Most people have heard the expression, “hotter then a tin roof.” Well now I understand the meaning. Never wear surf trunks while working on a metal roof. It’s hot! Especially in the Panamanian equatorial tropical sun. More than once I kneeled down to tighten a screw and my knee or leg got burnt. Next time I will wear long pants. Wait, do I even own a pair anymore?

From Hopsa, a construction material store located in Chitre, we ordered twenty-two gauge corrugated metal. Under the metal is one by six tongue and grooved treated fir covered by felt paper and striped with two by two boards screwed into the roof rafters. The steel is screwed into the strips.

Old style corrugated metal is not the most beautiful material, but here on the Azuero Peninsula their are not a lot of options. A popular roofing material is corrugated cement fiber sheets that is very inexpensive, but fragile and should not be walked on. Another commonly used material is the traditional teja. Tejas are beautiful rustic hand made tiles, but again they are fragile and can not be walked on. Their is also corrugated metal with a painted coating, but it does not come in as thick of a gauge as the twenty-two that we used. As Dexter likes to say “steel is real.” I went with the strongest metal available in the country. In the future I can comfortably walk on the roof and sweep it off or make repairs without fear of breaking something.

There is a certain feeling of pride building a home for yourself. The feeling is really strong once the roof is on. I am relieved knowing that the interior work from here on out is all in the shade.

I thought we would have the roof on before the end of last year, we almost made it, only a few days behind schedule, not bad for around here.

Below are some photos of the roofing process.

Enjoy,