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How Does A Flat Roof Drain?
Daniel Bracewell • 16 November 2020
When we think about installing a flat roof in a building, one of the first questions that is commonly asked is how water is drained off of the roof.
Unlike a pitched roof, where there are clear and obvious slopes that carry water to gutters and drains, a flat roof does not appear to have a slope at all, particularly if it is designed to be used as an outdoor space.
As draining is vital to ensuring that a roof isn’t damaged, here are some of the clever ways flat roof specialists have helped avoid standing water on roofs.
Flat Roofs Aren’t Technically Flat
One of the more simple ways in which a flat roof avoids drainage issues is simply not to be flat.
According to the UK building regulations approved document H, a roof must have a gradient of 1 in 80.
This makes for an ever so slight incline, but enough to enable water to gradually flow to one end of the roof where it can be picked up by a gutter or scupper.
Flat roof specialists
work to ensure the gradient is enough to reliably remove water but not too much to make it noticeable to anyone walking on it.
Gutters, Drains and Scuppers
Once you flow water to one side of a roof, the next step is to remove it. The typical route to take is the same one pitched roofs do, which is to install a gutter system at one side and drain the water out that way.
However, in some case a roof may require additional drainage, so internal drains, which drain water underneath the roof and carry it through the building into the sewer are an option.
Scuppers can also be used in some cases, which are simple openings that quickly shoot water off a building, wither directly off a building or into a lower drain.
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