Low Slope Roof Drainage

Low slope roof drainage.

Low slope roof drainage.

Typically though there is a steel beam at the low point which prevents the installation of the roof drain at the low point. A traditional roof on a home is slanted. Proper drainage cannot be emphasized enough when discussing or reviewing the requirements of any well drained low slope commercial roof system figure 1. On a flat roof you don t get the same slope so the water has nowhere to go.

Keeping the roof adequately drained can help keep water from sitting on the roof. The building was unoccupied at the time of a cursory audit. One of the most common we see is the lack of proper drainage. The asphalt roofing manufacturers association arma recommends that roof designs provide adequate slope minimum of inch per foot to ensure that the roof drains freely throughout the life of the building and to thereby avoid the effects of ponding water.

This allows water to run down the roof into the gutters. Consequently the roof drains must be located on the plumbing drawings up slope from the low point. Prudent designers would like the roof drains to be located at the low point of the structurally sloped roof deck. 4 x 5 downspout scupper box scupper with sleeve closed top scupper with sleeve open top 7 gutter shop fab gutter more search low slope.

The building in figure 2 is located in the mid atlantic region near a large city on the east coast.