coop roofing question

[lauren6]

we are building our coop and cant decide what roofing material to use.

Hubby says metal, I say white plastic roofing with like one panel of clear for extra light. the coop is under redbud trees so it will be shaded in the summer and not as much after the leaves fall.

if we decide to use the plastic should i pay the extra for the clear panels that are kindof shaded like sunglasses? they are like twice as much and I wasnt sure if they are worth the extra $

what are the pro and cons of the plastic roofing??

thanks for any help!

 

[blueheaven]

i like my metal roof. it looks good and holds up well. does not look dirty.

 

[CityChook]

How much snow do you get? I would worry about snow load here in MN. Metal would be the way to go. However, with a metal roof, you'll need to insulate it or else you could end up with condensation build-up.

 

[teach1rusl]

I don't know what type of temps. you get in Roanoke. Unless your climate is pretty mild over the summer, I would go with metal (although I love a well lit coop). I know you said the coop would be pretty well shaded, but others have complained about the plastic roofing letting a lot (too much at times) of light/heat in. If you go with the plastic, just make sure you have a LOT of ventilation available. Is a window or two a possibility rather than the plastic roofing???

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Metal is forever, plastic , not so long

 

[patandchickens]

There are 2 very different kinds of plastic roofing. The cheaper stuff (Palruf, etc) is made of PVC. Hail will punch a hole right thru it, it won't last *too* many years in the sunlight, and its strength vs snowload is less than that of metal roofing.

However the more expensive plastic roofing, made of polycarbonate (Suntuf, etc) is pretty much equivalent to metal roofing, assuming it's installed correctly. It is also about the same price as metal or slightly higher.

No matter whether you use plastic or metal, there will be condensation issues in wintertime if your outdoor temps get significantly below freezing.

The main advantage of plastic, IMO, is that you can buy it clear or translucent (metal, obviously, you can't

). But I would absolutely not install clear plastic on a coop in Virginia, and would be a bit leery of using the translucent stuff either, even under a tree (but I would not say I *absolutely* wouldn't).

Honestly, if you want to make the coop lighter and brighter, WINDOWS (or translucent panels int he walls) are by far the simpler way of doing it, with more advantages and fewer disadvantages.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[lauren6]

Thanks so much for the imput..

We are back from Lowes

and ended up getting this fiber board type roofing called Ondura in a pretty barn red color. It can handle snow loads up to 55 pounds per square foot and wind forces of over 100 miles per hour! It should be strong enough to keep the racoons out lol It was pretty affordable also at 20 bucks for a 4x6 sheet...

Thanks again for the help