I am interested in designing and building small sheds and garden rooms with curved roofs. An EPDM rubber or felt waterproof membrane weighted down with 2 inches of earth which is then planted with succulent plants to suit the climate produces a very attractive roof. My workshop roof, here in Scotland, is growing nicely but it is monopitch and I really want to build gently curved roofs. Some mobile homes have the profile that I am after, how do they construct those? I would like to use structural insulated panels for the walls (O.S.B. and polystyrene sandwiches), curved S.I.P.s for the roof would be ideal but I doubt I could get them made in small quantities cheaply. Has anyone tried making their own S.I.P.s, I guess an effective way to clamp the 8 x 4 feet panel is the key? Any thoughts or ideas would be welcome.
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Replies
On a small scale, when I was doing radio control airplane modeling, I did balsa-skinned foam-core wings. Curved surfaces, foam core, wood skins, structural strength. Just scale that kind of work up, and there you go . . . roof panels!
But seriously, if I were wanting a roof like yours, I would bandsaw curved rafters, skin the top in a couple layers of plywood, foam-in-place the cavities with closed-cell urethane, then skin the bottoms.
An EPDM membrane appropriate for under a sod roof atop, then sow your seeds!
Hi. Thanks for the foam / balsa model aeroplane analogy, I had been thinking along those lines but couldn't think of a good way to compress the o.s.b and sheets of polystyrene with sufficient uniform pressure. I think your idea of applying urethane foam after the o.s.b. is held in a curved shape might work, perhaps injecting it between the inner and outer skin. Better insulation values using urethane and no need for expensive adhesive. APT
Don't inject the foam. It is spray-applied.
As I said, skin the top with plywood, but leave off the bottom sheeting until you have foamed the cavities. Then skin the bottom.
Depending on your curvature, you will skin with one thickness of ply, or need to build up with two thinner layers.
Or a geodesic dome, with each triangle a SIP.