OXFORD – A pitched roof costs more than a flat roof.

It leaks more.

It loses more heat.

And is more expensive to fix.

However, it is a lot prettier.

And that’s the dilemma faced by SAD 17 officials.

They want the new Paris elementary school to be attractive while keeping the cost within reason.

The state also has to approve the design. At the Feb. 2 school board meeting, Superintendent Mark Eastman said the initial design of the school was nixed by the state because of the pitched roofs on the structure.

He told the board that the district could use pitched roofs, but would have to pay for them.

“There’s pros and cons either way,” said David H. Marshall, district facilities director. “Because of some bad, past experiences the state is pushing for a flat roof.”

Marshall said the cost of a flat roof is noticeably cheaper when on a large building and not an issue when on a small building.

“Try to put a pitched roof on a Wal-Mart,” Marshall said.

He said several things could go wrong if a pitched roof is not installed in a manner to optimize its chances of success.

Marshall said there is some heat loss with a pitched roof and that it has to be kept at the same temperature as the outside. He said a warm roof would melt snow causing it to run to a spot where it freezes. This creates ice dams that back up water, which can cause leaks.

He said there’s also potential for leaks at valleys or where sections of a roof meet at different levels.

Snow can also slide off a pitched roof, an obvious danger to anything below it, and stack high enough to block vision from windows at ground-level rooms.

“In today’s roofing systems, putting up a flat roof is like putting rubber over the top of a building,” Marshall said. “And you would repair them like you would repair an inner tube.

“Plus they are easier to inspect,” he said. “I’d rather walk on a flat roof than a slanted one.”

Marshall said aesthetics are involved in the roof selection decision and that the district will bring another design to Department of Education officials. It will be a roof that combines flat and pitched principles. He said an architect is currently working on that concept.

“You want your building to have a presence on the site without making it look like a box,” Marshall said. “It’s a building that has to last 75 years and you want the children and community to have pride in their building.”

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