Roofing in Guatemala

Guatemala's roofs range from the palm-thatched houses of the Maya lowlands and the stone temples of Tikal to the tiled colonial city of Antigua and the corrugated metal sheet that now covers most homes. The country combines a hot, wet Caribbean lowland and Petén forest with cool volcanic highlands, and it is exposed to frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

Climate and hazards

• Earthquakes and volcanoes. The old capital, Santiago de Guatemala (now Antigua Guatemala), was largely destroyed by the Santa Marta earthquakes of 1773, after which the capital was moved to the site of present-day Guatemala City. UNESCO notes that Antigua's massive buildings and low bell towers were designed to withstand earthquakes.
• Hurricanes and tropical storms. Hurricane Mitch in 1998 killed 268 people in Guatemala, destroyed about 6,000 houses and damaged 20,000.
• Heavy rain in the wet season, especially on the Caribbean slope and in Petén, favours steep roofs and generous eaves.

Roofing history

Maya period. Most ancient Maya people lived in houses of poles and wattle under palm or grass thatch, while temples and palaces were built in stone. Maya builders roofed masonry rooms with the corbel vault, in which stone courses step inward until they meet; the vault is often said to imitate the steep thatched hut, and it needed thick walls for a narrow room. Tikal, in Petén, was inscribed by UNESCO in 1979 and the stone-carving centre of Quiriguá in 1981.

Colonial period. Spanish settlers introduced fired clay roof tile (teja), timber roof frames and masonry vaults. Antigua, laid out on a grid in 1543, preserves 17th- and 18th-century buildings in a regional Baroque style (barroco antigueño), with heavy walls and stucco ornament. It was inscribed by UNESCO in 1979.

Modern period. In the 20th century corrugated metal sheet (lámina) spread across rural and urban housing, and reinforced concrete slabs became standard for multi-storey and better-off urban houses.

Traditional and vernacular roofs

• Maya thatched house: pole-and-thatch dwellings, still found in Petén and the Verapaces. FLAAR, a foundation documenting Maya ethnobotany, identifies guano palm (Sabal mayarum) as the main thatch palm of the Tikal and Lake Yaxhá area, corozo or cohune palm as the usual thatch of Q'eqchi' houses, and junco (Carludovica palmata) in Alta Verapaz. Grasses are also used.
• Teja roofs on adobe houses in colonial towns and highland villages.
• Tejamanil: split wooden shingles, recorded as a separate roof category in national household surveys.
• Garifuna houses on the Caribbean coast: wooden or wattle-and-daub houses with thatched roofs, the wooden ones raised on posts.

Roofing today

The 2018 national census (XII Population and VII Housing Census, INE) reported the main roof material of homes as:

• Metal sheet (lámina metálica): 68.1%
• Concrete (concreto): 23.0%
• Clay tile (teja): 5.5%
• Asbestos-cement and other: 1.7%
• Straw, palm or similar: 1.7%

The same census found that 64.7% of homes had brick, block or concrete walls, 15.3% adobe and 12.1% timber. Concrete slabs are concentrated in towns and cities, while metal sheet is the usual roof elsewhere.

Codes, standards and regulation

Seismic design standards are issued by the Asociación Guatemalteca de Ingeniería Estructural y Sísmica (AGIES) as its NSE standards. A 2012 comparative review of Latin American building codes listed the AGIES NSE of 2010 as Guatemala's seismic code in force at that time.

Notable roofs

• Tikal (UNESCO 1979): Maya temples with corbel-vaulted sanctuaries and roof combs.
• Antigua Guatemala (UNESCO 1979): colonial churches, convents and houses with heavy masonry and tile roofs.
• Quiriguá (UNESCO 1981).

Local roofing terms

• Lámina: corrugated metal roofing sheet.
• Teja: clay roof tile.
• Losa or terraza: concrete slab roof.
• Guano: thatch palm of Petén.
• Tejamanil: split wooden shingles.
• Naj: house (Mopan and Yucatec Maya).