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Several here have reposted having homes made of very thick or stron walls (stone, masonry, or similar up to a foot thick) and that some of these homes are several hundred years old.

What type of roofing do you have on them? As a paranoid Texan in hurricane country I have more than a passing interest in strong structures and this has been bugging me for some time.

I do not think they get hurricanes and tornado's there. I am unsure though. I know South Korea get typhoon's

In the UK, mainly tiled roofs, occasionally you will see flat, felted roofs.


Found this link which has a good explanation:

http://great-home.co.uk/a-guide-to-roof-construction/

 Frazzled wrote:
Several here have reposted having homes made of very thick or stron walls (stone, masonry, or similar up to a foot thick) and that some of these homes are several hundred years old.

What type of roofing do you have on them? As a paranoid Texan in hurricane country I have more than a passing interest in strong structures and this has been bugging me for some time.

You live in america. If you want a strong roof, build it out of the things that make america strong. What you need is paper-mache roof made from print outs of of the constitution and portraits of Ronald Reagan!

Its John Wayne you Heathen

 Chongara wrote:

 Frazzled wrote:
Several here have reposted having homes made of very thick or stron walls (stone, masonry, or similar up to a foot thick) and that some of these homes are several hundred years old.

What type of roofing do you have on them? As a paranoid Texan in hurricane country I have more than a passing interest in strong structures and this has been bugging me for some time.

You live in america. If you want a strong roof, build it out of the things that make america strong. What you need is paper-mache roof made from print outs of of the constitution and portraits of Ronald Reagan!

This is true, I have used walls of the declaration of independence (walls of FREEDOM) to protect the house from wildfires in the past. Alas the sapping wetness lefty commie loving rain can sap even the most virtuous house of its John Wayne like Manly Essence. These colors don't run! (unless it rains a lot).

Hey frazz, On the old roofs it was mainly slate, with lead flashing down the sides(gable ends). Guttering was carved into stonework at top of wall, sometimes lined with lead.
Terraced houses built as accommodation for workers, had tiled roofs, made from marl fired in kilns. The old black/blue tiles are very resilient and much sought after. Later tiles used cheaper clay, that shale's with frost.
Large pan tiles are made from pressed cement.
Felt roofs can be pent roofs or flat, and are pretty much as used in USA.

Metal roofing is becoming a thing here...
https://www.metalroofing.com/

'cuz... it's so metal dude!

 filbert wrote:
In the UK, mainly tiled roofs, occasionally you will see flat, felted roofs.


Found this link which has a good explanation:

http://great-home.co.uk/a-guide-to-roof-construction/

Thanks. Wow thatch roofs. Cool! Who'd a thunk it.

I think What I really want is Spanish style Mission, but with reinforced concrete instead of adobe (including the roof). Of course it would be insulated by inscriptions of the debates over the Bill of Rights against commie vampires. Hey a man can dream.

 Chongara wrote:

 Frazzled wrote:
Several here have reposted having homes made of very thick or stron walls (stone, masonry, or similar up to a foot thick) and that some of these homes are several hundred years old.

What type of roofing do you have on them? As a paranoid Texan in hurricane country I have more than a passing interest in strong structures and this has been bugging me for some time.

You live in america. If you want a strong roof, build it out of the things that make america strong. What you need is paper-mache roof made from print outs of of the constitution and portraits of Ronald Reagan!

Please make your roofs out of nothing but guns. what nado would dare assault your home?

South korea has a ton of tile roofs. for that previous comment.

 loki old fart wrote:
Hey frazz, On the old roofs it was mainly slate, with lead flashing down the sides(gable ends). Guttering was carved into stonework at top of wall, sometimes lined with lead.
Terraced houses built as accommodation for workers, had tiled roofs, made from marl fired in kilns. The old black/blue tiles are very resilient and much sought after. Later tiles used cheaper clay, that shale's with frost.
Large pan tiles are made from pressed cement.
Felt roofs can be pent roofs or flat, and are pretty much as used in USA.

Pressed cement? Now it sounds like we're working with the materials of Justice!

How strong is metal. I see a lot of older structure with metal roofs, but they've all seen better days. On the flp side the Elementary across the street has a metal roof, and its built with tornadoes in mind.

Aside but if you want to freak out slightly go to the highway rest stop in Jarrett Texas. In addition to a monument and detailed discussion of the the K5 that wiped everything out, there are two bunkers designed for another one so highway travellers can duck in for safety. They are serious as a heart attacks, nothing can with you here bunkers.
Jarrett's like 20 minutes from the Austin house...


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Desubot wrote:

 Chongara wrote:

 Frazzled wrote:
Several here have reposted having homes made of very thick or stron walls (stone, masonry, or similar up to a foot thick) and that some of these homes are several hundred years old.

What type of roofing do you have on them? As a paranoid Texan in hurricane country I have more than a passing interest in strong structures and this has been bugging me for some time.

You live in america. If you want a strong roof, build it out of the things that make america strong. What you need is paper-mache roof made from print outs of of the constitution and portraits of Ronald Reagan!

Please make your roofs out of nothing but guns. what nado would dare assault your home?

South korea has a ton of tile roofs. for that previous comment.

A lot of older New Orleans homes had tile roofs, but they're a weird mixture of French and Spanish design.

Well, the roof above my head is tiled. We generally don't need to worry about hurricanes/tornadoes; I can't remember the last time we had one around here.

Wife already commented on buying sheets of tin to place on roof. First though I need to build her a "pagoda" on the cement deck with glass windows on the roof and a combo Habachi/grill and brick oven on the other side of deck.

As a point of interest, Britain has more tornadoes per square mile, per year than America; ours are just small and short lived though.

The roofs on many of the houses near me used to be flat topped reinforced concrete; they were accommodation for the RAF during WW2 and were all bomb proofed. Generally they are just slate or fired tiles as usual.

I don't know how you do for water over there but you could always try a turf roof - of course you'd definitely need reinforced concrete to hold that up!

When I lived in England, we had a house with a thatched roof. Now that was a really fine house. It was pretty old, with rather thick stone walls. I guess such a house would be relatively hurricane-resistant. It was such a nice house, I wish we could have taken it with us
My current house in the Netherlands has a roof made of wood covered with ceramic tiles, like pretty much every Dutch house.
In Russia, our house had a metal roof. Most Russian houses have either metal roofs or roofs made from wooden tiles.

It is something I always wondered though, why do Americans in hurricane/tornado sensitive areas always build wooden houses? It seems like asking for trouble to me.

edit: according to the internet, the best hurricane-resistant home would be a monolithic concrete dome. :p

 Frazzled wrote:
How strong is metal. I see a lot of older structure with metal roofs, but they've all seen better days. On the flp side the Elementary across the street has a metal roof, and its built with tornadoes in mind.

Most of the older metal roofs will be tin, but these days its more likely to be built with some longer lasting like colorbond. But that's just long lasting in terms of exposure to the elements, a tornado will still rip that roof off I'd imagine - bolts vs gale force wins has a predictable winner.

I thought the best defence against a tornado was a basement? So the house above might take damage but the family will be safe in the basement...

 Iron_Captain wrote:
When I lived in England, we had a house with a thatched roof. Now that was a really fine house. It was pretty old, with rather thick stone walls. I guess such a house would be relatively hurricane-resistant. It was such a nice house, I wish we could have taken it with us
My current house in the Netherlands has a roof made of wood covered with ceramic tiles, like pretty much every Dutch house.
In Russia, our house had a metal roof. Most Russian houses have either metal roofs or roofs made from wooden tiles.

It is something I always wondered though, why do Americans in hurricane/tornado sensitive areas always build wooden houses? It seems like asking for trouble to me.

edit: according to the internet, the best hurricane-resistant home would be a monolithic concrete dome. :p

Houses are built relatively cheaply here. In the West they use stucco which I think is a mixture of poo and concrated lameness. Otherwise they are typically wood or brick (but often just brick veneer).

I'm pretty certain I want a small castle with a pool, hot tub and Michael Phelps swim spa for the wife. Also more acres so I can just blast away off the back porch.

Have you considered rammed earth walls?



All you need is dirt, a pneumatic ram and some formers. Apparently pretty damn strong when finished as well (slightly lower strength than concrete). Though you can add reinforcement to ensure it withstands earthquakes.

Combine that with an earth roof and you have a reasonably low cost home which will not budge in high winds and be cheap to heat/cool

I no longer live in an old house, but mine is still made from two thick layers of brick, with isolation material n stuff between them.

We have a tiled roof.

As a Brit that recently travelled across the states, I found it strange how common wooden houses were.

 Corpsesarefun wrote:
As a Brit that recently travelled across the states, I found it strange how common wooden houses were.

Especially in areas where it gets quite windy for significant portions of the year...

I mean, do people like rebuilding their house every year?

Frazz which side of your property gets the most sun. And which side suffers the most tornadoes ?

Frazz.
Your not thinking of going all out "Hobbit" style living are you?Whats the ground water level there?