Tire roof

Tires cut into raw shingles pros and cons.

Hi Mark,

Many of the recycled "faux," slate is made with tires, (and almost as expensive.) I have experiment a little but the labor to cut them up outdoes their use. I have tried to think of other ways, but without big machines and many tires, it just doesn't work. Now, many places don't ever through their tires out, which is a good thing, they recycle.

Regards,

jay

Thank you jay.

You could try using an electric jigsaw. Have seen some tire vases done like that, but not shingles. Nice idea, i can get a lot of them free around here

I have seen a few videos and read a few things just now. Lol. It seems that a sharp blade is best for cutting out the side walls. The steel belted area would need a saw of some sort, maybe a jig saw. Now to the next issue. Concerning tires cut at home and uses for roofing shingles. Fire hazard. Warping due to heat. How will it perform in cold weather? Although links and sites are great help I would like to hear of peoples opinion or ideas. Thank you

If cheap or free recycled roofing is your goal, try playing with carpets. I saw one shed in Georgia sheathed entirely with carpet stuccoed with cement. Then I made two cabins myself, with the roof in overlapping courses of carpet with plastic underneath it, and stuccoed thinly with cement on the outside. In ten years it's never leaked, and once I had five people on it! The walls of these cabins were stuccoed with mud mixture and then painted with a thin wash of portland at the very last.

If your like John Ram, and have lots of free tires, a good jigsaw with a couple boxes of blades (that's what I used,) and a fare amount of time you can make your own shingles. You should use no more than a 4 inch reveal and each course should cover at minimum three others. I would not go below a 5/6 pitch and 1 to 3/4 pitch is best. With those pitches, you could get 50 years or more I'm guessing. Put them on like rough split shakes.

I have seen carpet roofs as well and done a few. I like the felt carpet padding more than the carpet. I would use it with the pitches I mention above and the same coverage or better. I can't recommend the concrete as I don't care for the stuff. It is not environmentally sustainable to keep making it in most areas. It hangs onto moisture too much and the carpet would probably have been fine with out it or just a good lime wash. I'm glad Alder had success, I just don't recommend the stuff to often, especially for green or natural builds.

Good Luck,

Jay

I might well have been able to do without the cement. I suspect that with the shallow roof pitch, moss would have started up and the roof would have become a living roof by default before the carpet sun-rotted through. That is what has started to happen on top of the cement anyway. It did add rigidity to the roof, so if I were to plan to do without it altogether I would have beefed up the frame and deck underneath....in the case of the cabins in question, this was bamboo and pine poles and then two thicknesses of heavy two-ply furniture crate cardboard. Most of the portland was broken bags bought at a deep discount.....one step away from the dumpster anyway.

It did add rigidity to the roof, so if I were to plan to do without it altogether I would have beefed up the frame and deck underneath....in the case of the cabins in question, this was bamboo and pine poles and then two thicknesses of heavy two-ply furniture crate cardboard.

Hello Alder,

It sounds like your application of concrete was a recycle/salvage and I can see that being wise/resourceful. As for "beefing up," the frame and deck, I don't believe you would have needed to if it has lasted this long. Concrete did not add any "water proof," qualities to the roof, only weight. Your roof would have been lighter without it, but it would seem your cabin has fared well, none the less. Concrete stucco, and similar applications are often added as water proofing methods, that in all actuality, only retain water and make things heavier and/or promote decomposition of the substrate through retained moisture and alkalinity. Your concept of carpet was great and has probably been the largest promoter of having things grow on the roof. I would alter my other entry, by saying, if you design a stout frame and applied the correct waterproofing, a carpet roof would probably turn green rapidly for held vegetation and compost material. The carpet padding I use is covered in moss in no time. Concrete in general is often endowed with qualities it doesn't really have, I blame the industry for that as well as many contractors that use it for their convenience, not because it is best practice. Most stick frame construction sitting on concrete foundations is not meant to, nor will it last, as long as the old timber frames, and earth structures they have tried to replace, folks like you and sites like this are beginning to open peoples eye's.

Regards,

Jay