User Rating 0.0
Total Usage 1 times
Category Roofing
Is this tool helpful?

Your feedback helps us improve.

About

Fiber cement sheets serve as the modern, safe alternative to traditional asbestos roofing, used widely in agricultural and industrial buildings. Due to their rigidity and weight, calculation involves more than just area coverage. It requires strict adherence to "wave" overlap rules to ensure structural integrity and weatherproofing.

This tool addresses the complexity of corner cutting (mitring). In fiber cement roofing, where four sheets meet at a corner, two must be mitred to prevent the buildup of four layers of thickness, which would crack the sheets when tightened. This calculator estimates the material load for truss analysis, providing the total weight in kilograms, a critical factor since fiber cement is significantly heavier than metal or bitumen alternatives.

fiber cement roofing load calculation corrugated sheets construction

Formulas

The total weight Wtotal exerted on the roof trusses is calculated by summing the weight of all sheets.

Wtotal = Nsheets × msheet

Where msheet is the mass of a single sheet, determined by its density and dimensions. The net width wnet depends on the overlap k (typically 70mm or one wave):

wnet = wgross overlap

Reference Data

Profile TypeNominal Width (mm)Net Cover Width (mm)Weight (kg/m²)Min Pitch
Standard 61086101617.010°
Major 7100093016.515°
Modern 8105098021.015°
Big 6 (Reinforced)1086101624.05°

Frequently Asked Questions

If you do not mitre the corners where four sheets overlap, you end up with four layers of material at a single point. This creates a hump. When you tighten the fixing bolt, the pressure will crack the brittle fiber cement sheets. Mitring ensures only three layers of thickness exist at any lap.
Fiber cement is heavy, typically ranging from 17kg to 25kg per square meter. A steel sheet of the same size might weigh only 5kg to 8kg per square meter. Always verify that your existing timber or steel purlins can support this increased dead load.
Generally, no. While modern sheets are reinforced, they are brittle. Point loading (foot traffic) can cause sudden failure. Always use crawl boards or roof ladders that span across the purlins to distribute your weight.