Word of the Day
28 January 2026
alligatoring
nounConstruction
The cracking of the surfacing bitumen on a bituminous roof or coating on a SPF roof, producing a pattern of cracks similar to an alligator's hide.
Why this one
The name is purely descriptive: shallow crazing in a grid, like hide. It reads as age rather than damage, bitumen oxidising and stiffening under UV until the surface can no longer flex with the deck beneath. Painters use the same word for coatings that crack over a softer film.
In use
Membrane's still sound but the whole south slope is alligatoring, so we're pricing a recoat before the winter.
Written by our editors to show how the term is used, not a recorded quotation.