified into 3 categories:

1) SINGLE ROOFS 2) DOUBLE OR PURLIN ROOFS 3) TRIPLE –MEMBERED OR FRAMED OR TRUSSED

ROOFS.
1) SINGLE ROOFS: These consist of only common rafters which are secured at the ridge or ridge
beam and at the eaves or wall plates. These roofs are used only when the span is limited to 5
meters. Single roofs are of 5 types: a) Lean-to-roof (verandah-roof or shed-roof) b) Couple roof
c) Couple close roof d) Collar beam roof e) collar and scissors roof
a) Lean-to-roof: It is also known as Pent roof or Aisle roof. In this method, one side wall of room is
taken higher than the other side wall with a usual slope of 300. .This type of roof is suitable for
maximum span of 2.5 m.
b) Couple roof: It is formed by pair of rafters which slope to both the sides of the ridge of the roof.
The upper ends of each pair of rafter are nailed to a common ridge and their lower ends are
nailed to the wooden plates embedded in the masonry on the top of the outer walls. It is used
when the span is limited to 3.6 m.
c) Couple close roof: It is similar to couple roof , except that the ends of the couple of common
rafters is connected by a tie beam placed on wall plates of both side of the walls It may or may
not contain a vertical rod, called king rod or king bolt. It is suitable for spans upto 4.2 m.
d) Collar beam roof: It is similar to the couple close roof, except that a collar beam is provided at a
raised level. It is suitable for spans upto 5 m.
e) Collar and scissors roof: It is similar to collar roof, except that two collar beams, crossing each
other to have an appearance of scissors.

2) DOUBLE OR PURLIN ROOFS: It is also known as rafter and purlin roof. A double roof is the one in
which purlins are introduced to support the common rafters at intermediate point. These roofs
have two basic elements: a) rafters b) purlins. The purlins reduce the size of the rafters to the
economical size. Larger roofs may be provided with more purlins, if required.
3) TRIPLE-MEMBERED OR FRAMED OR TRUSS ROOFS: These roofs are of eight types: a) King-post
roof truss b) Queen-post roof truss c) Combination of king-post and queen-post trusses d)
Mansard roof truss e) Truncated roof truss f) Bel-fast roof truss or latticed roof truss g)
Composite roof trusses h) Steel sloping roof trusses.
a) King- post roof truss: It consists of two common rafters running from the ridge to eaves. The
rafters are connected at their foot to a horizontal tie beam placed on the wall plates. The tie
beam contains a vertical post from ridge to its center and supported by two inclined struts on
either side of the king post. It is suitable for spans varying from 5 to 8 meters.
b) Queen-post roof truss: It is similar to the king-post truss, except that it contains two vertical
posts instead of one vertical post in king-post truss. It is suitable for spans between 8 to 12 m.
c) Combination of king-post and queen-post trusses: It is a two-storey truss, with king-post truss in
upper portion and a queen-post truss in lower portion .It is suitable for spans between 12 to 18
m.
d) Mansard roof truss: It is similar to the combination of king-post truss and queen-post truss,
except that it contains more room in between two queen-posts.
e) Truncated roof truss: It is similar to Mansard truss, except that its top is formed flat.
f) Bel-fast roof truss: It is also known as Bow string truss or latticed roof truss. It is in bow shape
with its top chord curved. It is suitable for spans upto 30 m.
g) Composite roof trusses: It made of two materials like steel and timber. The tension members
are made of steel while compression members are made of timber.
STEEL SLOPING ROOFS: Steel roof trusses are more suitable and economical for
spans greater than 10 m. in length. Most of the steel roof trusses are fabricated from angle-
sections and plates. These are designed that they carry only tension or compression force but
not any bending stress induced into them. The members are joined together, using a gusset
plate, either through rivets or by welding. At the foot of the truss, short angles are fitted on
both the sides of the gusset plate, which are connected to the bearing plate. The bearing plate
is jointed to concrete bed through rag bolts. At the apex, suitable ridge section is fitted.

Steel trusses may be grouped as follows:

1) Open trusses

2) North light trusses

3) Bow string trusses

4) Archid rib trusses

 ADVANTAGES:

1) Minimum wastage of material as the members

are readily available in required dimensions.
2) Light in weight and can fabricate in any required shape.
3) Stronger and more rigid.
4) These are used over any span, fire-proof, and termite proof.
5) Longer life.
6) The transportation and fabrication is easy and quick.

ROOF COVERING MATERIALS: The roof covering materials are as follows:

THATCH COVERING: It consists of a frame work of round bamboo rafters spaced 20 to 30cm.
apart and

tied with split bamboos laid at right angles to the rafters. The reed or straw bundles are laid
with their butt ends pointing towards the eaves and well tied to the framework with the help of
ropes or twines dipped in tar. The thatch covering must has a minimum thickness of 15 cm. and
a minimum slope of 450.

WOOD SHINGLE ROOFING: Shingles are thin slabs of wood and used as roof material in hilly
areas. Usually sawn shingles 30 to 40 cm in length and 6 to 25 cm. in width are laid in similar
fashion as tiles.

TILE ROOFING: It is one of the oldest and mainly used for residential buildings and country
houses. Tiles are manufactured from the local available earth material in the same way as that
of bricks. The various types of tiles generally used are : 1) Plain or flat tiles 2) Curved or pan-tiles
3) Pot tiles or half-round country tiles 4) Spanish tiles 5) Italian or Allahabad tiles 6) Inter-locking
tiles.

ASBESTOS CEMENT SHEETS (A.C. sheets): These are available in the following three forms: !)
Everest big-six corrugated A.C. sheets 2) Everest standard corrugated A,.C. sheets 3) Everest
Trafford A.C. tiles. The A.C. sheets are fixed to the purlins and laid in successive rows from
eaves to ridge.

1) GALVANISED IRON CORRUGATED SHEETS (G.I. sheets): These sheets are made of iron
sheets which are galvanized with zinc. G.I. sheets are manufactured with corrugations
running from one end to the other. These sheets are secured to purlins by means of G.I.
hook bolts with curved washers.
2) SLATE ROOFING: A 4 to 6 mm. thick slates are laid so that each slate overlaps a slate in
th next course but below it. Slates are fixed to the battens by means of copper or zinc
nails. A layer of felt is used below slates to prevent rain water and moisture.
3) LIGHT WEIGHT ROOFING: These roofing materials are of two types: 1) sheeting
(Aluminium or asbestos cement sheets) 2) Decking (Wood wool, Straw board,
Aluminium alloy and steel decking). Sheeting is used for sloping roofs while decking is
used both for sloping as well as flat roofs.

FLAT ROOF: It is the horizontal roof with slope less than 100. These are economical, easy
to construct and in maintenance. These are more stable against high winds. The self weight of
flat roof is very high. These are unsuitable at places of heavy rainfall.

TYPES OF FLAT ROOFS: The various types of flat roofs are as follows:
1) MUD –TERRACE ROOFING: In this method, a 15 cm. thick white earth mud
containing large percentage of sodium salt is laid either on tiles or on wood boards placed
between the flanges of T-sections. A 2.5 cm. thick layer of white earth is again applied on it.
This top layer has to be renewed once in a year.
2) BRICK-JELLY ROOFING OR MADRAS TERRACE ROOFING: 15 cm. x 5cm. x 12 mm.
size bricks are laid diagonally across the wooden joists placed on R.S.J. with a
furring piece in between. Then a 10 cm. thick layer of brick-bat concrete is laid on
it. Three courses of madras flat tiles with mortar are laid above it. Finally, the top
surface is plastered with three coats of lime mortar.
3) MUD-PHUSKA TERRACING WITH TILE PAVING: A 10 cm. thick layer of mud-phuska
made up of puddle clay mixed with bhusa is laid on a layer of coarse sand spread
over the hot coat of bitumen put on a cleaned R.C.C. slab. It is then plastered with
mud-cow-dung mortar.

4) LIME CONCRETE TERRACING (JODHPUR TYPE ROOFING): The longitudinal joints

between the flag stones are first pointed in cement mortar. Raithal is provided by
laying stone spawls in lime mortar. A 10 cm. thick layer of unslaked kankar lime is
spread over the roof slabs. Another 10 cm. unslaked kankar lime layer is laid
repeatedly. Coarse stone aggregate is spread with a mixture of hemp, lime and
methi on it. A 40 mm. layer of stone grit or screening is laid above it. Finally, sandala
coat consisting of cream of lime is lad and cured for 15 days.
5) LIME CONCRETE TERRACING WITH TILES: A 10 cm. thick layer of lime concrete is laid
over a layer of coarse sand spread on a cleaned R.C. slab. Then two courses of flat
brick tiles are laid in cement mortar.

6) BENGAL TERRACE ROOFING: A course of flat tiles are laid on wooden battens placed
across the wooden rafters. Two or more courses of flat tiles are laid on it. Otherwise,
a fine jelly concrete is laid over the tiles. Then a course of flat tiles is laid and finished
with lime plaster.

7) LIGHT WEIGHT FLAT ROOF: An alluminium alloy and steel decking sheet is laid on
steel beams. A felt vapour barrier with bitumen is laid on it. Then a fibre board is
bonded on it. Again two or three layers of felt roofing is laid on it. Finally, a fine grit
layer spread on bitumen is laid on the top surface.