If you walk around in Denver, you might get the impression that residential buildings have sloping roofs, while commercial applications are more commonly equipped with flat roofing structures. However, that might be just an impression.
First of all, no roof is ever completely flat, not even the structures usually referred to as flat roofs; second, sloped structures are just as commonly used on commercial buildings as flat ones. Here is why:
- Denver climate – Denver can get snowy in winter and rainy in summer, with local roofs needing a way to shed all that precipitation. While an efficient gutter system is essential for both flat and sloping structures, having a slope on the roof will help get rid of unwanted water more efficiently, that is one of the reasons why commercial building owners today choose to have roofs that slope in a mild or a steep angle;
- Ventilation – sloping roofs have a larger space underneath the surface to allow for air to move than flat roofs. According to Owens Corning Platinum Preferred commercial roofers in Denver, more space for the movement of air means more efficient ventilation and more efficient elimination of excess speed and moisture;
- Smaller surfaces – a 100 square foot building that gets a flat roof will have a larger structure on the top than a building of the same size covered in a sloping roof.