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Seven Natural Roofing Options

12/9/2022

16 Comments

 
First, we have to be honest that when it comes to the roof of a home, it’s hard to create a totally natural and fully waterproof canopy without some kind of vapour barrier. The roof is the most important part of a house. I’d argue it’s more important than foundations. Case in point: my barn has no foundations to speak of and it’s been standing 200 years. But as any local here will tell you, if the roof on the barn goes, the barn has no more than a few years left before it collapses.
 
Upshot: If the roof is secure and functioning properly as a rain shelter, you’re good. If not...agh. So, many times it's going to be hard to get away with making a watertight roof without a vapour barrer.
 
What did they do in times of old then?
Well before the modern age and vapour barriers, people still made weather-resistant roofs. But...here’s the painful truth of the matter, they often needed quite a lot of maintenance and repair. Residents were also used to sporadic leaking, and roofs had to be retiled, re-thatched, or re-mortared from time to time. That was just how it was. Not that modern roofs are maintenance-free either of course, but there is one crucial difference: most people in olden days weren’t building alone. They worked as communities. Re-tiling a roof is pretty easy when there’s a crowd of you, but doing it single-handed, or even as a couple, is a lot slower and more tedious.
 
Anyway, here are your six beautiful natural roofing options, plus whether or not you can get away without a vapour barrier.
Picture
Cath’s living roof in London.
1. Living Roof
In my opinion the sturdiest of the lot. I love a living roof. I have two articles on making living roofs. Here’s how I made mine and here’s how Cath Coffee in London made hers.
 
Pros: If made properly they don’t leak, can’t crack, animals can wander all over them without breaking them, they’re hurricane proof, soundproof, and possibly help retard a fire too. Basically no maintenance required once it’s built.
 
Cons: These are heavy, so you need a decent roof structure to support the weight, which could end up being the equivalent of a couple of elephants (albeit spread more thinly). You’ll need some plastic, which is of course the devil these days. Also, a living roof really needs a damp climate to actually be ‘living’.
 
Vapour barrier? Definitely. You’ll need two in fact, to be sure of success. Something like an EPDM or bitumen will go over the roofing boards, then you’ll need a couple of sheets of plastic as a root barrier.
Picture
Terracotta tiles on my barn.
2. Tiles
Tiles are of course some of the oldest and most widely used natural roofing options in the world. For centuries at least, people have been firing clay and turning it into pots, amphoras, and roofing tiles. I confess tiles aren’t my favourite because they’re so frickin’ fragile, though on the plus side, they can look beautiful, and you might also get away without a vapour barrier with them. But tiling is definitely a two-person job unless you want to get rather tired.
 
Pros: You can use them to catch rainwater (big plus), beauty, simplicity. Possibly no need for a vapour barrier.
 
Cons: Fragile, can’t handle much falling on them without cracking, prone to get ripped off in gales, repairing tile roofs is annoying.
 
Vapour barrier? This really depends on which tiles you’re using, and how desperate you are to stay perfectly dry. If it’s an exterior roof, say a porch or a shed or something, you can easily get away with no barrier. For a house, especially if using the old school Mediterranean curved tiles, a breathable roofing membrane under the tiles is usually recommended.
Picture
Slate roof in Galicia.
3. Slate
 
If you live anywhere with slate (such as Galicia, Spain) slate slabs make amazing roof tiles. They’re more forgiving to lay, and a bit less likely to get ripped off in the wind than traditional terracotta tiles, because they’re flat.
 
Pros: Sleek, easier to lay than terracotta (in my opinion). Good for rain harvesting.
 
Cons: You really need to be in a slate area to make a slate roof feasible and sustainable. Like other tiles they are potentially a bit leaky. And you have the issue of repair when the slate slabs crack (because a tree branch fell on them or something). Slate tiles are also fairly heavy.
 
Vapour barrier? See my comments on terracotta tiles above.
Picture
Thatch roof by Dieter.
4. Thatch
 
Oh, who wouldn’t want a thatch roof? Romantic, completely natural, and super snug too. Thatch roofs are usually made from reeds, but people do also use grasses (though grass will last far less time). If thatch is made professionally it is nice and weatherproof too. So what do you need to consider?
 
Pros: Insulating as heck. And of course thatch is so beautiful.
 
Cons: Fire risk.  Thatch needs decent maintenance.
 
Vapour barrier? Ah well, according to the experts this all depends on if it’s a cold or a warm thatch roof. Here’s a good article explaining when and when not to use a vapour barrier with thatch.

Picture
Madras roof by Karen Shetty.
5. Madras Roof (Brick and Lime Mortar)
 
One of India’s traditional roofing techniques is a method called the Madras roof. Bricks are laid at a 45-degree angle over the rafters and mortared using a special lime application. Karen Shetty explained how that was done here.

Pros: Beautiful, inexpensive, perfectly natural, honouring tradition.
 
Cons: Fairly heavy, so decent supporting rafters are required. Like thatch, if you are dead-set on an optimum job, get a professional to lay this kind of roof.
 
Vapour barrier? Normally vapour barriers are not used in India with these roofs.
Picture
Bamboo classroom, Bali.
6. Bamboo Roof
Ooh if I lived in a climate with bamboo… Bamboo is nice and sustainable, doesn’t weigh too much, and is a material geared to creating gorgeous roofing structures. There are two ways to use bamboo in roofing. Usually you see the bamboo used for the frame and then some sort of thatch/reed roof over the top. But you can also use bamboo cut in half to form a kind of crenellated roof which would be excellent for rain harvesting.
 
How to make a simple bamboo roof: 
​https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZnMWDI6soo
 
Pros: Inexpensive (if you are in the bamboo zone), sustainable, lightweight, cool.
 
Cons: Bamboo can go mouldy if not treated properly.
 
Vapour barrier? Because bamboo roofs are usually found in warm humid climates, and because bamboo is pretty efficient at channeling away water, I’d say it would be a bad idea to stick a vapour barrier underneath due to the risk of mould.
Picture
7. Roof Shingles
This technique is very popular in the UK. It involves creating wooden plates from a hardwood like chestnut or larch, then fixing them on the roof like tiles.

Pros: The beauty is these can be made by hand. If you have a large team, you can get quite a production line going. They are very sustainable and inexpensive to make. Shingles create a charming country finish too.

Cons: I wouldn't want to do this single-handedly.

Vapour Barrier? Just like ordinary tiles, shingles don't necessitate a vapour barrier. If you did put one under, I'd definitely advise it being permeable.
Watch My Video of How to Make Shingles

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16 Comments
Sheds link
15/3/2023 01:45:24 pm

I like the Living one We build sheds and we installed a Tiles roof one time. Lots of work but looked nice
Thanks fo the article

Reply
David Louvet link
2/6/2023 08:38:38 am

Nice Post! Thanks for sharing this information.
Good JOB...

Reply
Atulya
13/2/2024 11:20:51 am

Thank you!

Reply
Zachary Tomlinson link
15/8/2023 06:36:14 pm

My colleague is looking for ideas on how to improve the appearance of his summer home. I love your suggestion to use slate roofing because it can resist strong winds. Maybe we should find a local roofing contractor that can help us with this someday.

Reply
Atulya
13/2/2024 11:20:09 am

Yes, slate would look gorgeous.

Reply
Naresh Poonia link
9/1/2024 06:33:55 am

thanks for sharing this amazing piece of content with us. Keep it up with good work

Reply
Atulya
13/2/2024 11:20:17 am

Thanks!

Reply
Mellisa link
17/1/2024 11:12:55 am

This post is very useful for the one who is looking for the ideas of roof selection for their house.Thanks for sharing this amazing content as it will be very helpful.Keep it up

Reply
Atulya
13/2/2024 11:23:37 am

Glad it was useful!

Reply
Mia Evans link
13/2/2024 10:57:16 am

It's interesting to know that the most widely used and oldest roofing option in the world is tiles, and they have been used for many centuries. I guess it can be a great option for us once we have roofing services as one of the contractors we need for the construction of our house. It's important that we make the right decision when it comes to the material of every part of the house, because this is our dream property which we have been saving up for the past couple of years.

Reply
Atulya
13/2/2024 11:23:01 am

Thatch is probably the oldest roofing system, though it depends on the region. But tiles are pretty darn old too. The Romans loved them:)

Reply
Millie Hue link
21/2/2024 06:08:12 am

I appreciate it when you explain that tiles as the oldest and most widely used natural roofing option around the world, because they have been around for centuries. Since they have been used for many years, it might be possible to have a residential roofing system repaired for that type of material since that is probably what we have on this property. This house was from my grandparents which is why its materials are already starting to have issues which I hope doesn't need to be replaced at the moment because of our limited budget.

Reply
Sampathkumar link
13/6/2024 02:25:37 pm

AV Roofings is the top manufacturer of high-quality roofing shingles in South India, offering stone coated metal roofing tiles, colour coated roofing sheets, UPVC roofing sheet and roof waterproofing solutions for both residential and commercial buildings in Coimbatore, Kerala, Chennai, and Madurai. We are one of the best roofing shingle manufacturer and dealer in Namakkal, Tamilnadu, offering wide ranges of solutions for your roofing installation.

Reply
Ellison Williams @Commercial Roofing Contractor Louisville link
27/6/2024 09:43:04 am

This blog has been highly instructive and helpful to me! The information on natural roofing possibilities is useful for anybody exploring sustainable construction solutions. Thank you for sharing this!

Reply
GKM Roofing link
28/2/2025 07:38:05 am

I really appreciate this detailed and thoughtful look at natural roofing options! It's refreshing to see an honest perspective on the realities of roofing both in the past and today. As you mentioned, while modern roofs come with their benefits, they often require a vapour barrier to ensure they're truly watertight—something that was hard to achieve in the past without modern technology.

Living roofs definitely sound fascinating, and I love the idea of them being hurricane-proof, soundproof, and even helping with fire resistance. The downside of needing a solid structure to support their weight makes sense, though, especially if you're in an area with a lot of rain. I’m curious about how these roofs fare in climates with drier conditions—do they still offer benefits like cooling and insulation in those areas?

Tiles and slate are classic options, but I agree with you that they can be a bit more fragile. It’s good to know that for some smaller structures or areas like porches, you can sometimes skip the vapour barrier with the right tiles. That flexibility is definitely appealing.

Overall, these options show just how much roofing has evolved, but also how much we can still learn from the past. Thanks for the insights!

Reply
Thirumala Roofings & Structurals link
10/3/2025 05:41:12 am

Thank you so much for sharing this information. It is very useful information for Businesses.

Reply



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  • Home
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