Waterproof your rooftop garden to maintain the structure of the building
As the city landscape continues to expand, our homes are becoming smaller and so is the greenery. Therefore, more and more people are building their very own rooftop garden as a means to escape the concrete jungle and also, beautify their spaces.
Why a Rooftop Garden?
In crowded city complexes, the gardens are often too small for its residents and some complexes, lack a garden altogether. Setting up a rooftop garden can help create comfortable space for you and your loved ones. Additionally, it also provides the following benefits.
- Give Back to Nature
Building a rooftop garden in your building/home is a great way to make a positive environmental impact. Concrete and skyscrapers can trap heat in the urban environment, creating high temperatures. Plants and trees help counteract that effect by cooling the temperature level in cities. You can also reduce your waste by adding natural waste as compost for the garden.
- Grow Your Own Produce
Setting up a vegetable/fruit garden on your rooftop will help you not only save money on grocery shopping but also enable you to enjoy fresh, nutritious and flavourful produce. Additionally, it will help eliminate the use of pesticides when producing these vegetables.
- Beneficial for Health
Gardening has been proven as a great way to relieve stress. Apart from helping you relax, gardening also improves air quality. Additionally, since plants and soil can help absorb and deflect sound waves, adding plants on your rooftop garden can help moderate noise pollution.
- Recreational Space
While rooftop gardens offer aesthetic beauty, they can also provide space for a bench or small-seating arrangement where you spend time with family and pets. This space could also help provide personal downtime as you spend the evening with your current read and cup of coffee.
Setting Up a Rooftop Garden
Rooftop gardens are a great way to utilise wasted or unused spaces. However, building one requires research and planning. Listed below are some of the things to keep in mind when setting up a rooftop garden.
- Permission
Before you begin laying out plans for your rooftop garden, be sure to contact the appropriate authorities to avail the necessary regulations. Additionally, you can protect your home by purchasing property insurance. This will safeguard your property from fire or natural disasters.
- Wind
It is worth noting that your rooftop garden will be exposed to more wind than a regular garden. However, adding a windbreaker to your garden will protect the smaller plants. Since wind is essential for plants, you can add a windbreaker that shifts the wind flow rather than one which stops the flow entirely.
- Sunlight
Rooftop gardens are subjected to direct sunlight for a longer duration of the day and other external heat sources. Therefore, consider adding shades for plants which do not require a lot of sunlight.
- Water Source
Carrying buckets of water up to the roof on a daily basis is not a feasible solution in the long run. Therefore, consider opting for a water storage system or an automatic watering system for your rooftop garden.
- Drainage
While the soil absorbs most of the water, plants give out excess water which can ruin the aesthetic of your rooftop garden and weaken the structure of the building. The runoff or excess water requires a drainage solution which utilizes this water for reuse.
- Structural Integrity
It is important to understand the structure of building and the amount of load it can hold before you begin building the garden. Consult a specialist to figure out which kind of containers and soil is best.
- Storage
Be sure to include a storage area which can hold gardening tools, eco-friendly fertilizer and more. You can even opt for a bench with built-in storage for concealed storage. This will ensure your space does not look cluttered.
- Waterproofing
One of the most important points to consider is waterproofing your garden to prevent water from seeping to the homes below. The solution you pick must account for expansion under physical or thermal movements of the structure, without compromising on the durability and protection.
While this detailed list guides you through the process of building your rooftop garden, it is equally important to take out a home insurance plan to protect and cover your losses in case of floods, fire and more. Additionally, some policies even cover temporary living expenses.
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