This post is about the individual steps that we followed during the roofing process. The whole post does not claim to be technically accurate! I call it as I see fit.
If you're a regular visitor to our blog, you've followed our adventure from building a cabin on the Upper Sunshine Coast with our own hands to here. Thanks for that. So far we have Framed the Cabin, created the roofing structure and the Framing the roof . The last blog post discussed the question what kind of roofing material we should use. So, whether it should be a metal roof or we still cover with roof shingles. The result: We shingle!
Framing the roof
In order for the roofing with shingles to get started at all, we first need a roof truss. This consists of a wooden structure that supports the roof and a waterproof membrane that lies between the wooden structure and the actual roofing material.
Roof Construction
The wooden structure of our roof is composed of vertically arranged 2×10 wooden beams/rafters, between which the insulation will be placed. On top of the rafters, two 1×4 beams are placed horizontally as strapping, in order to allow for the necessary ventilation. Finally, the roof sheathing rests on the strapping. The basis for roofing.
The reason for this design is the BC Building Code. It dictates the minimum distance between the top of the insulation and the bottom of the roof sheathing to ensure proper ventilation and prevent moisture buildup. For sloped roofs like ours, a minimum ventilation distance of 1 inch (25 mm) is required.
Membrane
The roof on the main house rises 8 feet over a length of 6 feet. This equates to a slope of 133 percent or 53 degrees. Bathrooms, dormers and bedrooms have a slope of 16 percent or 9.5 degrees.
On bathroom, dormer and bedroom roofs, the waterproof membrane needs to be stick and peel instead of the stapled version, because with the low slope, the water drains slowly. If we staple the membrane, holes will appear in the membrane. And through these holes water can penetrate. And we most certainly don't want that.
Fascia Boards
Fascia boards are an essential part of roofing. They surround the roof and primarily protect it against water damage. They also support the lower edge of the roof shingles and - if truth be told - make everything look more finished somehow.
As you can see in the first picture below, there is a small gap between the fascia board and the sheathing. We bridge this gap with a metal rail called the drip edge.
Roofing with shingles
So lets start roofing! Shingles do not lay themselves. This is very unfortunate and very exhausting. But if everything is well prepared, the actual installation is pretty easy going.
Preparations
But before we can really start roofing and nail the first shingles on the roof, we make sure of the following:
- The wooden structure of the roof is safe and the membrane is tight
- The surface is clean and free from any nails or protruding staples
- At the eaves (lower part of the roof) the drip edge is installed below the membrane
- At the sides of the roof the drip edges are placed on top of the membrane
- Shingles and tools are within reach
- We are secured from crash in any form
Starter Row
But now we really get started with the roofing! The first thing we do is lay the so-called starter row. This protrudes over the drip edge at the bottom edge of the roof. The basic principle of shingles is that each new row half overlaps the row below it. The starter row is the bottom row, which we will then completely cover with the first actual row of shingles.
First Row of Shingles
Shingles come in packages that are pretty damn heavy. Accordingly, you either take only three to four shingle panels at a time and get sore or you groan and always drag a complete package from A to B and then to C, i.e. on the roof, and the next day you can't move at all because of sore muscles. Anyways, you are sore. A loose loose situation.
On top of the starter row the first row of shingles is installed. The bottom edges are laid flush on top of each other and fixed with five nails: right, left, middle, and then one nail in between. The overlapping pattern creates small highways for water to drain through. The overlapping also helps to prevent rainwater from being driven into the roof structure by wind. Thanks to the overlapping layers, the water is always drained to the shingle layer below.
Roof Shingles
And so we hammer our way across the roof. Each new row of shingles overlaps the row below by almost 50 percent. As a guide, we take the notches of the shingles and always place the bottom of the new row flush with the top edge of the shingles up-and-down run.
As with all roof-related matters, one must always runs against the way of the water, which goes from top to bottom. Accordingly, the overlap must counteract this: The top row is above the bottom row and not the other way around.
Installing the shingles on the roofs with a 2/12 pitch went quite smoothly to be honest. Dormers, bathrooms and bedrooms are thus each completely covered within a day. The weather played nicely into our hands: rain during the week, only overcast on the weekend. So we can see directly whether the roof will withstand the rain. And: Yes, it holds tight.
Roofing the 16/12 pitched roof
In total, we are three weeks on the Upper Sunshine Coast and have four weekends of work before or behind us. On one of the weekends we get a visit from our friend Bryan. He is crazy enough to volunteer as a helper. And he gets directly involved in the shingleling - of the roof on the main house. That is, from the roof with the steep slope.
Safety first! Hence scaffolding is erected, safety harnesses are put on and those involved in the work are latched into safety lines. Thanks to the scaffolding, workers can comfortably reach most of the roof area and enthusiastically see the progress of their own work. That's the most satisfying thing about the whole house-building business anyway: you can see what you've done and also what you've achieved.
When you have a ready-to-go and well-build machine like Bryan on site, then of course you use it profitably. And so we not only ask him to help us cover the roof with shingles, but also to install a skylight. The skylight is heavy and unwieldy, Bryan is strong and helpful – a perfect match. What we did and how we did it will be the subject of a later post. Here, with pride and awe, we are pointing out the powerful achievement that led to the following result.
Tools and Materials
Some of the tools and materials we used for roofing on Amazon
Cabin Playlist
Music is Emotion. Music holds Memory. This is the soundtrack for the build of our Cabin at the Upper Sunshine Coast.
So finden wir jederzeit zurück zu den Momenten voller Herausforderung, Freude und Zufriedenheit.
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Cabin-Blog-Zeitleiste
All our posts about RITICOLO Cabin have been organized in this fancy looking timeline. Pretty cool, eh! Have fun looking around and leave a comment if you enjoy what you are reading.
Trees, a Wood Stove, Lumber and Paws
Vapor barrier - cabin interior
Thermal Insulation and What it Takes to Get There
Roof – The big Finale
Roofing - shingles or metal roof?
Cabin - New Year Progress
Cabin Timeline
Roofing – Part Two
Roofing - Part One
Gable Walls and LVL
Lofts
Header Beam – Ein dicker Balken, der alles zusammenhält Zum Bau der Außenwände hatten wir…
Things we learned so far
Framing the Cabin
Basecamp
From concrete piers to the finished subfloor
It's amazing what you can accomplish in a few weekends. During the construction of our
Demolition, Homework and some Problems
Progress - Getting Rid of Stuff
First Steps in Lund
On the February long weekend (Family Day), we pack up our MINI and head to our
Lund - The Property
3 replies on “Dachdecken für Amateure”
Super,dann können wir ja im September mit dem Einrichten loslegen.
Jepp. Ich drücke uns fest die Daumen.
Wir überlegen, ob wir unser Haus ebenfalls selber decken sollten. Daher ist es gut zu wissen, wie viel ihr für die Sicherheit gemacht habt. Ich denke, wir engagieren doch lieber eine Dachdeckerei.