I’m trying to find a picture which I think was in an issue of Fine Homebuilding. The picture was of a transparent roof or eave. The glazing (roofing) was plastic sheet a bit wider than the joist spacing so that it was arched upward. The axis of the arch was paraIlel with the joists. think, but am not sure, this was a porch or entry roof for a structure in the Pacific Northwest. The glazing was not corrugated, and not twin wall. If anyone’s memory is better than mine (a low standard), please let me know which issue.

The reason for my interest is I am replacing a roof over a deck and am considering a form of transparent roofing. My wife does not like corrugated polycarbonate, so that is probably a non-starter. Other options include twin-wall poly carbonate, wire glass and this arched plastic glazing approach. The roof is a relatively low pitch, 8 foot by 36, attached to the rafter tails on one side and supported by posts and a beam on the other. Environmental constraints are we get snow, hail and wind here in southwestern Montana. I have a final fall back of using 2×6 T&G Doug Fir with metal roofing if we scrap the clear roof idea. I don’t want the chopped up lookt of putting skylights into a solid roof, or the flashing problems. I’ve used the extruded aluminum, IGU method to build a sunroom for my folks, but there is no point to using multipane glazing on an deck which is open on 3 sides. If I go the wire glass route, the aluminum channel will probably be my choice.

Thanks in advance for any help.