Are tiled-Thai roofs designed so that they will leak a little, during horizontal rain?

[GammaGlobulin]

Dear Folks,

 

I love living in the old Thai houses, with hardwood floors.

 

I love them more during the Hot-Dry Season, however.

 

For example, my house has a roof of traditional tiles which leaks unless the rain falls directly down, with zero wind.

 

Even then, sometimes it seems to leak.

 

Have you ever looked up at a roof from the inside?  Because, there is really NOTHING there, seemingly, holding up the roof tiles, other than sticks and splinters of wood.

 

Sure, they look fine from the outside.

 

But, from the inside.....there is really almost nothing there.

 

It's like, if these roofs were on houses in Taiwan, with the Typhoons, and SUPER TYPHOONS, typical of Taiwan....then....the would be gone...in a...

NEW YORK MINUTE.

 

Why do they build roofs this way in Thailand?

 

Is it because they do not want to use up too much wood from the local jungle, in order to protect the environment?

 

And, also, what to do about a leaking roof, which is probably not even strong enough to hold up a roofing-worker who might dare to clamber above...

Just to try to stem the leaks?

 

And also, what is the point of painting a ceiling in one of these houses...since....

 

After you put a fresh coat of paint on the ceiling, then....its....SURE to be....

Quickly discolored when the leaks from the next Raining Season begin to fall from the roof, onto the ceilings above one's head.

 

So many questions.

And, another question:

 

Why not just cover the entire roof with that ZERO-COST plastic material....

Which is discarded from Advertising....

You know the type I am talking about about....

 

I am talking about the recycling of the PVC or Plastic Giant Advertising sheets that are discarded....like this one....

 

 

 

During the Raining Season, if I had about 10 of these Ad Banners...then I could just throw them up on my leaking roof....

And tie them down...

 

And then ALL would be well.

 

I have seen these used in other 3rd-World countries.

But, I doubt that they might go over really well with my neighbors.

 

So then...

Is there a different and better solution, one that is almost as low cost?

 

Best regards,

 

Gamma

 

NOTE4:  A drip is a drip is a drip......and.....Drips are always worse at night, when one is intent upon falling asleep.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited 16 hours ago by GammaGlobulin

[FriscoKid]

6 hours ago, GammaGlobulin said:

A drip is a drip is a drip......and.....Drips are always worse at night, when one is intent upon falling asleep.

Just remove your Trump adult diaper and then wet yourself in bed while you're sleeping. Then you won't even notice the drips.

[GammaGlobulin]

36 minutes ago, FriscoKid said:

Just remove your Trump adult diaper and then wet yourself in bed while you're sleeping. Then you won't even notice the drips.

 

How uncouth can one get?

 

Time will tell....

 

Just keep it up, please...

 

IF, that is, you actually....can.....

 

 

Edited 8 hours ago by GammaGlobulin

[SiSePuede419]

The problem is leaking roofs only leak when it's raining.

Then it's too wet to get up there and fix it.

When it's dry, it's as good as any other roof.  And besides,who wants to get up and work on the roof in that hot sun.

 

[DPKANKAN]

The problem is even with tiled roofs they do not always nail every other course and usually they are at a low angle. Strong winds drive the rain under. Also they do not always seal joints in sheet roofing same happens. 

[chilli42]

All Thai roofs leak.  Don't worry, this is not a flaw.  It's a design feature. If it were a flaw it would have been fixed years ago. Nobody knows better how to design a roof than a Thai builder.

[SAFETY FIRST]

13 hours ago, GammaGlobulin said:

Are tiled-Thai roofs designed so that they will leak a little, during horizontal rain? 

Horizontal rain will make all tiled roofs leak in every country, not just Thailand. 

 

Edited 3 hours ago by SAFETY FIRST

[ThaiFelix]

Yes it laid by Thais

[RocketDog]

My house has tile roofs also. They are applied to a metal framework without any screws or adhesive of any kind. Thus they are held on to the framework strictly by their own weight.

 

For my house most of the roof is at a 45 or more degrees slope and that keeps the rain from blowing up under the tiles. However, this pitch of the roof over the kitchen is much lower perhaps only 15°. It did end up leaking frequently when we got heavy rains . I ended up having a roofer come out and replace the roof over the kitchen with a metal framework that he then put metal roofing over. It  has now been 2 years and has never leaked a drop.

[fceligoj]

Not if they are installed correctly.

[Luuk Chaai]

pretty unusual for a tiled roof to leak

might be a broken tile with a huge gap,  a missing piece of coping or ridge cap or  a valley with no flashing

 

[Lacessit]

Concrete tiles become more porous with age, unless they are glazed.

[Dr B]

Most of the comments above are correct, although some may be sarcasm.

1  Tiles are not fixed down, they are held in place by gravity only. 

2  Leakage will then mainly depend on the pitch of the roof, and the angle of the rain. If the pitch is < 45 degrees, and the wind is low, they will leak as RocketDog suggested. 

3  In the OP you referred to if "these roofs were on houses in Taiwan, with the Typhoons, and SUPER TYPHOONS, typical of Taiwan....then....the would be gone...in a...

NEW YORK MINUTE." Probably true, but we tend not to have such strong wnds in Thailand, depending on whereabouts you are. But with much lower wind speeds than Taiwan, don't even think about trying to tie down a large sheet of plastic sheeting as illustrated. That would be doomed to disaster.

4  My roof is a traditional Thai roof, very steep (> 45 degrees) and slightly curved. The individual tiles hang over wooden battens and are held down by gravity. It is steep enough to not leak, and the tiles are heavy enough not to be disturbed by wind. I did have a layer of rockwool fitted under them to minimise heat in the bedrooms, which works.

[CallumWK]

4 minutes ago, Dr B said:

1  Tiles are not fixed down, they are held in place by gravity only. 

 

My Ceris roof tiles are held down by a spring. I know the Monier concrete tiles are tied to the batten by an iron wire