Flat Lock Metal
Roofing
by Walter Jowers
A generation or two ago, sheet
metal was used for just about all new
installations of flat or nearly flat
roofs. They were usually made of
terneplate and commonly called "tin
roofs." These roofs have a series of
rectangular metal panels, or pans,
which are bent to allow for flat,
locked seams (thus the name flat-lock
roof), and then malleted together by
hand. The seams are laboriously
hand-soldered. It's a type of roof
that, with proper maintenance, can
easily last a hundred years or more.
Today, there are plenty of good
roofing products that are easy to
install on low-pitch roofs-metallized
and rubber membranes that can be
flame-melted into a continuous skin,
and various synthetic