Now that we have the structure up and solid, we have a few things to do before we can install the traditional roof and polycarbonate.
- finish backfilling
- install a small skirt section of roof to cover the dome/building connections
- sheet the north side of the dome and seal the joints before we can shingle.
Backfill complete
We spent a good amount of time grading, compacting , and removing rocks from my yard. We really had to get this squared away and new grass planted because we were quickly approaching fall. We needed a few weeks for the new grass to establish itself so we wouldn’t get a bunch of washout on the hill when the rains pick up in the fall.
Roof skirt
The roof skirt is necessary to cover our dome connections and also to help shed water off the roof. This was a tedious process because we had to piece everything together and work within the constraints between the hubs.
We decided to use roll aluminum stock, screws with rubber washers, and silicone to seal this portion around the hubs. We then finished with drip edge all the way around so we would have a lip to put our barn metal under.
Sheeting the north side
We started pretty slow with the roof sheeting so we could figure out a game plan and prevent too much waste and frustration. Since we built up the roof skirt, our bottom triangles no longer match our templates so they needed to be individually fit. Needless to say we trimmed the wrong sides of the triangles too many times. We eventually got the hang of it and things moved quickly. Once again, Adam did a great job cutting out the triangles. Everything fit exactly as intended.
We also took a day and installed the barn metal on the exterior. We originally were going to use vinyl siding, but then realized if we used barn metal, we wouldn’t have to mess with edge moulding. The wall angles were soft enough so we could bend the barn metal around the corners which vastly simplified everything and gave us a seamless installation.
To finish up, we ran a bead of roofing cement down each plywooded seam to make sure we stay water tight for years to come.
We’re now in the home stretch! Just a few more triangles to cover in polycarbonate and a hellish few days of installing shingles.