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I hated asphalt roofing from the time before I ever knew there were any alternatives. I've used asphalt, cedar, and metal roofing and one thing I've learned about roofs is that nothing lasts forever. Given that, I started wondering, what was so magical about 20 or 25 years, the duration of a reasonable
roof? We paint our houses ever few years, why should we ask our roofs (rooves?) to be maintenance free for four or five times as long? And why must they be so damned *ugly*?
Walking in the rain in Beijing recently, I was struck by the amazing array of choice in umbrellas here-- Rainbowed, striped, polka dotted, solid colors out the whazoo, and it struck me that built a bit more robustly, and stuck into sockets similar to those used for flags, one could simply cover one's roof with umbrellas, and have a beautiful, and very personal effect if so desired.
For the imagination free, hundreds of black umbrellas. For my 12-year-old's choice, a roof that spelled out ALIENS LAND HERE, for the nationalist of any nation, a variation on the country's flag--
Sure, you'd want to cover the sheathing with something reasonably waterproof-- asphaltic paper, ice and water shield, roll roofing (a heavier version of the first choice)-- so that dribbles would roll downhill and off. But you wouldn't have to *look* at it.
Would you have to fool around with it more than an ordinary roof? Almost certainly, but so what, that's what ladders and staging are for. Either you could go up every year or two or three (depending upon climate and the robustness of the cloth mostly) and replace damaged umbrellas, or change the pattern and color scheme, or else have someone do it for you. Change your roomate? Change your roof from TAMMY AND PETE FOREVER to SINGLE AGAIN. Election year? VOTE SMEDLEY! in patriotic colors... It wouldn't cost all that much more and it would make houses both more attractive and fun. Cloth, I think should be something like the fabric used for awnings, tents or boat cushions. The handles perhaps fiberglas or other composite. The ribs, beefed up a bit, but weight's not really a cause for concern.
The main problem, as with so many great ideas, is getting your Other Half to agree to it in the first place....
[link]
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I dunno. Awnings and boat covers don't last as long as even cheap roofs. I'm thinking of a few problems here: UV fading/deterioration, wind and the big killer: snow. |
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Yeah, Cedar Park, most cloth doesn't last as long as a cheap roof, but so what? "Permanent" roofs aren't permanent, and umbrella roofs would be even less so, but they'd be easy to fix, and they'd be nicer to look at. Sure, UV, wind, rain, and snow are all issues, but people still use awnings, tents, rag top cars and other cloth. Shoot, a lot of traditional wooden boats use canvas for decking-- and that gets rougher use than a roof. |
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What goes up a chimney down but not down a chimney up? |
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Hurricane-tested, or would I float away with Poppins? |
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a chimney sweep's brush - heh |
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//but so what?// People get a bit nervous when it comes to water falling down on all of their possessions. |
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That being said, I think this could be a good idea as a roof cover - something that might make your roof last longer that you replace every few years. Make mine look like snow. |
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People need to relax about the whole water on their possessions thing...
But really, roll roofing all by itself is a very servicable roof. But it's hell to look at. The umbrellas would keep most of the water off, and the dribbles and drops that dripped through would be as nothing to the real roof. In fact, they would make the roofing last longer than it ordinarily would, taking the brunt of weather and sun. |
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There are some fabric roof
buildings already built, but it
is one large piece of fabric. I
think they use fibreglass for
fire resistance and wind
strenght. |
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rope climbing robot will solve your problem |
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How about solar panels? It seems really odd to me
that solar panels aren't designed to BE the roofing
material. For typical installations you pay for a
whole roof, then cover as much of it as possible
with solar panels. When the roof wears out, the
solar panels need to be moved to replace the roof
underneath. Sure there are solar shingles and
such that attempt to look like other roofing
material, but they seem like a bad compromise. It
seems we would be much better off to just have
large solar panels designed to cover the entire
roof. There might need to be some inactive area
on the edge of each panel to allow shingling them
without shading part of the active area. You'd also
need trimmable dummy panels for doing diagonal
bits. Depending on the roof pitch, you might also
use the dummy panels for the north side, or
maybe just go with umbrellas there to make up for
the ugly roof on the south side. |
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[Scad] Given the variation in roof size and layout, it's going
to be a lot easier to manufacture small panels that can be
installed to conform than trying to custom manufacture
larger panels. Taking that consideration in mind, solar slate
does more or less what you want. |
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Yeah, solar slate does look pretty nice, but from
what I've read, this type of system is typically
much more expensive than more traditional solar
installations. I'm not sure if these comparisons
factor in the cost of the roofing material
underneath the traditional panels, but when
installing traditional solar panels there is an
additional cost of carefully installing the solar
panels in such a way that they don't compromise
the integrity of the roof underneath. |
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It seems to me that if you're not trying to mimic or
blend in with some preexisting roof type, it should
be possible to design a solar roofing system that is
MORE cost effective than a traditional roof + solar
panels. It could be designed to attach directly to
roof sheathing, or maybe even instead of the roof
sheathing. |
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I don't really care what the size of the modules
ends up being. I suspect that the ideal size would
be larger than a standard piece of slate or tile, but
smaller than most traditional solar panels. I'm
guessing something that is about as large as can be
handled easily by one person might be about right.
I think the perceived problem is that it will look
"strange". In my opinion that is irrelevant. The
only reason that current roofing systems don't look
"strange" is that we've gotten used to them. The
first people figuring out how to use slate on a roof
didn't choose the size and color of the slabs based
on how they looked but on how they functioned
and could be reasonably installed. People didn't
originally make copper roofs because they wanted
them to start out blindingly orange then turn a
sickening mottled green. They used copper
because it kept the water out and we've learned
to appreciate the patina, since those roofs have
lasted so long. |
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We need to embrace the appearance of solar
panels composed of round slices of silicon with
gaps in between, possibly arranged honeycomb
style for better packing. We need to embrace the
appearance of whatever sized modules work best
for low cost installation. Maybe we should even
embrace the idea of irregular steps in the
overhangs since the solar panels can't be cut to fit
(may need to deal with some gutter issues). Sure,
some famous architects will declare this to be an
abomination, but if we can get over that hump,
100 years from now when paint on solar panels are
the thing, they'll have systems to paint
honeycomb patterns of solar cells on the roofs of
historical buildings to maintain that early 21st
century look because noncrystalline solar cells are
no longer available to replace the old ones. |
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[Scad} If you didn't mind a simple, rectangular, shed or
gable roof, most of the difficulties would go away (I think
many roofs are needlessly fiddly anyway). And do away with
shingling; use gaskets (and expansion joints if needed) on
the edges of the panels instead. |
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As for [hulot]'s idea, while lots of small umbrellas would
protect the underlying structure from damage by light, and
keep it cooler, they won't keep the rain off. |
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They would but, given round umbrellas, each would need more than half its area underneath the one(s) above it. I'd suggest pneumatic open/closing. A spiral would look neatest though be guaranteed not to work in any but pretty much a strictly vertical downpour. |
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