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Old 08-18-15, 11:11 PM   #1
sunspot
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Default new living roof

I'm blessed with a wreck of a house that needs enough work to keep boredom away for several lifetimes. One project on the list is a roof over the entry door. Having experimented with a green roof on a woodshed and been pleased with the result we decided to make this entrance roof a living roof as well.

Up goes the framing:



Decked over with T&G fir:



Then 1/4" fir plywood:



And EDPM pond liner:



I wanted a drainage layer and had this plastic "rock guard" material so on it went. Rock guard is used to protect coatings on buried pipelines and I rescued some scraps from a bin a few years back intending to make use of it as an anti-fatigue mat in my workshop. I figure the roof is an equally noble cause.



Roxul 'comfortboard' is next. I'm curious how this will work out. It's a rock wool meant for external insulation (R6).



The final ingredient of our inorganic growing medium is rubber mulch shown here after planting up with Sedums.



This picture through a grimy window shows the layers of materials used. I'll be tieing in to this to continue the roof down the side of the house at a later date which is why the edge is unfinished.



I've still got posts to make up (the ones in use are temporary) and some detailing but I'm glad to have gotten this far. Crossing my fingers the Sedums take.

Greg

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Old 08-19-15, 10:56 AM   #2
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Looks great Greg.
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Old 08-19-15, 11:41 PM   #3
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That rockguard is handly stuff! My brother pipelines so we use it for a ton of things... Any idea what the r value is on the living roof? I am going to have to build a livestock building before winter and I've always liked the idea...
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Old 08-19-15, 11:45 PM   #4
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I see your from the island so your probably familiar with the Goats on the Roof Cafe! This shelter I need to build is for goats as well, I think it would be a hAndy fit as it would give them a good look out too...
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Old 08-19-15, 11:46 PM   #5
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Is the synthetic medium the norm? Do you have to fertilize much then?
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Old 08-20-15, 08:01 AM   #6
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I've been to the Goats on the Roof Cafe. My sister lives in Courtenay so we've been there 2 or 3 times.

Do you put any soil up there? What do the plants grow from or use for nutrients? Or did you just use a planter and cover it?
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Old 08-20-15, 08:33 AM   #7
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"Any idea what the r value is on the living roof?"

I couldn't even guess what the r value would be. The comfortboard itself is R6. I imagine the r value will change dramatically once it gets wet as well.

"Is the synthetic medium the norm? Do you have to fertilize much then?"

From what I've read (a lot, all online) 10% organics seems to be the norm but many argue for less. Keep in mind we'd planned to plant with Sedums. Apparently these plants get all the nutrients they need from rainwater. Seems counter intuitive somehow, we'll see. We have some growing successfully at ground level in a bed of 3/4" drain rock and others growing in 100% wood chips so they're certainly not fussy.

"Do you put any soil up there? What do the plants grow from or use for nutrients? Or did you just use a planter and cover it?"

There's no soil and no planters. Until some roots develop a gust of wind could blow them off as they're just sitting on the rock wool with ~1" of rubber mulch butted up to them.

Note: I think goats would frown on this substrate :-)
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Old 11-03-15, 01:10 AM   #8
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The idea is really great!
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Old 08-13-16, 09:03 PM   #9
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Thanks for the positive comment Dev. The roof has since been extended down the side of the house as well.






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