Sustainable Roofing

The tar-shingle roof on our tiny house is no more environmentally friendly than the tens of thousands installed on conventional homes all the time.  Still tiny homes have an inherent advantage due to their smaller scale.  This became apparent this weekend when a friend pitched in to replace our roof in a matter of hours.  The savings from living in a smaller dwelling--in terms of time, money, and natural resources--is potentially vast as tiny homes become more popular.  There is no comparison with large homes whose owners reluctantly cough up $10,000-20,000 to hire professional roofers.

This was my first experience roofing anything larger than a chicken coop, and it went smoothly.  It helps having several ladders and hammers, and working with an experienced friend.  Unable to locate a pair of sheers, we were forced to leave ragged edges at the front and rear of the dwelling.  We'll return next time to snip the overhanging shingles to create a tidy look.

For those who are keeping track, I took off a few months from tiny house building and blogging.  Summer spare time was filled with family vacations, as well as with helping on my neighbor's project, the construction of an outdoor fireplace.  Now that his fireplace is finished I will hopefully convince him to hang some drywall together.