What materials did you use for the straw/compost living roofs that you constructed, and can you recommend any common materials or instruction for building our living roof?
Hello dear people of Archibio, I'm so sorry to say I can't speak French but I'm hoping you can help me. My wife and I are building a very small house (540 square feet)for our family of four. We are putting on a living roof and have the waterproof membrane installed and want to finish the installation similar to how you have done with straw. Did you use a root barrier, any drainage material or any material to hold moisture? Can you suggest any materials or have a drawing of the system you designed? And how do you feel the living roof built with straw and compost has performed? It seems like there are many companies selling specialized high tech products that are very expensive yet living roofs have been around for centuries. Thank you for your help and all of your good work. Most truly, Matt Joppich, Traverse City, Michigan
Hi Matt,
Michel Bergeron have some answers for you, but they are in french. Hope you can read them, or use a good translator.
TOIT VÉGÉTAL : RECOMMANDEZ VOUS TOUJOURS LE SYSTÈME DE TOIT DE PAILLE QUE VOUS AVEZ ESSAYÉ IL Y A PLUSIEURS ANNÉES? AVEZ-VOUS APPORTÉ DES MODIFICATIONS DEPUIS?
TOIT VÉGÉTAL. J'AIMERAIS INSTALLER UN TOIT VÉGÉTAL EN PAILLE SUR MON GARAGE. QUELLE SERAIT LA BONNE COUPE?
You can also read Serious Straw Bale published in 2000 by Paul Lacinski and Michel Bergeron.
Note that our organization has expertise for our northern climate (Québec). It's possible that some aspects of the responses will not be adapted to your reality.
Good luck !