Help with roof design

[saysfaa]

...Any thoughts on what to use? I obviously wouldn't want it too heavy but also want it to be secure. Any other ideas?

Ondura roofing panels over purlins. They aren't quite long enough to use just one sheet (79" and you need 84" plus slope and overhang). They cut easily with a skill saw or table saw. They also offer half sheets. I would make one sheet's worth tiltable - that should get you close enough to the other wall to reach it easily enough.

Reviews on them tend to be either love or hate. I'm pretty sure that is mostly due to the climate they are used in. I'm in the upper midwest and they have lasted very well. Our oldest is now about 15 years, I think, we roofed the biggest barn with it in the last couple of years. Lol, sided part of that barn with it, too, although I don't think it was meant for that.

That said, I agree with the others. The poop works into the pea gravel (even with sand on top). It makes a mess that is difficult to deal with. Some use sand successfully, I think that is another thing where climate makes a lot of difference. Even so, I see it inside coops more than outside. Wood chips are the best option. If you are thinking pea gravel for drainage; wood chips will handle quite a lot. If it is too much of a drainage problem for them; it is better to reslope the area or put in a drain.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I'm in the "hate" group wih Ondura. It has a terrible reputation here in the south east. Most of the big box stores won't carry it any more, and what they do have in stock has cracked and broken edges.

Its rediculously hot, humid here, with frequent heavy rains. I'd be much more likely to use metal (which I do - but sharp edges make it a poor choice for a tilting roof), or polycarbonate (which has the benefit of being very light).

 

[perkolator]

A hinged roof would be easy and makes sense to me. I put hinged roof panels on my rabbit hutch build - they're only 2x3 and one covered in HC and the other with metal roof, but they work great to get access on a low structure.

I'd likely make the roof in at least two sections so they're lighter and less likely to warp, and constructed from 2x2 lumber. If going for 7ft wide, I'd consider making the roof closer to 6ft wide, and leave a non-moving section on one side to mount the hinges to - this way the flipped up roof can lean over a little and is not vertical and going to fall on you. If you're using a solid roof instead of HC, it will be heavier, so even consider splitting the width and have two sections swing away toward the outside; when in down position have them rest on something to make pitch in the middle for drainage slope. Hopefully that all made sense.

The fabric/gravel/sand idea sounds like chores and poop smells - I would personally go deep dry bedding over dirt, with HC perimeter anti-dig skirt

 

[3KillerBs]

The HOA doesn't allow them I figured a hinged roof would allow me to walk in when it needs to be cleaned

That might work.

But go into it knowing that you might need a backup plan to rehome the birds.

Coarse wood chips would be a better choice than gravel and sand. They compost together with the droppings instead of letting the droppings accumulate.

People who are happy with sand in the run are almost always located in a dry climate.

Ondura roofing panels over purlins. They aren't quite long enough to use just one sheet (79" and you need 84" plus slope and overhang). They cut easily with a skill saw or table saw. They also offer half sheets. I would make one sheet's worth tiltable - that should get you close enough to the other wall to reach it easily enough.

Reviews on them tend to be either love or hate.

Ondura is very heavy.

I'm on the hate side. A structure on this property that I'd hoped to use as a chicken coop had an Ondura roof and it was AWFUL. Badly-deteriorated in a little over 5 years. When we took down the structure we couldn't even repurpose it because it was coming apart.

 

[raingarden]

Ondura.... is that fiberglass roofing? Fiberglass roofing will crumble because the resins degrade. We've had good luck with the SunTuf polycarbonate roofing.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Yes, Ondura is the fiberglass [edit] cellulose [/edit] reinforced asphault roofing which looks a bit like spanish tile, or a wave profile metal/poly roof panel, but is intended to perform more like a conventional fiberglass roofing shingle - and instead brings the design weaknesses of every product its intended to emulate.

The product HAS improved over the decades, the newer Ondura is thicker (and heavier) than in the past, and has supposedly better UV stabilizers. But nothing about it is superior (in my rarely humble view) to the products its intended to replace. Unless you are doing a short term "shingle over" on an old asphault shingle roof you don't plan to first rip off. Then its cheap(er).

 

[saysfaa]

I'm in the "hate" group wih Ondura. It has a terrible reputation here in the south east. Most of the big box stores won't carry it any more, and what they do have in stock has cracked and broken edges.

Its rediculously hot, humid here, with frequent heavy rains. ..

...I'm on the hate side. ...

You have similar climates, at least compared to me. I believe it is awful there. (Edit to add - the ondura is awful there, I mean, not the climate). People in Seattle also hate it so it seems to be more the excessive rain or humidity than the heat.

We very thoroughly checked it on the garage that was the first thing we put it on before putting on the 100+' long, three story high barn. I assure everyone, we do not want to reroof the barn every five (or even 15) years. Especially if the material being removed makes a crumbing mess.

An ondura panel is 14 pounds. That is a little less than 3x as much as polycarbonate roof panels. The ploycarbonate costs a little more than 2 and a half times as much. It is also a lot harder to cut and tends to be sharp when you cut it. At least compared to ondura

Ondura.... is that fiberglass roofing? Fiberglass roofing will crumble because the resins degrade. We've had good luck with the SunTuf polycarbonate roofing.

No. My dad put some of that up in places, it shatters after a few years in the sun.

Ondura is made of organic fibers and asphalt. Not fiberglass fibers.

 

[saysfaa]

I'm not trying to sell ondura, itdoesn't matter to me what anyone else uses and maybe weight matters more than price or the other differences. No problem.

But don't discount it as awful based on how it holds up in climates it doesn't work in. If, of course, you are in a different climate.

It stayed intact and waterproof for us. We get rain at reasonable intervals, usually. Certainly not like Florida but we certainly aren't arid either.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I corrected my post above - Ondura uses cellulose (wood fibers), note fiberglass.

 

[3KillerBs]

(Edit to add - the ondura is awful there, I mean, not the climate).

Well, mid-June to late-August we consider 90F a cool day so that's pretty awful.

But October through April are WONDERFUL.

Another good example of why we ask people to put their location in their profile. Climate MATTERS.