Roof Installation

Back in April we installed the 2×6 tongue and groove roof decking and put down some felt paper to provide some waterproofing until we could get the materials together to complete the roof.

A very wet end of April and beginning of May kept us from the work until a couple of weeks ago. The cabin’s roof system is fairly complex incorporating several layers including exterior rigid foam insulation and venting elements. Check out my previous blog post that has a graphic showing each layer.

Here’s the a time lapse of the roof install:


Here are some stills with more detail:

Building the insulation blocking in place. This is essentially a 6″ tall perimeter wall build to contain the rigid foam insulation panels.
The insulation came in 4′ x8′ x 3″ thick panels.
I was able to use the ladder as an inclined plane to push the panels up to wear I could reach them from the roof.
After getting three or four panels up on the ladder, I could climb up on the roof and pull them up the rest of the way. We used about 40 panels.
Positioning the first insulation panels
Ultimately, we were looking for 6″ of insulation so I stacked two layers of the 3″ thick panels alternating their orientation.
I cut the end pieces to size with a largish boning knife.
I covered the insulation panels with 1/2″ plywood securing the plywood to the rafters with 8″ screws.
Cutting of excess plywood.
Laying out synthetic waterproof underlayment over the plywood.
Jean gets a call on the roof
We assembled the fascia board with vent strips on the ground
Installing the first fascia board
To hold the fascia boards in place we attached temporary 2×4 hangers
Installed vent strip and fascia board
Installing the purlins on a 45° angle to the roof.
Air will flow through the lower fascia vents up between the purlins and out through the upper fascia vents. The purlins are laid at an angle to provide a better bearing surface for the metal roof panels.
Fastening the purlins to the roof deck with the 8″ screws
Installing metal trim
Here’s a standing seam metal roof panel that we used. It’s 24′ long and 16″ wide.
Installing the first roof panels
Paul had a wardrobe malfunction early on in the day but wanted to get one more panel on before heading down.
He was able to fabricate some somewhat acceptable shorts replacements
Originally, I was concerned with how we could get the panels up to the roof without bending. Lashing two panels together and having two people hoist them up worked really well.
Attaching the clips to the purlins
Roof complete!
Now we have a slide