Have you ever heard of RGS? Many people are confused when they first see this word. Is it “Royal Geographical Society”? Or is it “Remote Graphic Software”? Anyway, it’s alright! You’ll find out after reading this article.
RGS that we are talking about today is the short form of Roof Gutter Services. What does “gutter” mean? Gutter refers to the concave part of the roof of a building between two spans. It is a drainage system for the roof. We often see pipes connected or embedded at both edges of the roof, which are the roof drains, one of the architectural priorities that we rarely pay attention to when living in a house.
So, let’s increase our knowledge now!
Roof drainage can be divided into organized drainage and unorganized drainage, in which organized drainage is generally the rainwater collected into the gutter and then discharged by the rain pipe. Now you may ask, how does unorganized drainage work? This, of course, just allows the rainwater to fall freely to the outdoor ground along with the slope of the roof.
Unorganized drainage system has the advantages of simple structure and low cost, but the roof rain will fall freely and wet the wall. While the wall is often eroded by splashing rain, it affects the durability of the wall, and may also affect the sidewalk traffic under the roof. Thus, in Malaysia, where the rains are plentiful, unorganized drainage is not recommended in modern buildings.
As for organized drainage, it is divided into external drainage and internal drainage according to the location of the rain pipe. External drainage refers to the discharge of rainwater from an outdoor rain pipe to the outside of the buildings, while internal drainage is the discharge of rainwater from an indoor rain pipe into an underground drainage system. The first type is what we use for our common terraced houses, while the second type is generally applicable to big-span buildings or tall buildings.
Now you know the importance and difference of roof drainage. So, you might ask, if we have a drainage system, why does the roof leak?
The cause of roof leakage can be roof cracking, poor drainage system, aging waterproof layers, solar water leakage or a variety of other possible problems. For the water leakage problem caused by a poor drainage system, it may be caused by the accumulation of water and debris in the drainage pipe or even rusty hole. The rusting problem of gutters is the most likely problem of those common types of gutters in the market (due to the different types of materials) after repeated and prolonged periods of alternating sun exposure and rain pouring.
Therefore, regular inspection and repair of the roof drainage system is necessary. Nowadays, gutter installation and repair prevails in Malaysia.