Ondulin or decking: a comparison of modern roofing materials

Often, during construction, a difficult choice arises for homeowners when it is necessary to decide between two materials. For example, between ondulin and profiled. Comparison of modern roofing materials is a very relevant topic, because everyone wants to find exactly what is ideal for his house.

Ondulin was invented about half a century ago and for that time was considered just the ideal material - both in appearance and in its characteristics. It is made of cellulose fibers, which are carefully pressed and impregnated with bitumen, covered with paint and resin on top. Ondulin can be confused with slate because of the wavy texture, moreover, it is often called euroslate.Used for roofing and facing works.

From the obvious advantages of this material, the following characteristics are distinguished.

• Ease. Ondulin is light, weighs quite a bit - about 6 kg with a thickness of 2.7 mm and standard sizes of 940x2000 mm.
• Flexibility. It is also distinguished by obedience, it is easy to cut, cut, thus changing the shape and size.
• Durability. Roofs covered with ondulin serve about 40-50 years and do not corrode, rust and rot.
• Good noise absorption.

• Easy installation. This is one of those materials that can be mounted in any season - even in summer, even in winter. It can even be fixed with nails.
• Environmental friendliness.
• Low cost.
• No condensation.

As in the case of any other material, it was not without its drawbacks.

• Burnout Ondulin is subject to fading in the sun. But the sections of the roof that are constantly in the shade, over time, will be covered with moss and other similar greens. If you want to use it ondulin, you need to consider - in the shade or in the bright sun the house is located.
• Low fire safety. Ondulin is flammable and this is one of its main drawbacks.In the event of a fire, it will catch fire quickly and easily.

• Limited color palette. However, even with this, he is considered quite a pretty material.
• Rough surface. The people using ondulin notice that snow does not slide off from it that complicates roof cleaning.
• Exposure to temperature changes. Under wet conditions, it quickly gets wet.

You can find onduvilla in almost every construction hypermarket of a big city or in the online store - soft tiles, which have recently gained immense popularity. This is an improved version of the well-known ondulin. One of the most noticeable differences is in appearance - onduvilla is available in three colors (green, red and brown) and looks, thanks to the color in two layers, more voluminous. This contributes to the original design of the roof.

Sheeting is hard (made of aluminum, copper or nickel-chrome steel) sheets coated with either polymer or zinc.They can be bent, perforated or with textured embossing; two types are distinguished by bending - in the form of a wave and in the form of a trapezium.

Decking is a procedure such as corrugation, through which the material acquires a distinctive appearance, and amazing strength. Very often the appearance of corrugated board resembles slate.

There are three types of sheeting, depending on the protective coating. (it is either absent, either hot-dip galvanizing, or hot-dip galvanizing with a protective-decorative layer) and three types depending on the method of application and strength: roofing, which is also called carrier (marked as H), wall (C) and wall-carrier ( NA). Roof decking is equipped with special grooves that increase its strength. Often used for the construction of garages, warehouses, fences, as well as for covering walls, roofs.

Of great importance is also the coating of profiled. It is either zinc, or a mixture of zinc with aluminum and silicon, or teflon and polyester coatings, PVC.Perhaps, the durability and durability of your future roof, how it will withstand the attack of sunlight and moisture, and fight corrosion will depend on the coating. In addition to letters, there are numbers in the marking. They show the height of the corrugations in mm. In the case of the roof the best option - H-153. We are now interested in this particular type of material.

Let's consider features of a roofing professional flooring.

• It has a very affordable price. For a sheet of the classical size of 1155х1000 mm you pay from 150 to 250 rubles. Price varies depending on thickness, brand and coating.
• Durable and stable. Serves about 50 years, withstand a variety of mechanical and natural influences.
• There is a large variety of colors.

• Possesses high fire safety, it is eco-friendly, resistant to corrosion due to galvanization and polymers in the coating.
• It is simply mounted due to the large length of the sheet. The only caveat: sheets stacked overlap, which reduces the useful width of the sheet by 1-1.5 cm. Suitable even for roofs with a long slope and hides unevenness.
• Versatile. It must be said that profiled can be used not only for the roof, but also for walls, fences and gates.

Of the shortcomings, experts distinguish the following characteristics.

• Regarding ondulin - large weight and sheet size, which is not always convenient to work.
• Weak insulation. This becomes noticeable during rain or hail.
• Fast warming in the sun. This is especially bad for those people who live on the top floor and even more so - in the attic.
• Condensation. This means that moisture penetrates the insulation, thus impairs the insulation of the house and detrimental effect on the ceiling finish.
• The complexity of loading. In order to immerse the sheets of corrugated board, you need a special technique, caution and a couple of people. Metal sheets have sharp edges, they are quite heavy and massive, it is almost impossible to load them alone.

The manufacturer is of great importance when choosing roofing materials: the price at which it sells, its reputation and customer reviews. It is often very difficult to figure out which of the company’s statements are true and which are empty promises.That is why it is very important to take a sober approach to the choice of the company from which you are going to take ondulin or decking.

We want to draw your attention to some reliable companies represented in our market.

• Company Metal Profile It dates back to 1996 and has more than 17 factories throughout the country. It is famous for high-quality roofing materials, manufactures siding, metal tile, professional sheet, and also deals with the improvement of drainage systems and the installation of sandwich panels.

• American company Nuline produces ondulin and its derivatives - ondalyuks, ondura, also known by other names (Ondulux, Onduline, Onduvilla). This company manufactures ondulin sheets using its own silicone impregnation, which allows the material to successfully withstand various weather conditions. Also, this company has a huge variety of colors - from classic gray to bright orange and blue. Ondulin sheets from this company shimmer beautifully in the sun, as they have a glossy finish.

When analyzing the characteristics of these two materials, it is easy to identify many common properties and minimal differences.Indeed, ondulin and decking are similar in many respects, but what kind of roofing to choose?

To answer this question, you need to compare the characteristics of each material and determine what you want from it.

• Perhaps it can be said that decking is more suitable for covering large areas, if only because its sheets are up to 6 m long. It turns out that it is easier to stack, but harder to transport and load, and it has better fire safety and not very good sound insulation. The case with ondulin is actually the opposite - mounting it at the expense of the size of the sheet is slightly (quite a bit) easier, it has better sound insulation, but fire safety leaves much to be desired. The durability of these two materials is virtually the same.

• For complex structures, it is better to use ondulin - it is more plastic and it is easier for them to cover small secluded, inaccessible corners.
• Separate coverage requires price. Both materials are about equally inexpensive, but if you measure directly with the area of ​​the material, it becomes clear that ondulin is still cheaper.We will return to your installation: ondulin can be laid even alone, and professional sheeting will require the help of professionals. All this, of course, increases the final cost of your roof - the workers also need to pay.

• By the way, Ondulin is often used by owners of cottages and private houses in the country, and sheeting, warehouses, industrial buildings are sheathed with profiled sheeting, it is used in the construction of fences and gates. Decking requires full roof lathing, and in the case of ondulin, this is not necessary.

• As for the appearance, the profiled sheeting can be both matte gray and various bright shades, while ondulin does not differ in this variety. The exception is onduvilla, produced in three glossy shades. However, the colored corrugated board begins to peel in some places in the harsh Russian climate, so it is not clear whether the variety of colors can be considered a weighty plus.
• If you nevertheless opted for ondulin, remember that it is often forged - it is a fake that differs from the original in its lower durability and low quality.

About what to choose ondulin or professional flooring, look in the following video.