Why rocks on rooftops

Not strictly necessary on a reconstructed roof, where the builder will have mortared in the tiles at the extremities, but it gives us somethiing to talk about and Gubbio is VERY windy!

Rocks on tiled roofs - why? Keep the tiles on when it's windy. Wind, overhang on eaves and verges! Join to ask a question! Top Questions Introductions. Italian Language. Food and Wine. Restaurant Review. No additional gravel on the roof is required. Ballast is a different style of gravel, which is applied to single-ply roofing systems. Although the primary purpose of ballast is to weigh down the roofing materials, it also offers similar protective benefits as described above. Ballast is commonly used with roofs made of tar-and-gravel roof alternatives, including ethylene propylene diene monomer EPDM , polyvinyl chloride PVC and thermoplastic polyolefin TPO single-ply flat roofs.

Since nothing secures the waterproofing membrane to the roofing materials underneath, ballast is needed for weight to protect the roof from strong winds. Ballast is different from BUR protective gravel. Ballast stones are usually one to two inches thick and applied more generously than on a built-up roof.

The heavier stones provide substantial protection against wind gusts. Source: Roofing Southwest. And a colleague tells us she recently saw a new house, near 56th Street and Shea Boulevard, that had adapted this ancient technology.

We would have gone by to see it, but we were too occupied looking for a lawyer willing to bring suit for wrongful barbering. You said that roof rocks give off heat and this causes a kind of updraft that helps cool off the house.

Gotta say that the kind of updraft this creates would only cool off the rocks, unless there are large holes in the roof to allow the air inside the house to rise. That would unfortunately allow the rain to come in though! I live in a house that has 12 inch thick solid concrete walls on the first floor and the second floor is made of standard frame construction. On a hot day, the upstairs is boiling hot and the downstairs is so much cooler you have to see it to believe it.