A little roofing question......Now a COMPLETED Job.....

Stuart Ablett

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Location
Tokyo Japan
..........and I mean little :D

I was supposed to do this a while back, but my schedule and the dentists just never seemed to work out, well now the planets have aligned :thumb:

roofing1.JPG roofing2.JPG roofing3.JPG roofing4.JPG

This is a small storage unit right behind the dentists clinic, kind of in the alley. Inside is the compressor and cleaning filtration set up for the air tools they use in the clinic. She had this build a few years ago, to give her more room in the clinic, whomever built it used concrete board to help dampen the sound, but they did not seal it up from the weather.

The problem is the top of it is fairly flat, and water pools on this unit, and then is drips down and runs into the unit, where it is starting to cause some rot, as well as a bunch of creepy crawlies being there (which I think bugs :rolleyes: the dentist more than the rot!!).

My first idea was to just tilt the unit back, but it is built around a platform that the guy cemented into the ground :dunno: Dunno why, but it will not easily tilt back. My next idea is to just make a small second sloped roof on top of the storage unit, made from 2x2s and a corrugated roof, sloping down from back to front, over hanging the front by a few inches, to keep the rain off the flat top, then some drip rail, or "J" bead along the top, to keep water from getting to run down the face of the unit, and some kind of flap weather seal thing around the doors.
What kind of a slope should I have, like plumbing 1/4" over a foot, or a lot more?

Just about no snow loads to worry about here......

A VERY crude diagram.............

roofing5.JPG
...... told you it was bad :eek:

I'm getting paid to do this, she wants it done right, as the kit in the storage unit is NOT cheap, so while I want to do it right, I don't want to go into the way, WAY overkill area.

What do you think?

:wave:
 
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I'd opt for the 2X's and corrugated sheet but slope them left to right or vice versa rather than front to back that way you dont have to worry about drips on the door side.
 
Stu, In the pic it looks like an air moving unit beside the box? How would that react to water if you diverted the water to that side? How often does this dentist require access to the unit? Is there any driving rain in that area? Take that into account. There are a couple of ways to fix it and what you have suggested as well as what Patrick has suggested will work. That side unit would concern me if I was doing it. With your initial design I would build up the roof high enough so that your front over hang doesn't interfear with the doors. Give it lots of overhang all the way around and give it a good slope as it is better to over build it than underbuild it. You might even be able to avoid the drip cap over the door.
 
Stu, to accomplish the goal AND make it look better also, why not just fasten something like a 2 x 4 across the center of the top, (front to back) and then place your corrigated metal from that 2 x 4 out to each side with about a 4" overhang on each edge? You could let the corrigated metal overhang the front 4" also which would help to keep water away from the top of the doors without interfering with them, and then cut a piece of wood, metal or some of the original concrete material to fill in the "gable" (on the front) created by the new roof.

One other thing I would do is to put some kind of fastener on the cabinet to hold one of the doors in flush and when the other door is locked to it it would also remain flush with the main structure instead of protruding out and leaving a gap opening as they are now in the picture, and this would help keep water out also.
 
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I like all the ideas thus far, but rather than use ugly old corrugated roofing I would use copper sheeting. I know there goes Travis again with the copper suggestion, but the stuff is just so great, lasts forever and its easy to work with. Such a small size here, I would think it would work great.
 
I don't believe the degree of slope is important. Water runs downhill, even on your side of the world. My concern with corrugated metal is a safety factor. How tall is the shed, any chance of someone bumping their head against the edge of the metal in front? A tilt then ordinary roofing material should last a couple decades.
 
Another alternative for you.

Put a 150mm high frame around the roof and then create a valley with your ply so that the ply's highest point is 50mm below the edge of the frame. A couple of layers of roofing felt and then a layer of roofing asphalt and you're good to go. You only need a slight fall from front to back to shed the water off the rear of the unit. Doing it this way you dont have any of the other issues previously mentioned.
 
Stu another thing that you might want to think about is that window behind the shed. You want to get as much moisture away from there as possible. I am guessing that the window gets lots of splatter when it rains there. Getting the water away from the building is also a big concern. That spot looks like it is pretty dark and that can cause molds and fungi to grow on the window seal thus causing the break down of the seal and further problems with water getting into the building. Just a few more things to throw out there from my experience living on the wet coast of Canada. No that's not a typo :rofl:
 
I ended up going with the basic idea I had in the beginning, but I still want to thank you all for your input.

roofing_done2.JPG
I know that I WAY over built this, but I was using ups some recycled material, and I only wanted to do this once, I also made a mistake on the roofing material, I thought I had two pieces of the narrower stuff, when I actually had only one piece of the wider stuff :doh: That is why there is a middle rafter, if you will, I thought I was going to put three pieces on there, but because the roofing stuff was the WIDE stuff, I only need two pieces:rolleyes:

Needs paint, then I'll put it on the storage unit, attach it, then put the roofing on.

roofing_done1.JPG
This should keep the rain off the top of the unit, and then I'll see if I need to put any seals on the doors etc.

Cheers!
 
When I first saw the pics, it looked like it was sitting on the floor, and that you had built it out of 4x4 stock. I was thinking "How's he gonna get that thing out of the dungeon?" Then I re-read an earlier post where you said you'd use 2x2 stock, and then realized it was way smaller than I though, and it was sitting on a bench. :doh:

Optical illusions aside, it looks great, Stu. :thumb:
 
I thought the same thing as Vaughn...Stu, overbuilt is "well built" IMO. Like you said you only wanted to do this once.
 
I saw the same thing that Vaughn did. :D Then the perspective changed when I looked again at it being on a bench. VERY nice Stu, and not overbuilt at all, IMO. Very nice job.

A question, if I may? What is the snow load rating on that roof? :rofl: (At least I think you get snow there, IIRC.)
 
Looks good, Stu... Just one suggestion. Paint the metal roofing material light gray to match the cabinet...:bow: I hate the cheap looking, "added on at a later date to solve a problem" blue roofs you see so much there...:doh:

:wave:
 
Good suggestion Greg, but the roof is metal and the paint is baked on, lasts and lasts, but I've seen others paint it, and in a few short years, the paint is peeling off, which makes it look real low rent. :rolleyes:

Got the frame all painted, two coats of light gray, and I got all my tools in order, so I hope to get it installed tomorrow.

Now I got to figure out what to charge her, she is a dentist, so they make good coin, but I don't want to get her angry at me, as she mucks around in my gob with high speed sharp spiny things :eek:

Out of pocket is almost nothing, I did not have to buy anything at all, the wood and the roofing was recycled from something else, and I will have a total of less than four hours into it, including the install (that should be really easy..........I hope).

I was thinking $100, what do you guys think? (Factoring in I am in Tokyo Japan).

Cheers! :wave:
 
Stu don't feel guilty about charging a fair price for your work. Even if you used everything from your shop. Price it out as if you had to supply everything at your costs. Don't sell yourself short. You did a great job. Ask a fair price. Think about it Stu does she gives you a break on the prices of her work? Probably not. I am not sure what the rate of tradesmen is there but I am sure that is not cheap. Ask around and see what others are charging for work and go from there. You have done the work that i am sure other trades men would charge a full rate. That all said you also don't want to scare her off by over pricing it too high as I am sure that she will pass your name around to others in her trade. In future Stu you might want to settle on a price prior to doing any work that way there are no surprises. Hope this helps.

Drew
 
Stu,

Tell her to just reduce your next dental bill by what she thinks is fair, is what I would suggest you do if you were in the US. I don't know what your dental needs are, or what the national health ins covers and what your part is these days. Kids need braces? :dunno: :D
 
Looks good, Stu... Just one suggestion. Paint the metal roofing material light gray to match the cabinet...:bow: I hate the cheap looking, "added on at a later date to solve a problem" blue roofs you see so much there...:doh:

:wave:
Greg, My roof is blue,the house a light blue, trim, dark blue, I am color blind so my mom picked it out for me. It looks GREAT. !
 
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