Why Put Stones On Flat Roofs

The chips act as a barrier between non solar reflective felt and the sun basically help prolong its life span of the felt if its green mineral on your new roof you will not have to chip it as the minerals are solar reflective.

Why put stones on flat roofs.

The first is to protect the underlying layer of roofing materials on built up roofs burs and the second is to secure or weigh down the roofing material as is the case with single ply flat roofs. These small stones are worth more than their weight in the protection they offer for underlying roofing materials and the barrier they provide to external elements like ultraviolet rays and harsh weather elements. No stones for us as it was a bay window. Remember trad italian roofs have much bigger overhangs on the eaves the bit which overhangs the long sides of a pitched roof and also on the verges which overhang the gables.

The gravel provides a better grip for foot traffic when conducting maintenance or repairs. The gravel prevents sun hail errant baseballs etc from damaging the membrane the all important moisture seal created by the tar paper and tar. The gravel also acts as a protective measure to prevent natural debris such as leaves. We used on a flat roof bitumen mastic to plug a hole we then painted with a water proof roofing paint.

The stones force it to stay put. But as said the stones help the roof from bubbling etc from the sun. Though primarily confined to built up asphalt roofing systems it can be applied to single ply epdm rubber based membranes as well.