[Greenbuilding] flat roof resources? do it yourself?

[Speireag Alden]

On 2008, Jan 15, at 15:02, Leslie Moyer wrote:

> I have a friend who is needing a resource for do-it-yourself flat
> roofing.  He got an estimate and the price is out of his budget.   
> He has
> experience laying 3 traditional roofs.  Suggestions?

     For actually flat roofs, I can't help you.  But for almost flat  
roofs, I think that a living roof of the sort Rob Roy uses in _The  
Complete Book of Underground Houses_ is very effective.  I've had a  
sloped version on the top of my house for the last few years.

     Essentially, it's an inverted roof membrane assembly (IRMA).   
The only addition I would make to his design is to put a layer or two  
of polyethylene over the insulation, even though you have bituthene  
under it.  That way, melt water runs off the top of the insulation  
layer, rather than down through cracks and along under it.

-Speireag.