Moving toward sustainability
Installing Ondura is fairly easy, using nails that have a rubber washer near the head to prevent rain intrusion.
The manufacturer says you can install it over anything, so I decided to lay down Corning Weatherlock-G, which is a ice and water barrier. It is also rough on the top side, so it is possible to (barely) walk on it and not slide to your death. I used the same nails on the Weatherlock as I did on the Tyvek .
In my original plan, I was going to get a metal roof. After doing a lot of thinking and research, I scratched that idea because, well, metal scratches. Because the house can move, if it goes under a low-hanging tree, a metal roof will get scratched up. This can cause it to rust, which is bad.
Regular shingles are out also, because they tend to fly off during high winds (or, in this case, when driving on the freeway).
I was turned on to Ondura by another Tiny Houser, and couldn’t be happier. It is lightweight, strong and very easy to work with. You can cut it with a box-cutting knife, jig saw or table saw.
We start with the bare rafters, and install 3/4″ plywood for the roof decking. The plywood has to be thicker because it must withstand the weight of the other roof elements (waterproofing, shingles), but also any ice or snow that may accumulate.
In a normal house, the rafters would be closer together, but we can get away with them spaced a little farther apart (~ 23 inches) because the house is so small compared to the plywood.
One of the largest headaches was dealing with inclement weather without a roof. There is no way to really keep the water out with a tarp, without a beam and rafters!
So here I’m getting the beam put up. This is a nice large 18′ (5.5m) 2×6 beam. It was heavy, but I was able to lift it up into the loft.
I then had to build a support post to hold it level. A few scrap 2x4s worked nicely.
Nailed everything down on the front.
Finally added the rafters and the beam was secure! To test it, I hung from the beam and it didn’t move a bit.
