Our roof, soon to be garden.
The one feature of our garage loft that really sold us was the huge 1400 square foot rooftop all to ourselves. You all know about our many leaks and the process of getting the whole roof redone, and that is the source of our next big issue: The Rooftop Garden. We have been told by our landlord that if we put anything on the roof that causes or eventually causes another leak by puncturing the tar paper, we will have to pay for the repair. The roofers told us to lay down 3/4″ plywood in any area we plan to use up there, and since that is beyond our budget, we can only really work with an area about 20′ x 16′ towards the front of the building where the view of the bridge is best.
I am so excited about our roof, but have to admit that other than starting with plywood as a floor, I have no idea what to do up there. ANY IDEAS?? Any gardening shows we should enter for free stuff?… Any help would be great!!!
Here are our limitations/ issues/ ideas/ needs:
1. Nothing can be too heavy that puts stress on the tar paper.
2. I suck as a gardener, but I love plants. Anything we plant must be easy to deal with.
3. We need shaded areas because Jeff burns easily and hates the sun for it.
4. Everything needs to be cheap but cheerful.
5. We want a lounging area, dining area, and BBQ area. Lots of seating options could be built in? Or multi-functional?
6. Any furniture has to be light or in pieces because our only way to get things on the roof is with ropes and brute force or through the narrow skylight.
7. I want everything to feel like it built in or all part of the same world, so a ton of different flea market finds is out of the question unless they miraculously match.
8. Here are some images I’m inspired by:
Source: http://www.trendir.com
Source: http://www.trendir.com
Source: outnext.com
delia-hauser.com 
Stack straw bales for seating and throw heavy suck over it or make fun cushions. It doesn’t weigh much and you can replace it if it gets funky. Good luck!
um, i meant heavy duck, not suck. D is next to s, sorry!
Straw bales covered in duck is an awesome idea for outdoor seating! You could even tuft them in a rugged way. But what happens when straw gets wet? Does it dry out quickly?
Oh- Look at this! So pretty for a wedding too…
http://www.snipi.com/photos/24269
as a veteran of many roof installations (camera positions and shoot locations and such), I can offer:
you don’t need to sheet the entire area with plywood–you just need 3/4 ply pads under any points-of-contact.
to wit: get your hands on some old scaffold or maybe a few discard steeldecks or any steel frame (go skip-diving at Jenny’s shop!)
Bonus, leg your “platform” to a couple different heights–built in seating! add some hay bales and you’ll be golden.
ooh, and, cut holes in the deck and set your planter-buckets down inside so your plants appear to come right out of the “ground”!
check it out!
http://lowes.diyonline.com/servlet/GIB_Base/lcdeckbegin
🙂
Oh my. I just spent SO much time designing our dream deck! Thanks Chadwicks!