Roof material ideas for Playhouse archived

patentlysilly

Oct 16, 2012 at 2:27pm

I am nearing completion of the playhouse I am building for my kids. It's a rustic looking Tudor-style design and I'd like to avoid asphalt shingle if at all possible. Also, I'm doing the work, so it needs to be workable material that i can figure out without unreasonable pain. At this point my head is still in the clouds. it might be that asphalt shingle is the only way to proceed, but i wouldn't forgive myself if i didn't at least research other options.

* wood shingles--the house is under a giant oak tree and moss grows on the ground. Would moss likely grow on the shingles and would this be bad?

* fake wood shingles. i saw some really nice looking imitation cedar shingles on a recent trip to Utah. I think it might have been made out of concrete. Is anyone familiar with this material and know where to get it locally?

*slate. our house has a multi-colored, irregular patterned vermont slate (why i've become roof snob). i understand it's heavy and the framing needs to support it. Is there an easy way to confirm if the framing is strong enough? Still, would I be able to figure out how to cut it without spending a fortune on tools?

* green roof. i think the slope might be too much (53 degrees) to do this. has anyone put on a turf roof?

* any other options i am missing?

Metalart, you've been a huge help in the past with this project. Weren't you also a roofer for many years?

Attached are some pics of the current state and the pic from the plans.
Thanks!

mcgregorj

Oct 16, 2012 at 2:44pm

That's a great looking playhouse. I'd live there. I think the cement material you're talking about is something like these Hardie products - fiber cement - see http://www.jameshardie.com/homeowner/products_siding_hardieshingleSiding.py

patentlysilly

Oct 16, 2012 at 6:34pm

Thanks mcgregorj. The hardieplank looks similar, but I don't see that they sell roofing, just siding.

Apollo_T

Oct 16, 2012 at 6:59pm

Fitting the Tudor theme:

http://www.google.com/search?as_q=&as_epq=thatch+roofing&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_nlo=&as_nhi=&lr=&cr=&as_qdr=all&as_sitesearch=&as_occt=any&safe=images&tbs=&as_filetype=&as_rights=

Some looks expensive.

CapnMarko

Oct 17, 2012 at 3:49am

That is awesome ... I feel like such a crap parent as I would love to build a playhouse/structure but am convinced by the time I finished it my daughter would be in grad school and it would look like Homer's spicerack.

Great job ... slope does look way to great for a turf roof ... what about cedar shakes?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfzOZQxRQM8