Parapet Roof Drainage Design

The drainage requirements for flat roofs on buildings present some special problems that we describe and illustrate here.

Parapet roof drainage design.

Architectural home design software all content support videos chieftalk forum. At page top and at left our photos show a low slope roof surrounded by a parapet. Install a drain at most 50 ft. On larger and more complex schemes specialist consultants may be employed to design the rainwater drainage system.

The premise of the pattern is that a drain is positioned in the center of the rectangular area and there is a four way positive slope into the drain. However these days parapets add a lot more to a flat roof than just a cosmetic detail. With a parapet wall it is possible for a roof to retain or pond water should the primary roof drainage system fail. Adding a parapet wall makes a flat roof far safer than leaving the roof s edge exposed.

This type of pattern is particularly useful on buildings that are easily divided into rectangular areas. Parapet and valley gutters are treated differently because they have a higher risk of failure. Keep the distance between drains to at most 200 ft. However parapets block the drainage of rainwater from freely flowing over the roof edge.

Provide adequate flashing for parapets openings walls joints skylights etc. This would be in situations where a retaining wall or parapet prevents direct access to the roof s edge. This kind of drainage system is most common on small flat roofs where water volume and buildup isn t extreme. Install a drain at most 50 ft.

The most dependable type of roof drainage design is the inverted pyramid pattern. Limit the number of parapet walls. Roofs of this design will have one or more roof drains or scuppers installed. If a building has roof access that residents use regularly for whatever reason adding a parapet greatly decreases the chance that someone could fall over the.

Buildings that incorporate flat roofs with centralized roof drains and internal downspouts are another story. From a roof edge. Back up secondary emergency drainage system in case the primary drain. Working with manufacturers will help develop your understanding but don t delegate your design responsibility to them.

Looking at a building from the ground a parapet may seem to simply be a design choice that adds little more than a characteristic look to a building. Watch for clogs blockage at the roof drain or scupper. Manually adjust roof planes to have a negative pitch to create a parapet wall structure with a center drain. It s also sometimes used in tandem with scuppers.

In these cases the. In many cases these buildings have parapet walls that surround the perimeter of the roof.