Where can I find supplies for a green roof?

In principle, building a green roof can be as easy as it looks in our Green roof DIY installation video, assuming you have some construction skills and your roof isn’t too complicated. As for finding green roof materials, see here in our directory -

Find DIY green roof materials online in the Ecohome green building products directory

Our green roof was a single a 2/12 pitch so it is about as easy as it will get since we could walk freely without being tied with safety harnesses. Some roofs are flat, though remember the stakes are pretty high if it leaks so you would need to be diligent about it.

By that I mean – if you follow the manufacturers guidelines for membrane installation in terms of overlapping and taping and sealing like we did in that video, and you don’t wear golf shoes while doing it and put a bunch of holes in it, there is no reason why it shouldn’t work.

In that video you saw us lay down the initial waterproofing membrane with primer as the last line of defense, but that actually becomes the ‘backup’ membrane since once you lay down the poly root barrier (the green one in the video), the water will drain off that. And once it is covered in dirt it won’t deteriorate with UV. Then it is the drainage cup layer followed by dirt.

You can see the green roof materials from Dorken systems here, there are of course others to chose from, but the basic techniques for install should be about the same – Keep the water out, keep the roots out, store and drain water as necessary. 

Ultimately a well-built flat roof should not leak, but that doesn't mean it won't, so letting water run off rather than stay stagnant is a nice 'belt and suspenders' resilient upgrade. Always aiming for durabilty and resilience in home construction, we tend to follow the old adage that there is nothing wrong with a flat roof that a 2/12 pitch won't fix!

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