Roofing Bliss

Corrugated roofing was first developed in the mid- nineteenth century, made of iron and manufactured to provide a strong, lightweight, durable, and cheap roofing and building material. Today corrugated roofing is made from a variety of substances, including aluminum, tin, fiberglass, and steel.

Corrugated roofing, unlike flat roofing materials like asphalt shingles, is designed to help water flow off roof tops so that there is no chance of it accumulating and causing leaks or attracting disease-bearing insects like mosquitoes. Corrugated roofing cuts and installs easily, with its sections overlapping both laterally and vertically to make it waterproof.

The History Of Corrugated Roofing

Perhaps you have property with corrugated roofing. Perhaps you’ve never heard of corrugated roofing and want to know if the roof needs to be replaced with another material. If you live in a rainy area of the world, your corrugated roofing was made just for rolling water off of your home. Here’s a basic history of corrugated roofing.

What Is It?

Corrugated roofing is usually made of corrugated iron. What is corrugated? That means “wavy”. When the roof material is wavy instead of flat (like asphalt shingles), then water can best flow right off. Standing water is a big no-no on the top of any roofs. Not only does it make water damage, which will eventually cause expensive leaks, but standing water is a Hilton for mosquitoes and other annoying insects.

Corrugated roofing works best when the roof itself is a triangle shape, instead of being completely flat.

Corrugated roofing is sometimes referred to as CGI, which stands for “corrugated galvanized iron”. CGI was invented in the 1840’s as a new, lightweight yet tough construction material. Most of CGI concentrated on roofing. For the first time, a cheap, commercially available and sturdy roofing material was available to everyone.

Not Just Iron Anymore

It’s not the iron that makes corrugated roofing, but the waves. Some people didn’t like iron’s ability to rust or dent when large tree limbs fell on it. And, makers of roofing materials are always after the better roof – ideally, cheap, sturdy and easy to install and maintain. Corrugated roofing comes in many materials nowadays. You can choose from stainless steel, fiberglass, aluminum, zinc, coated or painted steel.

One of the loveliest historic homes that has corrugated roofing is in Scotland. It is called Glenlair, and was the home of Scottish scientist James Clerk Maxwell, who developed a lot of things, but the only one this writer can immediately grasp is that he helped develop color photographs. He also had great taste in homes. Although Glenair is still suffering from the effects of a huge fire in 1929, it and its corrugated roofing are still standing and still beautiful. The grand old house is slowly being restored by private donations.

Another historic building with a corrugated roof that’s on this side of the Pond is The Captain Coghlan House in the Yukon. It was made very early in the last century with corrugated roofing of metal. In 2005, the Yukon Historical & Museums Association gave the house an inspection. Over 100 years old, the roof was considered in ‘fair” condition!