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Iron Roofs

A Brief Look at Iron Roofs & Galvanised Sheeting More commonly Known as Iron Roofing

Iron Roofs | Iron Roofing | Iron Roofs - Learn about iron roofs and get share our brief history of iron roofing & galvanised sheeting.
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Corrogated galvanised sheeting iron was invented in the 1820s in Britain by Henry Palmer, architect and engineer to the London Dock Company. It was originally made (as the name suggests) from wrought iron. It proved to be light, strong, corrosion-resistant, and easily transported, and particularly lent itself to prefabricated structures and improvisation by semi-skilled workers. It soon became a common construction material in rural areas in the United States, Chile, New Zealand and Australia and later India, and in Australia and Chile also became (and remains) the most common roofing material even in urban areas. In Australia and New Zealand particularly it has become part of the cultural identity, and fashionable architectural use has become common.

For roofing purposes, the sheets are laid somewhat like tiles, with a lateral overlap of two or three corrugations, and a vertical overlap of about 150 mm, to provide for waterproofing. Iron roofing is also a common construction material for industrial buildings throughout the world.

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Wrought iron roofs was gradually replaced by mild steel from around the 1890s, and iron roofs became no longer obtainable - however, the common name has not been changed. Galvanized sheets with simple corrugations are also being gradually displaced by 55% Al-Zn coated steel or coil-painted sheets with complex profiles.

Today the corrugation process is carried out using the process of "Roll Forming". This modern process is highly automated to achieve high productivity and low costs associated with labour. In the corrugation process sheet metal is pulled off huge rolls and through rolling dies that form the corrugation. After the sheet metal passes through the rollers it is automatically sheared off at a desired length. The standard shape of corrugated material is the round wavy style, but can be easily modified to a variety of shapes and sizes by simply changing the dies.

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Many materials today undergo the corrugation process. The most common materials are ferrous alloys but may also span to stainless steels. Copper and aluminium are also used. Regular ferrous alloys are the most common due to price and availability. Common sizes of corrugated material can range from a very thin 30 gauge (.012 inches = 0.305 mm) to a relatively thick 6 gauge (.1943 inches = 4.94 mm). Thicker or thinner gauges may also be produced.

Other materials such as plastic and fibreglass are also given the corrugated look. Many applications are available for these products including using them with metal sheets to allow light to penetrate below. However, these sheets are not formed through the corrugation process.

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