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Looking at houses in Alamogordo on Realtor.com, I see quite a few "traditional" stucco/adobe style homes with the flat roofs. Having lived most of my life in rain country, these seem problematic to me in terms of maintenance and leak potential, yet they are obviously a very popular choice in New Mexico. They also seem as though they would not be as efficient at collecting and venting heat as a conventional pitched roof equipped with best-practices ridge vents and roof jacks.
And how often must the flat roofs be resurfaced? At some point, don't they need to be taken down to bare roof to avoid a buildup of weight?
Any advice mucho appreciado.
Looking at houses in Alamogordo on Realtor.com, I see quite a few "traditional" stucco/adobe style homes with the flat roofs. Having lived most of my life in rain country, these seem problematic to me in terms of maintenance and leak potential, yet they are obviously a very popular choice in New Mexico. They also seem as though they would not be as efficient at collecting and venting heat as a conventional pitched roof equipped with best-practices ridge vents and roof jacks.
And how often must the flat roofs be resurfaced? At some point, don't they need to be taken down to bare roof to avoid a buildup of weight?
Any advice mucho appreciado.
I worked for a few roofing companies 40+ years ago. I have installed my own pitched asphalt shingle roof on two homes.
Reliability of the traditional flat roof stucco/adobe style homes seem to vary. There are newer materials which seem to avoid past problems. Here is one of many good articles: Flat Roof Replacement - BAC | Lifetime Roofing
We have seen some "stucco/adobe style homes" that we might consider buying, if we were in the market.
Ever wonder why major buildings, grocery, department stores have "flat" (or almost flat) roofs?
In any event, some related threads here on City-Data:
If a flat roof was such a bad idea you would not see very many. Mine (a membrane) has a 20 year warranty -- no leaks in four years. The skylights might leak before the roof leaks. My duplex storage sheds had a leak this year and I had a new roof coating installed that will be there for my lifetime. We get about 10 inches of rain a year where I live. One pro is, if you have a swamp cooler, that the flat roof allows for easier twice yearly maintenance of the cooling unit.
Ever wonder why major buildings, grocery, department stores have "flat" (or almost flat) roofs?
First reason is in the end a flat roof is probably cheaper first cost. It's also far easier to install the multiple rooftop HVAC systems you will find. Flat roof materials have come a long way over the years it seems. Obviously they are essential to the 'look' of the adobe style homes. Some drawbacks I see are it's much tougher to ventilate that hot air trapped below in the summer because you essentially have no attic or crawlspace between the roof and ceiling. By not having that you have also eliminated one more place to run pipe or wiring in the future. Couple that with a slab floor and.....
Where would you put the insulation on a flat roof if there isn't any room for wiring?
They have a "pocket roof". First of all, pueblo revival style houses are designed, many times, to give the impression that the roof is resting on the viga timbers. Sometimes there will be timbers protruding through the wall. That worked fine for the pueblos and some of those timbers are 800 years old but it is mostly for show now. Modern pueblo revival/Spanish revival are built using modern methods. How would you have insulation, ceiling fans or light fixtures in the ceiling if there was no wiring space? I recently replaced a ceiling fan and I have about two feet of space above the ceiling for wiring and insulation. This link shows how one builder does it.
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