Your roofing system is your property’s first line of defense against the elements like snow, hail or rain. Unfortunately, without the right drainage system, the water produced by these weather events can stay on your roof, especially for flat roofing systems. This is where drainage systems can help.
What Makes Up the Roof’s Drainage System?
Your roof’s drainage system is composed of the different roofing components that flush water and debris away from your roof, and, often, it’ll start with your property’s design. Most steep-slow roofing systems usually contain different ridges, valleys and other areas that use gravity to push water and debris to your drainage pipes, but these won’t work well for your flat roof. Instead, you’ll likely need to rely on scuppers and other components to drain water away from your flat roof.
Apart from scuppers and other components, the flashing of your roof as well as the gutters and downspouts attached to your building will also work to direct water to the appropriate areas instead of letting it drain off your property in a chaotic manner.
Sizing Roof Water Drains
When it comes to sizing a roof drain, the first step residential roofing experts will take is to calculate the surface area of your roof that will be covered by the drains. Afterwards, they’ll have to determine the average hourly rainfall rate of your area to determine what the drainage requirements of your roof will be. Then, they have to find out the roof area that will be served by a separate leader, such as the scupper, drain pipe and downspout. Often, you can obtain this information from the pipe or drain manufacturer.
Once the aforementioned steps have been done, the roof area will then be divided by the area for each leader so the number of drains required can be determined. According to experts, each leader must be large enough to handle the volume of water needed as the greater the leader capacity, the fewer roof drains will be needed.
What if My Roof’s Drainage Is Poor?
If your roof’s drainage is poor, and you constantly have to compete with backed up or standing water, it’s likely you’ll have to get your roof drainage system checked. To accomplish this, don’t hesitate to turn to certified roofing contractors so they can perform the necessary inspections and give recommendations on what components will be needed to give you the best roof drainage as possible.
Need someone who can help keep your roof on top form? Simply turn to Pressure Point Roofing Eugene, Inc. Give us a call at (541) 688-7663, or fill out our contact form to get virtual estimates today! We serve homeowners in Eugene, OR, and other nearby areas