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unconventional roof

goodwood | Posted in Construction Techniques on December 21, 2004 06:40am

After reading the “long live the stick roof” thread I thought you’d like to see this roof I did last year. I only wish I had a “before” pic for you. The old roof was a real screwup, no less than three(!) valleys arriving over the front door. The landing and steps were all rotted out and arriving guests would get dripped on, no matter the gutter. My friends/clients wanted an entry room and a welcoming appearance to the house.

As you can see from the photos, the problem of parallel gables/dead valley was solved by angling the valley up to the ridge on the right. This results in a spheroid roof on the left. I ran rafters on 16″ centres to the valley board and sheathed with 1/2″ ply. I added nailers to the rafters as needed because as I moved further down the sphere the curving end of the ply would miss the rafter. The roof is 7/12 at the gable end and 2/12 at the back.

The roofer loved it. The shingles curve across the fall line and are very aesthetic, though it is barely visible from the very edge of the driveway. My clients are thrilled with the new look of their home and keep getting admiring comments. For me, it was a puzzler and the most fun at work I’ve had in a while.

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Replies

  1. wrudiger | Dec 21, 2004 07:14am | #1

    Love it!  The view isn't too bad either.

    1. goodwood | Dec 22, 2004 07:19pm | #2

      The owners removed a lot of trees to get that view. Their lot slopes steeply so they put in a huge retaining wall so they could have a yard. He's a metal worker, here's some pics of the fence he and an artist friend built.

      1. User avater
        dieselpig | Dec 23, 2004 03:54am | #3

        That  is "goodwood"!  Very cool looking.  I'm betting you did a fair amount of head scratching on that one, eh?  The view is fantastic though, whereabouts are you?  Couldn't get them to spring for a total re-roof huh?  Keep the pics coming.

        1. goodwood | Dec 23, 2004 07:58pm | #4

          Yeah, it was disconcerting at first but we just kept problem-solving and having fun. Perhaps the oddest part was watching how the sheathing strayed from the framing because of the curve, but we just added nailers as needed and we had 'er. The owners plan a total reroof in the near future.

          Most satisfying was the dramatic change to the look of the house. They now have an entry room with heated floor, whereas before people stepped right into the living room. We also changed every window and the siding from vinyl to shingles. This is in Squamish, BC. The owners have a great attitude, it's not about "how much can I sell my home for", it's where they want to raise their children and live their lives.

          We also built them a shed, insulated and wired.

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