Tag: roof

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Closer look at the damage to the Ondura panels

That Comcast wire did a real number on the Ondura roof cap and part of the panel(s).

Another stroke of bad luck is Ondura seems to have mostly discontinued (massively scaled back?) their roofing panels. I can get them shipped for pickup at the local Lowes (not available at Home Depot), but the minimum order for the full panels is a 5-pack; I only need about 2-3 of them.

Looks like I’ll have to order a 5-pack of the 1/2-size panels and make do. Ugh.

Detail of roof damage
Thanks, Comcast!

At least I can order the ridge cap in singles. If I cut away the damaged part and cut an overlapping repair piece, I can get away with buying only one or two of them.

It will be a good time to inspect and fix any problems with the underlayment and drip edges.

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Tiny is Home

We got the Tiny House moved onto the property, but not without a hiccup.

Pickup Truck and Tiny House
The truck drops off Tiny

Remember how I’ve been trying to get Comcast to raise their damn wire?

They never did.

As a result, it scraped along the roof and ripped up part of it. This plus the damage incurred at storage–a twin to the guy who never figured out how to drive his truck around a corner–and I have some work to do.

Looks like I’ll also have to replace some of the drip edges and fascia. Awesome.

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Installing the roof

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 .

Installing Ondura

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Getting the roofing

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.

Picking up Ondura from the store

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Installing the roof

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.

Interior looking up at a tarp covering the rafters

Installing the roof decking

Exterior with roof decking

Exterior view of the loft

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Racing the rain: Main Beam & Rafters

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.

Main beam ready to be hoisted into position

I then had to build a support post to hold it level. A few scrap 2x4s worked nicely.

View of main beam support post

Nailed everything down on the front.

View of main beam attached to wall

Finally added the rafters and the beam was secure! To test it, I hung from the beam and it didn’t move a bit.

Main Room’s rafters