A properly installed seam roof is famous for its excellent tightness and exquisite appearance. This technology is practical and proven for centuries, it helps to create a durable coating from any thin sheet metal without drilling holes in the material used.

What is a folded roof?

Shiny and smooth metal roofs have an attractive appearance, such a coating has earned excellent reviews and is famous for its excellent performance. Many developers, when choosing the best option, are sure to be interested in the question of what a seam roof is, how expensive and difficult it is to mount this structure with their own hands.

The name «fold» has German roots and means the type of original snap-on seam formed when joining sheet material. The individual elements of the coating are called paintings. Fast and safe installation to the crate is carried out using iron clamps that can withstand significant loads. The metal is bent manually or with large volumes using simple devices. Depending on the location of the sheets on the seam roof, different types of interlocking are used.

The history of the seam roof

Sheet copper and lead have been used on city roofs for more than 500 years. Gradually, the fastening methods improved, the connections became as tight as possible. The use of nails to fix paintings to the crate begins to replace the folded method — joining individual elements by folding their edges together. The invention of galvanized iron made it possible, from the middle of the 19th century, to significantly lighten the sheets and make them as thin as possible.

Since the 1940s, seam metal roofing has become widespread due to the invention of an improved double seam. This design is universal, it is equally perfect for a Gothic cathedral and modern buildings. The seam roof adorns many of the most famous architectural monuments:

• Westminster Palace;
• Cathedral of Notre Dame;
• Neuschwanstein Castle;
• Saint Paul’s Cathedral;
• Hermitage.

Seam roofing material

Lead sheets, widely used in the Middle Ages, fell into disuse due to their large weight and toxic effects on others. There is a mass of high-quality and durable alloys, from which a solid and aesthetic seam roof is obtained:

1. Copper seam roof.



2. Galvanized seam roofs.



3. Seam roof made of painted steel.



4. Aluminum seam roof.



5. Seam roofs made of zinc-titanium.

Seam roof elements

Starting the study of this technology of mounting roofs from sheet material, we come across several obscure terms with frightening foreign names. The device of a folded roof is extremely simple, it consists of only a few elements:

1. Paintings — rectangular metal strips with edges prepared for joining.



2. Falz — lock connection.



3. Clammers — elements for fastening sheets to the crate.

In addition to the listed nodes, there are other elements designed for the normal operation of the roof. They provide snow retention for seam roofing, reliable fastening and protection from moisture. Here is a list of additional nodes:

• skates;
• teardrops;
• cornices;
• snow retainers;
• parapets;
• valley.

Pros and cons of seam roofing

Long-term operation of metal roofs has confirmed the high characteristics of this technology. Seam roofing has an impressive list of advantages:

1. Functionality.
2. Excellent tightness.
3. High aesthetics. When using stamped metal with three-dimensional patterns, the texture visually improves, the seam roof exists diamond-shaped, checkered, brick.
4. A light weight.
5. Durability.
6. Suitable for roofs with complex configurations and slight slopes.

Disadvantages of seam roofing:

1. Noisy during rainfall.
2. Without special snow retainers, there is a risk of snow avalanche.
3. A perfectly flat crate is required.
4. The high thermal conductivity of the metal creates inconvenience during the operation of the attic.
5. Mostly minimalist design.

What is better seam roof or metal tile?

It is easier to work with a metal tile, installation of a covering happens quickly and it lasts for a long time. Another advantage of this material is the variety of configurations and colors. The disadvantages of metal tiles include fastening on nails and a large waste when trimming blanks (costs up to 29%). Seam roofing is a reliable, but more expensive option for connoisseurs of classic design, which almost completely eliminates leaks. When using copper or aluminum, the durability of such a roof is not inferior to any polymer coating.

Types of folded roof

Metal roofs of this type are divided into categories depending on the method of joining adjacent «pictures». There are the following types of seam connections:

1. Standing single seam — single comb along the edges of the sheets.
2. Standing double fold – a more airtight connection as a result of a double bend, used for fastening vertical and side elements.
3. Lying single fold — the comb after docking is bent to the plane of the roof.
4. Recumbent double fold — an improved version of the previous fastener, suitable for connecting pictures running across the slope.
5. Self-locking fold — the edges of the paintings are factory stamped in the form of covers and latches, which, when joined, form a lock, which reduces installation time.

Seam roof — manufacturers

Having studied the device of the seam roof, and having decided on the choice, you need to find good manufacturers of blanks. We offer a list of proven companies for the production of high-quality rolled products:

1. Grand Line (St. Petersburg) — produce paintings with a double fold and an auto-fold, characterized by a convenient fixation of the elements.
2. Roof Ruukki (Finland) — expensive material, but high quality, with an increased thickness of the galvanized layer (275 g / m²).
3. «Insi» (Russia) — a good roof of different models, a variety of color shades, an inexpensive price.
4. PO «Imada» (Belarus) — an excellent roof for any roof, made from German and Belgian rolled products.
5. AQUASYSTEM – folded copper roof of German quality with a durability of up to 100 years.

Do-it-yourself seam roof

Self-installation of the roof is a laborious task, without special skills and the necessary adaptation it is difficult to perform melon work. To make the seam coating tight and durable, you must strictly adhere to the technology. The laying of the material is carried out on the roof according to the following scheme:

1. The truss system is mounted in increments of 20-25 cm.
2. Wooden parts are treated with antiseptic.
3. Waterproofing and thermal insulation are being installed.
4. Pictures of the desired size are cut out of sheets.
5. The edges are bent in accordance with the selected type of fold.
6. Pictures are attached to the crate using clamps.
7. Docking is carried out manually or with the help of semi-automatic or automatic devices.
8. For a chimney or ventilation, holes are made that should be protected from water with special aprons.

Seam roof tool

With pliers and a hammer, you can’t do a lot of work in a day on a roof. Professionals install a seam roof using a set of convenient devices that allow you to harvest pictures and bend metal with high accuracy, without significant effort and in a short time. We give examples of machines for the production of blanks and seam seams:

1. Roofing machine SFPZ – production of pictures from any metal with self-locking seam.



2. Manual sheet bender.



3. Folding machine — cascade, four rollers for closing the fold.



4. Electric seaming machine (FLITZER) — closes the fold in one pass on a straight slope of any location.