Roofs don’t always need to slope the way that we would traditionally think about them here in Houston. A lot of the times the roof itself is designed due to aesthetic appearance versus actual necessity. A flat roof has a 10 degree or less slope on it. Most commercial buildings use flat roofs here in Houston.
A positive to flat roofs is that it gives an additional space above the house or building which allows for more things to be put on the roof. For example if you had a large cell phone tower, not that you would ever find this on somebody’s house, but if you had a large cell phone tower having a flat roof will give you a place to put it.
If you look at most buildings the air conditioners are always put on the roof. One of the reasons for that is so that you don’t have the condenser on the side of the building like you would do for a house and it also adds an extra layer of security. Security in the sense that if somebody wanted to mess with your air conditioner they would actually have to get on your roof. That makes it harder for people though it’s not impossible to get on the roof–it’s just a deterrent.
Personal Thoughts of a Flat Roof
I used to live overseas, outside of the US, and the house that I lived in had a flat roof. I remember times of going up on the roof in order to check the water tanks and thinking that this was actually a really nice place. Sometimes I would go up on the roof in order to read or if I just wanted to sit and get away because it was higher up and I could see everything. I could see the mountains. I could see around the whole neighborhood in every direction and it was windy and in a hot country like where I was it was a beautiful thing to have a flat roof. Personally if flat roofs were available here in Houston as far as for residential purposes I would consider having one. I think they’re better, lower maintenance, and much higher functional than your traditional flat roof that uses shingled.
