OK – been reading alot about flat roofs here, but still need help. We’re building a replica of an old service station complete with canopy. I originally designed it (the canopy) to look like a flat roof (yes, there will be a little draft, but that will be hidden by the trim) but now we’re going around to decide if we need a hip roof instead. The garage itself has a hip roof, but because of the size, the hip’s peak on the canopy won’t match the peak on the garage – it’ll only come up about half way. Of all the pictures I’ve seen, I’ve never seen a service station where the canopy’s peak was at a lower level that the garage, mostly because the building was so dang small (not much bigger than the canopy). We’re in NW Wisconsin, so can get lots of snow depending on the winter. I like the look of the flat, but is it too crazy? On the other hand, if the canopy leaks, it’s not such a big deal. Cost wise – they’re almost a wash, with the hip a bit more in material. We’re doing the work ourselves. Any thoughts? Or votes?
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Not sure what you mean by " there will be a little draft, but that will be hidden by the trim"
Yes, it does matter if the canopy leaks. You may not care that the water drips on the pumps, but it will deteriorate the framing of the canopy. You don't want to be redoing this in a few years.......
I'm not old enough to remember what the old service stations were like, so I can't help you with the rest of it.........
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howza bouta shed type roof.......sloping from high point in the front down to the back?
Or...build a facade across the front...I'm thinking a stepped design where the "garage" name would be.......and hide the roofline behind that. Jeff Genius has it's limits.....but stupidity knows no bounds
yah, you're right - we're really too fussy to build crap anyway. "draft hidden by the trim" means I'll have really wide "fascia" that might be mounted on brackets an inch or so from the actual roofline so water can runoff into hidden gutters. So the roof can draft but the fascia would be wide enough to cover the highest to lowest points. I'm not sure about snow though - backing up behind the fascia, sitting on the gutters. If we made the fascia with cementitious fiber board, or something that won't rot, maybe...
I've been looking at alot of 30's-40's rooflines - I se alot of gabled roofs backing into hipped roofs, but rarely hipped roofs into hipped roofs. So I'm really leaning towards the flat roof to look more authentic.
thanks for the input - ks
NW Wisconsin huh? Anywhere near Hayward?
What about snowloads? Isn't that flat roof going to allow more to accumulate? Just guessing as I live in Florida where everything that falls from the sky is "pre-melted".
Mike
not quite as far north as Hayward (ahh the lumberjack days - ever tried to stay on the upside of a log rolling in the water?)
yah, snowloads are on our minds, although if we build it right...
heck, I've seen pictures of service stations with flat roofs, but the ones that still exist around here have hipped roofs. Our problem is that we're building the garage part of the building much bigger (30 x 40) than was typical back then, so it kind of puts the scale all out of whack. A hipped canopy to match the scale is 1) huge and 2) too expensive. So we're putting a smaller canopy on but with "massive" pillars to give it some sense of scale. I've thought of putting a hipped roof on the canopy with a steeper pitch to get the rooflines to match, but that won't look right either.
ho-hum. I have til Friday to let the lumber yard know if we need rafters for the canopy to get them to come with the rest of the set. time for more research.
http://indian-river.lib.fl.us/seblib/archpix/hardeest.jpg
thanks for the picture - added it to my archive. Geez I just love these buildings! Classic...
Don't know if you meant truses or rafters for the canopy.
If you're using trusses, the manufacturer will know how much loading the trusses will have to be designed for to accomodate snow. I wouldn't worry so much about the weight as the melting snow/ice dam problems.
BTW - Keep us posted and please post pictures if you aren't too busy, Kathleen. (pun intended)
my mistake - if it's a hipped roof, they'll be trusses, but a flat roof we're going to try to get by with beams, etc. Still more work to do on that end.
Yes, always busy. Will post pictures when it gets more interesting.