History Of Roofing Felt

The roof s necessity has bred its ubiquity and by extension fostered a strong market for roofing materials ranging in performance and physical characteristics.

History of roofing felt.

The roofing felt industry had started in finland in the 1870s and production capacity grew rapidly as the new century approached. Used for decades as waterproof coverings in residential and commercial roofs these bitumen compositional membranes incorporate two layers. Sumerian legend claims that the secret of feltmaking was discovered by urnamman of lagash. The first underside polymer membrane is used as a solid background often reinforced with glass fibers.

Roofing felt similar to tar paper is the base material used to make roof shingles and roll roofing. The story of saint clement and saint christopher relates that the men packed their sandals with wool to prevent blisters while fleeing from persecution. Roofing 6 sep 2013 indd 2 12 09 2013 10 01. Those materials have a long history and their evolution has been largely driven by performance.

In the system that allows a building to work as a shelter the roof sheds the rain shades from the sun and buffers the weather. Many cultures have legends as to the origins of felt making. The history of roofing felt the earliest examples of using tar paper to protect roofing dates to the california gold rush of the 1800 s. During some periods in the history of architecture the roof imparts much of the architectural character.

A weather tight roof is basic in the preservation of a structure regardless of its age size or design. Fire safety regulations added to the popularity of roofing felt at the turn of the century. Roofing felt is comprised of a base made from natural materials such as wood cellulose or synthetic ones such as fiberglass or polyester and then coated or saturated with a protective coating such as bitumen asphalt which repels water but still allows the product to breathe. Roofing felt competed with sheet metal and shingles as a roofing material.

As people flocked west to try to make their fortunes in gold entire towns sprang up overnight and were often considered to be temporary dwellings as they might be abandoned as quickly when the gold was gone.