leakproof wooden roof

[George]

I'm building the "Better Homes & Garden's" storybook playhouse for the gchildren.

?catid=cat1190006&prodid=prod500272The plan calls for bevelled siding to be used for roofing material, but is not too specific about how to leakproof the ridge, instructing only that a ridge cap be fashioned from pieces of 1x4. There is roofing felt (and plywood of course) under the siding.

If the ridge cap is to be leakproof, how exactly do I make it, and how do I attach it to the roof?

The small figurines on the top of the roof (see link above) are cut from plywood and set between two 2x2s, which are in turn "attached" to the ridge cap. Again, how best to do this without producing leaks.

Thanks.

George

[John Grossbohlin]

?catid=cat1190006&prodid=prod500272>> The plan calls for bevelled siding to be used for roofing material, but is

Typically two boards a simply butted together and nailed, laid over the ridge, and attached with nails with the seam facing away from the prevailing winds. Alternatively, a dado can be cut in one board, the other board inserted into the dado and nailed--the board with the dado is generally a little wider than the other so that they look the same width when assembled. It wouldn't hurt to run a bead of construction adhesive along the joint prior to nailing.

I cannot tell from the picture for sure but if you have a 12/12 pitch the boards can probably just be nailed together. If the pitch is significantly different from 90 degrees a bevel should be cut, or the dado beveled, so that the boards lay on the roofing instead of sticking up with a space at the ridge.

John

[George]

Thanks John.

Yes, it is 12x12 pitch, which would make it really easy to butt together the

1x4s at 90 degrees. Wouldn't nails through the ridge cap provide a channel for water entry? Maybe I'm overworrying.

George

[Patriarch]

"George" wrote in news:AG3we.4607$ [e-mail]:

You could use a little adhesive roofing caulk under the ridge cap, where you expect the nails to penetrate.

All roofs leak, at least at the shingle level. Shingles, and their brothers, are really there to protect the roofing felt (tar paper or similar), whose job it is to shed water downward.

Now this stuff about dealing with ice dams is something you're going to have to deal with a Northerner about. To a Californian, it's pretty much theoretical stuff. It snowed here once, about 5 years ago. We had some hail this spring for 15 minutes.

Now fires & earthquakes, I can design for...

Patriarch

[tom]

George wrote: If the ridge cap is to be leakproof, how exactly do I make it, and how do I attach it to the roof?

The small figurines on the top of the roof (see link above) are cut from plywood and set between two 2x2s, which are in turn "attached" to the ridge cap. Again, how best to do this without producing leaks.

Aww, that's cute. We always laid a strip of 30 lb. felt along the ridge under the caps. Then, just like your main roof, some "starter" caps are nailed in place starting at the lee side of the house(3/4 length, and wide enough to hide the felt). Alternating the ridge lap of the caps, nail them about an inch behind the desired exposure, so the next cap covers the nails. These ridge nails are long enough to penetrate the substrate. Final caps get a dab of caulking on the nailheads. This area of the roof normally doesn't see much water, as it drains away quickly, so I wouldn't worry too much about your 2x attachment. Nail right through the ridgecaps, I say. Try not to split 'em! Tom

[tom]

An ex-northern roofer.

[Duane Bozarth]

Patriarch wrote: ...

...

Old, traditional, wood shingle roofs were laid on open decking w/ no felt/paper. They will keep a building water tight just fine...our house has been that way for 90 years+ now. It gets a little wind-blown fine snow in the winter, but never enough to be serious...

[Duane Bozarth]

...

You're overworrying... :) W/ a ridge cap of either wood shingles or metal, they're face nailed, anyway. Just use a galvanized (or SS if you really don't want any staining) 4d and nail away...

[Patriarch]

Duane Bozarth wrote in news:42C15ADF.15CB6C12 @swko.dot.net:

And there's a reason for that: They need to dry from underneath as well, or they rot.

I am continually amazed at the creativity of our forebearers, what they were able to do in the days before hardware stores and home centers, with local materials.

And I'm waiting for Andy to write one of his essays on the use of natural materials in pre-Industrial Britain, and enlighten us on the various kinds of bitumen used, and why.

;-)

Patriarch

[Duane Bozarth]

...

Which is why, if I had done what OP is, I'd have laid the roofing directly w/o the plywood...I'm surprised the plans called for solid decking in this application.

[J]

Um... you sure about that? For the most part shingles don't leak even without roofing felt. It has been done that way for hundreds of years.

-j

[Larry Jaques]

On Tue, 28 Jun 2005 09:45:21 -0700, the opaque "J" spake:

And with thatching/reeds/palm fronds (sans felt paper) for thousands of years before that.

[Patriarch]

Larry Jaques wrote in news: [e-mail]:

If you use sufficient layers, yes. Roofing felt in lieu of heavier, more expensive, or thicker materials.

Or so I've been led to believe.

So Larry, how do you feel about roofing with kindling?

Patriarch

[John Grossbohlin]

Shouldn't be a problem but you could use neoprene-washer metal-roofing nails if you are concerned.

John

[George]

3/4 length?

Damn clever!

Sounds like this would survive -30 degrees for 3 months. Thanks George

[George]

The original footprint of the plan is 6'x4' so this might well have worked, but I thought the kids would outgrow it too quickly and changed it to 8'x6'. I also increased the ceiling height from 57' to 72' on the advice of the illustrious members of this NG a few seasons ago while I was still in the planning stages.

I just put up the plywood on the roof last weekend. It's looking good!

George

[tom]

(tom)some "starter" caps are

(George)3/4 length? (tom)Yes, cut the butt end.

Alternating the ridge lap of the caps,

(George) Damn clever!

(tom) Oh yes, but the instructions are on most bundles of cedar shingles, so I can't take any credit! Tom

[Duane Bozarth]

It's not dimensions that concern me, it's the two layers of wood--the decking over solid ply that I think is asking for a moisture problem...for the purpose, I'd just lay the decking as the roofing, similar to a "classic" wood shingle roof so it has air movement on both sides of the siding.

What is the siding material?

[Joe User]

When I built my daughter's swingset, I used PT pine 1"x4" stock and formed tongue &grove joints. At the ridgeline, I gut the groove on the flat side of the stock instead of the edge. It works well (as well as PT pine can work, anyway).

YMMV. Your roof looks considerably more compicated than mine.

-j

[George]

Do you mean the bevelled siding that will be on the roof?

10" bevelled siding. If I can get it in cedar I probably will.

George