inexpensive roof for cabin (shipping container)

[ajm]

Hi all, we need a new roof over my wife's office to insulate it and to keep out the water when it rains. My first thoughts were getting some insulated roofing and attaching it. While its not too expensive (7 sheets @ $220ea), its still more than we want to spend. so, any other ideas?

[rambunctious]

Tropical roof.

Fix some (maybe second hand) timbers/z purlins/c purlins etc across/lengthwise the container (pack them to different heights to give some run off/fall each way or flat as you wish
Sheet with whatever you can get from demo yards or from gumtree/facebook marketplace in your area
The air gap serves as insulation.
Use silicone in the laps of sheet joins or to cover unwanted screw holes.
But of course if there is no ceiling inside then any bolts/screws will show inside.
Or look on the above for anyone selling car port or sheeting etc etc

As usual a pic would go a long way to get assistance

[Bushmiller]

AJM

The only way to do this inexpensively is to use recycled materials. However, if you go down that track you should be prepared to fork out for products to make good, probably paint and resign yourself to a lot more work. The amount of work involved is inversely proportional to the cost.

A studio we made a few years back:

Studio North.jpgStudio West.jpg

I put the roof on subsequently. The full story is here.

A skilion roof would have been both easier to build and maybe cheaper too. An indication of areas where the cost can balloon out is the flashing. The gable needed a ridge cap and the ends flashing over the barge boards. All the timber and the steel was recycled material I had from years ago, but I had intended to buy flashing. When I saw how much that was, I bent up material from the roofing sheets of Trimdeck I had. However, that proved to be surprisingly difficult as it was a heavier grade than normal. If you decide to do this, I recommend that you try to source some garden shed steel as it is much thinner and can be bent relatively easily.

Regards
Paul

[ajm]

expense of flashing might explain why the "flashing" on this house is actually quad gutter folded in half lengthways. your little studio looks great, nicely done.

[ajm]

I will probably do what you suggest. we have loads of decent roofing tin i can use. we had some brackets welded to the top of the container earlier this year so i'll just use those to support it and save a few pennies.

cheers

[ajm]

Tropical roof.


The air gap serves as insulation.

what sort of height above the roof to make the air gap effective?

[rambunctious]

what sort of height above the roof to make the air gap effective?

100 to 150mm should be fine but of course the higher the better
so if you can bolt the frame to the brackets and get plenty of height then all the better for air circulation.

[ajm]

sweet. thats easy with the brackets we already have up there.