What kind of roof to make for the gazebo?

From May holidays until late autumn, many people prefer to spend their weekends and holidays outdoors. But if you need to hide from the scorching July sun, or vice versa, the cold September rain, a gazebo can come to the rescue. An integral element of such a structure is the roof, which can be made of various materials and in various forms.

When choosing a roof for the construction of a gazebo on a site, it is necessary to take into account some of the features of both the materials from which it will be made, and the weather conditions of the region, as well as the location of the building in the summer cottage.

When using lightweight materials for the roof, there will be no need to strengthen the walls and foundation in order for them to withstand such a weight. In a humid climate and the proximity of a river and a lake, it is necessary either to choose a material with a higher moisture resistance, or to treat ordinary material with water-repellent agents. With a high level of precipitation in winter, a steeper slope should be made for even snow melting. For windy areas, it is best to opt for a flatter roof. If a brazier or fireplace is located under a canopy, you should avoid using flammable materials: wood, straw, reeds.

The roof for the gazebo can be chosen depending on which side of the structure the rain and snow falling on it will flow on.

• Mono-pitched - the simplest roof, which is made for gazebos with four corners, often without the involvement of professionals. The structure rests on opposite walls of different heights and is therefore tilted to one side. The angle of inclination and the side to which the roof will be inclined are chosen taking into account the direction of the wind that blows in this region most often. So the roof will be able to protect even from slanting rain.

• Gable. This type of roof is the most popular for rectangular gazebos and residential buildings, it is easy to build it yourself. In the case of a gable roof, you will have to choose what is more important: normal snow melting or a wide view of the surrounding nature, since this depends on the slope and length of the slopes.

• Flat roof it is much easier to build than any one-pitched one. In addition, the consumption of material for such a roof is significantly lower than for any other type. It is resistant to gusts of even the strongest wind and can be easily connected to the roof of another building. However, if a large amount of snow falls in winter, it will accumulate on such a roof and may simply break through it.

• Hip. This is a hipped roof, consisting of two triangles at the ends and two slopes in the form of trapezoids. Such a roof is made for both quadrangular arbors and complex polygonal ones. Such a roof is much more expensive than a gable roof, but it protects more effectively from rain and snow, retains heat inside for a long time and does not require constant repairs.

The most popular material for roofing is considered to be metal. Sheets of this material are made of galvanized steel with a protective coating on top. It is a lightweight and durable material that is easy and quick to install. The metal tile is resistant to sun and rain, as well as to temperature extremes. A gazebo with such a roof looks especially good if the roof of the house itself also has a finish from this material.The disadvantages of metal tiles are poor sound insulation, high material consumption and the risk of corrosion. The slope of the roof with such a coating should not be less than 15 degrees in order to ensure the normal snow melting.

Decking (profiled sheet) is similar to metal, but is a more economical material. Cold rolled steel sheets are protected with several layers of topcoat. It is a lightweight material of various colors with a relief in the form of trapezoids and waves, imitating tiles. With ease of installation and resistance to corrosion, the corrugated board still has a couple of significant disadvantages. Firstly, a strong noise is guaranteed from raindrops hitting a roof like that of a metal tile. Secondly, the material is thin enough, so it heats up very quickly in sunny weather. In order to be able to comfortably be in the gazebo during the warm season, it is necessary to choose a place for it in the shade.

A soft roof made of bituminous tiles looks good - plates made of technoglass fiber impregnated with bitumen, on which colored granulate is rolled. From below, such tiles are covered with adhesive concrete and mounted on a pre-installed crate. Sheets of such material are easily cut into pieces, so roofs of a wide variety of designs can be obtained from it. The material is quiet and durable, but it has a fairly high price, and is also susceptible to deformation under strong wind gusts.

Quite often, the gazebo on the site is covered with slate sheets. With such a roof in the gazebo, you can place a brazier or a hearth, it is durable and has a low price. However, slate is fragile, quite heavy and requires the installation of the lathing. It is not suitable for the arrangement of ball-shaped and complex roofs. Today, the so-called soft slate or ondulin is more popular.

The material is made by mixing cellulose fibers with minerals, after which it is impregnated with bitumen, which makes it possible to make ondulin light and moisture-proof. The advantage of soft slate is the absence of noise during rain, resistance to corrosion and low price. With such a flexible material, you can arrange a roof of any shape and size on a pre-assembled lathing with a step of 0.6 m.However, an open fire cannot be used in a gazebo covered with ondulin, since the material is flammable. In addition, such slate can fade in the sun.

A very popular material for finishing the roof of the gazebo is polycarbonate. From transparent plastic polycarbonate sheets using a metal profile, you can mount not only the roof, but also the walls of the gazebo. The material is durable, resistant to wind gusts and precipitation, lightweight and flexible. Polycarbonate is also used for the construction of greenhouses, so it will be quite hot under such a roof on a hot day. A brazier or barbecue cannot be placed under such a coating, it is unstable to mechanical damage and requires a special coating to protect it from exposure to direct sunlight.

Natural tiles made of ceramics or cement-sand mixture are quite durable, but expensive material., which also has a fairly large weight. At the same time, the tile has the longest service life, is resistant to various weather and temperature conditions, and its spot repair does not require dismantling the entire roof. Such tiles have high noise and heat insulation, they are environmentally friendly and have a very attractive appearance.

The roof of the gazebo can also be built from more unusual materials.

• Textile most often used for the construction of temporary festive tents and gazebos. Such material must be impregnated with moisture-repellent agents so that it does not let through the sudden onset of rain.

• Wooden shingle - these are small thin planks mounted on the crate with an overlap, like a tile. This material is now quite popular in ethnic style.

• Reeds, straw or reeds are mounted on a wooden crate and allow you to turn an ordinary gazebo into a real bungalow. However, even after processing with fire retardants, such material is still flammable, so it is not recommended to make a fire near such a roof.

• "Living roof" formed from climbing plants that braid a metal honeycomb roof. Such a coating protects well on a hot day, but easily passes precipitation. The metal frame honeycombs only look full in the summer when the loach is covered in vibrant lush greenery.

It is advisable to select the size of the gazebo depending on the size of the site and its general design. It should be designed to match the rest of the building.

Usually there are three options for arbors.

• Open gazebo - these are simple awnings and light rotundas, which are most often erected with their own hands. The structure consists of several pillars with a small roof resting on them. The small size of such a canopy allows it to be placed even in the smallest areas, under fruit trees or near greenhouses and garden beds. Such a gazebo, entwined with ivy or wild grapes, looks good.
• Semi-open gazebo - this is the same canopy, but with bumpers around the perimeter. They can be both open and curtained with special curtains, or even glazed. Such gazebos are well suited for a medium-sized plot, since they are larger than a canopy or rotunda in size and require a fairly large leveled area for construction.

• Closed gazebo - this is a small house made of wood or brick, which has full windows and a door. Such a gazebo can be heated and must be illuminated. Such houses are installed in large areas using a frame made of wood or metal. Inside can be placed both a small oven and a full-fledged summer kitchen.

Among the whole variety of modern gazebos, several basic forms can be distinguished:

• rectangular;
• polygonal;
• round;
• combined.

However, there are also more unusual forms. For example, a semicircular roof looks good and can be easily mounted on a rectangular gazebo. Such a roof has arcuate slopes from which snow easily melts, and water does not stagnate on such a roof. For this option, any flexible material or material consisting of small fragments is suitable: shingles, polycarbonate, sheet steel, chips or shingles. A semicircular roof can be either single-pitched or more complex structures with several rounded slopes.

It is good to build a hexagonal roof over a square or rounded gazebo. Such a roof is most often assembled on the ground, and then, in finished form, is installed on the upper ring of the gazebo. You can cover the roof with corrugated board or tiles. Wooden slats will look good, but they can delay snow and water from the roof, so it is better to use moisture-resistant, non-corrosive materials.

A hipped roof is one of the varieties of a hipped roof. Unlike a conventional roof with slopes in the form of triangles and trapezoids, only a certain number of triangles are made that converge at the ridge knot. If you bend the edges of such a roof outward, it will be better protected from wind and precipitation, and if inward, it will look like an oriental type roof.

The most difficult is the round or oval roof, which can be either spherical or more conical in shape. Such a roof is mounted using a circular sheathing installed on the rafters.

Semi-open gazebo with a hipped roof made of profiled sheet, inside of which there is a small summer kitchen.

Rectangular gazebo of combined type with a hipped roof, stylized for Japanese architecture.

A canopy made of carbonate in the form of a half roll, which is easy to set up with your own hands.The simplicity and compactness of the design make it possible to place such a canopy even in a small area.

An original gazebo or shed can be equipped with live plants, fabric or dry reeds. Such roofs are short-lived, but they look just amazing, so they are often used for weddings or other celebrations.

Instructions for building a gazebo with a flat roof are clearly presented in the following video.