Today I’ve got an update for you! I’m sharing the process of installing a steel roof on our DIY pavilion project!!
Last summer we started building a pavilion in our backyard that is 24×40 feet. We prepped the site, brought in fill, dug out for footings, and poured the footings. You can read all about that step HERE.
My husband and I learned a lot about masonry by building the concrete block columns and the foundation for our outdoor fireplace. Thankfully we were able to frame up the entire structure up and get it primed and painted before winter hit. You can read about that process HERE and HERE.
We really hoped to get the steel roof up before winter! Oh well!
Since then, we’ve been waiting for winter to leave so we could start working on our DIY pavilion project again! We were eager to get the steel roof installed this spring and we were so excited when the delivery truck showed up! With everything on lockdown, we really didn’t expect to see our steel to arrive for quite some time.
The pavilion looked pretty cool even without a roof!
The steel looks like standard corrugated steel sheets but they aren’t. We did have to special order it. I wanted it to be the same as the steel on the cottage porch roof and the local company we purchased that from no longer makes it. We searched for a while and I am really glad we didn’t settle because we were able to find a really close match!
I highly recommend making a template and pre-drilling all the sheets for your steel roof before installing them!
Installing the steel roof on our pavilion was really straight forward because each sheet came cut to the exact length so we didn’t have to do any cuts on the ends. Next, we took a measurement of the roof and the purlins before making a template. We measured and marked our first sheet and pre-drilled each hole before bringing the sheets up! This step is crucial if you want your screws to line up perfectly on your steel roof! It’s even more crucial if your husband is an Engineer! LOL!!!
High winds definitely make it a lot harder to install a steel roof!
The hardest part for us was fighting the WIND!!! It’s not very easy to carry a 14.5 ft. sheet of steel up a ladder and hand it to your hubby on the roof without the wind trying to blow you away! Thankfully our son was able to give us a hand and he was a huge help! This really was a three-person job! I suppose you could get away with only 2 people if you had scaffolding or a non-windy location! We ended up using a 2×4 to hold the steel sheet at the bottom so the edge would be straight. You can see in the picture below, my husband is screwing a sheet in, while the 2×4 holds it in place on the edge!
Our Permits are good for another couple of months before we have to finish (or renew the permits).
We still have quite a lot of work ahead of us before the pavilion is finished. We need to pour the concrete floor, build the fireplace, and complete all the stonework. This week our plan is to run the electrical and work on hanging up the outdoor lighting in the pavilion.
I really love how galvanized steel looks aged and timeless!
Each sheet was 2 feet wide so it took a while to get all the way across each side. We took our time and moved slowly making sure not to get caught by the wind.
It’s so relaxing listening to raindrops falling on a steel roof!
I really am thrilled with how the steel roof turned out! Seeing it makes me even more excited to keep working on it so we can hopefully have a family gathering this summer! In the meantime, we’re going to really enjoy the view and these breathtaking sunsets!
Thanks for following along on our latest DIY project and be sure to check out all the other pavilion blog posts to see this project from the beginning!
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[…] we even built our DIY pavilion, I had a vision in my head of beautiful, rustic, solid wood, 16-foot farmhouse tables with benches […]