Sugar Shack and metal roof

[turtlemaple]

Maybe there should be a topic category on sugar shacks?

Anyway, we are preparing to break ground on a new sugar shack and we are trying to decide between metal and traditional shingle roof.

I like the look of metal and it is easier to install. Also, the snow won't accumulate. But I am afraid of the condensation. Typical metal roofs have condensation and drip issues anyway, never mind dumping hundreds of gallons of moisture into the air. Yes I can ventalate but I am afraid it just won't be enough.

Can anyone who has built a sugar shack with metal roof give me their opinion, and please also give a rough idea of your setup (size of building, size of evaporator, and venting).

Thanks a bunch!!

Paul and Kathy

[Father & Son]

Paul & Kathy,
My son and I have only been doing this for 2 years so an expert I'm not. I put up a 12 x 16 sugar house with a metal roof. My reasoning was to eliminate problems with sparks. We boil on a 2 x 6 with no hood. The first year the building was not done only the walls and roof were on and it got quite wet inside. I thought the steam would escape through the soffit but I was wrong. It was like a sauna inside. I put a cupola on and added windows this year and the steam and condensation was almost completely eliminated. The cupola doors are approx. 2 x 6. If your setup has a hood, I wouldn't think moisture of any type would be a concern. Hope this helps.
Jim

[softmaple]

hey turtlemaple i have a 12x16 hut and 12x12 wood shed on the back with a 2x4 evaporator. all i have is a metal roof on 1x6 gurts. i get condinsation in there but it only drips where the gurts are next to the evaporator. the only way i can foresee a way to fix the problem is to put the evaporator exactly under the coupla (in my case its off set) and to have an all wood roof and add furing strips above that for air space then place the metal roof to that. in my case i did not have enough money to do that so i have a drip once and awhile usuly when i am right under it. or just add a piece of plywood under the rafters so it adds more surface area up there so the drips go closer to the wall

[markcasper]

Just use tight-fitiing hoods and you will not have much of a problem with condensation. mark

[brookledge]

Paul
I had a wooden roof with asphalt shingles before I expanded and put in the new evaporator now I have coragated metal roof. I my case both types of roofs dripped with condensation. As long as you have a temp. difference between the roof and the steam it will condense and drip.
I like my metal roof and would recomend it to anyone.
I does however get noisy when it rains hard.
It seems like in previous post there has been some that have insulated between rafters.
I have thought about trying to use rigid styrofoam insulation that comes in 2' wide sheets and trimm it just enough to wedge between my rafters.
I have not done it because I can live with the occasional drip on the head vs. spending the $ for the insulation.
Also as others have said with a wood fired arch it helps against burning down the building
Keith

[nhmaple48]

Board the roof solid before putting on the metal and you should'nt have a problem.

[Breezy Lane Sugarworks]

Paul,

I have a 12x16 boiling room w/a few additions around it. it has a tin roof, 12/12 pitch. the coupola doors are about about 2x4 and there are 2 of them. the evaporator is 2 1/2x8. the first year we boiled, there was steam down to our necks because we had no hoods. Now, a few years later we got smarter and more efficient and put a pre-heater and hood on the flue pan and built a steam path in the rafters for the syrup pans, and that gets all the steam out of the sugarhouse no problem. we helped eliminate the dripping by screwing rough cut pine boards to the inside of the perlins. also by having boards or plywood fastened to the bottom of the perlins, it creates an air space between the steam and the tin, so there is a LOT less condensation. this is just my situation, BUT by the time you read all the responses, you'll beable to put together one sweet building!!

[Sugarmaker]

Paul,
Conventional plywood roofing and shingles on our sugar house. (check the pictures on our site) Steam hoods and no drips. The hoods and steam pipes are really the answer. If you are going to boil with open pans you are going to get a wet ceiling and drips. We love boiling and entertaining in our sugar house moisture free. Steel roofing will be a little noisier? Steel should be safer from sparks. But I burn wood in my house with a shingle roof and it only has a 4 foot above the peak chimney. The sugar house has more sparks but the stack is 9 feet above the peak.
Regards,
Chris

[HanginAround]

Make sure your roof pitch is steep and your copula is big enough. The steeper the pitch, the better it funnels steam, and the better the condensation runs back down rather than dripping off. Wood does provide a bit of insulation and absorbs more moisture than steel though.

[Pete33Vt]

My sugarhouse is roughly 24x30, I boil on a 40x14 rig w/ only a partail hood on the back pan. The rig is off set from the peak a little. We do get some condenstaion, and a few drips. Not so bad that you get soaked but there are a few that drip right into the float boxes. Or my draw off bucket. We have a metal roof. What we did was build a pathway for the steam out of plastic and straping. Just got it as tight as possible where the plastic meets the roof and built small runoff trays at the bottom of the plastic. It works pretty good. But witha tight hood and stack you should be able to get most all of the steam out. And for us metal is the way to go.
Pete

[H. Walker]

Turtle Maple

nhmaple & markcasper are both right. Control the steam and put a roof in that will absorb a little moisture. A steel roof is best for sparks, just keep any moisture from hitting it. Any building product that has a low permiance is going to shed the water, such as steel, plywood, aspenite/chipboard, plastic, etc. The best bet is a solid sheeted pine roof.

[turtlemaple]

Thanks everyone for the responses.

I am not interested at this point in putting a hood on. Our main purpose for sugaring is to share it with the community. We have bus loads of kids that come and we want them to be able to see what is going on, we feel the hood obstructs that. Yes, it makes us a little less efficient but so be it.

That being said, I am hearing the metal might not be the way to go. I really like the look of it, but I don't like the thought of rain going back into the evaporator and everything else (including me).

I will continue to watch this posts for more comments.

Best to everyone.

Paul and Kathy

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

If you put a blower on the evaporator, you could potentially catch the asphalt or wooden shingle roof on fire with all the sparks with even fire screen. :? Metal sheds snow better and looks better in my opinion. :?

[royalmaple]

I am in the process of building my sugarhouse now. I am going to board the entire roof and then attach the metal roofing to that. The wood will not allow as much water to condense on it as the raw metal roof would.

I don't anticipate a rain shower, but I know with straight metal roof and not alot of pitch, that is a different story. Been there done that.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Matt,

With my hood, I still have some steam that escapes where the front hood is suspended but I have very, very little condensation on the roof and most of the time, none. :)

[cncaboose]

Turtle Maple, I am not an expert here as I am currently finishing my first (and maybe last) sugarhouse, 20x20 with steel roof. I did a lot of reading on-line and in print, and read everything I could find on this website before I started 2 months ago. Several local maplers all recommended using insulation under a steel roof. What I did was space my roof purlins 24" apart and fill the space on top of the rafters and below the roofing with half sheets of 3/4 inch insulation board. It went on fast and I'm assuming will be effective, though I haven't boiled under it yet obviously. I got all the insulation board for $164. Compared to my other construction costs for stone fill, concrete floor, lumber, roofing, etc of nearly $6000, another $164 seemed trivial to upgrade a building that I hope to use for the next 20-30 years. If you want to see photos of the construction, I have them for most steps and will email them to you if you send me an email.
I liked your website a lot, especially thanking all your roadside "sugarbush" owners. The sap collection stats were fascinating. If you do them for a few more years you can collate and publish and get some kind of advanced degree in environmental science I'm sure. Just kidding there. Most Americans are completely out of touch with agriculture and where their food comes from. On a small scale you are exposing the public to agriculture and food production, which they obviously find fascinating. Keep up the good work. Ian

[hangman]

How about the suggestion of a topic/category for: Sugar (Shacks)Houses? There seem to be a lot of interest on this subject. (I’m about to build one myself).

[Russell Lampron]

I have a 12x24 sugarhouse, the evaporator room is 12x12. I also have a metal roof and 2x6 evaporator. The first year I boiled the condensation would drip off of the purlins and you had to be careful where you stood or you would get wet. The second year I added a steamhood to the flue pan and the problem went away. I like the metal roof, it looks good and went on fast and easy.

Russ

[Sugarmaker]

Paul,
Good luck with the sugar house.
NICE web site!
Chris

[the old guy]

I JUST FINISHED MY SUGARHOUSE. THE ROOF IS ALMOST 12' HIGH ON THE LEAN-TO THAT HOUSES MY EVAPORATOR. IF CONDENSATION BECOMES A PROBLEM, I WILL JUST CUT STYROFOAM STRIPS TO FIT BETWEEN THE GIRTS. IT IS LIGHT AND CAN BE REPLACE EASILY IF NEEDED.

THE OLD GUY

[archangel_cpj]

Im pretty certain that if you had 1/4 x 1/4 or even 1/8 x 1/8 hardware cloth on the pipe the amount and size of the cinders would be well below what would cause a issue remember modern shingles have a pretty good fire retardent built in and a few cinders ought not be a huge issue especially if you screen and have the pipe high enough.

[treefinder]

when i built my sugar house i put my evap right undr the cupalo but i made my ceiling low i went with a 5/12 pitch write or wrong you tell me? so anyways from the top of my pans to the peak is only about 7 feet. i had a 3x12 so i made my cupalo 8 ft long and 2 ft wide got some drips but only when the air seemed heavy outside or a swirling wind and thats all i used was strapping and tin. my sugar house faces n-s and the wind blows from the west 90% of the time.they also make box fans that are water proof at wally world for 10 or 20 buckshang them in your cupalo at an angle if you need to if get drips works good for my buddy!


4x12 oil fired
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farmall A ,3 kids and a good wife for the gathering