If you’ve followed my latest project called Project: Pallet Shed you’re probably wondering how things are coming along. The rainy days and humid hot days are really delaying the building process and I just can’t seem to catch a break. For instance, today I was planning on grabbing some coffee and heading out to work on the shed and guess what was happening outside? It was raining, thundering and lightening all morning. (sigh)
In my last post I mentioned I had a few ideas rolling around in my head pertaining to the shed roof. From the beginning, I’ve desired a metal copper penny roofing material to cover the roof of the shed. But, after all the work of a DIY and recycled project it seemed kind of wrong to spend a bunch of money on the roof. The whole idea of a recycled project is to use items from previous projects or items that were destined for the landfill. I wanted to build this shed for as little money and to squeeze in as many recycled items as fit while creating something I really needed. So call me crazy, but a beautiful brand new shiny copper penny metal roofing just doesn’t seem to fit the project.
I searched Pinterest (an addiction of mine) for ideas of recycled materials for roofing and I came across a tin can lid roof. It was very cute, but the lids gave the roof a gingerbread house kind of a feel and I wanted more of a rustic cabin and didn’t want the cutesy look.
The idea rolled around in my head for a while and thinking how can I change the look so it didn’t look all cutesy. That’s when it hit me! What about removing both ends and cutting them down the seams. Then, flatten the cans out and make my own metal roofing. The cans would rust nicely leaving a nice orange and brown roof. Hmm
That brings us back to the rain drops on the porch roof… I decided to use my time wisely and gathered the cans I brought home from work and cut each can and flattened them while the rain came pouring down. This step needed to be completed prior to attaching them to the roof and this step could easy be completed on a rainy morning on the porch.
I used gloves and tin snips to cut the cans. The cans didn’t flatten easily so I layered them on the porch and stack a bunch of stuff on top to help flatten them out the best I could till it’s time to shingle the roof.
Wish me luck on my recycled tin roof and stop back to see the next step in Project: Pallet Shed.
UPDATE!!!!!
Would you like more details on the construction process?
You’re in luck! I recently launched a book with all the juicy details. I explain the why and how the shed was built from start to finish. Grab your copy of Pallets & Tin Cans today.
Love your project! My wife sent me a link to your site (Goedele from Old Red Barn). I’m going to do a kind of similar thing. I have about 40 pallets lying around but it’s very hard work to take them apart. I might switch to plank ends that I can get very cheap at a local wood cutting factory. Anyway, I’m going to take photo’s now I saw you project. I always forget to do that and regret it afterwards 🙂
Best regards and keep posting, I’m looking forward to the final result!
Jurgen, Belgium
I saw your finished shed on the Funky Junk forum in Facebook and I am amazed at your cleverness! I had pinned a tin can roof on Pinterest and now that I see yours I am chomping at the bit to build my own little garden tool shed. Please post a followup after a few months about your tin can roof and the elements, please? So interesting!
no way! I can’t believe you made that out of tin cans!! How cool is that!?!
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Wonderful up cycle! I’ve seen a roof done with coke cans flattened and bent with an overlap edge, but this is so cool!
must be missing the portion that states how many pallets you used….thinking about making a smaller version for a chicken coup…..
New York Roofing
Wow, sounds like a wild project! You must be very crafty to take on a DIY project like that! Do you think the roof will still be durable when made like that? I love this idea for saving money but I’d be slightly worried about durability. I’m not sure I’d ever have the guts to go through something like that. I’m currently in the process of getting a roofing repair job done on my Honolulu home. I hired professionals because I definitely don’t trust my own skills and with all of the rain we get in Honolulu I need to make sure it is done accurately and is as durable and sustainable as possible.
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You mentioned about how hard it was to flatten the cans. What if you put them down on your driveway, and slowly drove the car (or truck) tire over them after flattening them as best you could? Might be a good solution. Could even put two at a time and I think they still would flatten beautifully.
Whoops I forgot to mention, to save gas, just put them down behind all four tires when leaving to go someplace, and then when you come back, before pulling all the way in, do the same with a fresh batch in front of all four tires. Yeah, your neighbors might think you are crazy, but you aren’t specifically wasting gas just to flatten them.
What did you use under the floor? Plastic
No, I didn’t use a covering below or on top of the floor. Just pallets