It’s August 2024 and the last post on this was in 2020. Before anything else let me just confirm that this project hasn’t been sitting unfinished for the last 4 years. It was completed but I never got around to writing about it. Let’s remedy that.
When we last left off I was doing more framing of the posts beams and was going to hang some joists between the beams so that I’d be able to put the roof on top of that.
The joist hangers came in and the following week I was able to hang all the joists and put the roof plywood on top of it.
Once the plywood was attached I needed to test it to make sure it was strong enough to support the weight it would be supporting. So cue Isaac my trusty weight.
Success! It can support Isaac and my weight at the same time. So probably strong enough for what comes next.
With the base structure made it was time to get it ready for the soil and water it would be exposed to. First step was putting down a layer of thick landscaping fabric and then a layer of pond liner. This is a thick waterproof rubber sheet that will be a barrier to protect the wood from all the water that would be on top of it. The landscaping fabric was just to provide some protection to the pond liner in case there were any screws or splinters that could puncture it from underneath.
Notice the notches cut into the end. The roof is slightly slanted downwards to that end so the notches will allow water to flow out and not get trapped in the roof.
On top of the pond liner I was going to put a bed of gravel but I was a bit worried that the gravel might cut into the liner so I laid down a layer of cardboard before putting the gravel in.
After putting down this initial layer of gravel the next step was to put down more landscaping fabric and then the soil. This was going to be a labour intensive process so it didn’t end up happening until the following spring!
So now we’re in the May long weekend of 2021. We’ve got the soil, which is a mix of sand and topsoil, ready and are going to haul it up onto the roof and spread it.
A sandy soil mix works best because it allows water to drain easily and the plants I’m growing don’t need more nutrient rich soil. The kids would fill the bucket with the soil and then I would haul it up to the roof and spread it around. Once it was all filled we could plant our plants!
As you can see, the roof can support the soil and an adult on it. We’ve given the plants lots of space to spread out.
This is how it looks now:
tariq.ca 