FACT
Geodesic domes can be difficult roof installations for any roofing material. Because of this, owners of domes often investigate metal roofing because they would like to have the most durable roofing material possible installed on the structure.
ANALYSIS
Geodesic domes are constructed in several ways. Generally, though, they consist of a series of small adjoining roof planes. These individual planes are usually either triangle, octagon, or hexagon in shape. With triangles, they may adjoin to create larger peaked octagons or hexagons. On the tops of geodesic domes, the roof pitch may become very low. Additionally, some geodesic domes will have attached dormers or breezeways which might result in dog-leg valley situations.
SOLUTION
Standing Seam can be installed on geodesic domes although the installation will be very labor-intensive with each roof plane having to be handled and flashed separately. Due to the width of good flashings, in some cases, very little of the standing seam pans may even be visible and this may be objectionable to property owners. Various horizontally-run shake and shingle products can be considered for geodesic domes and, generally, a narrower width panel will be easier to install. On some domes, the panels can be folded slightly to go over small hips in the roof design rather than have to flash each roof plane separately. If an installation such as this is attempted, it should be done so only by a very experienced and skilled installation technician. Because of the multitude of issues surrounding installation of roofing on geodesic domes, as well as potentially questionable aesthetics with the end result, Classic Products does not encourage installation of its products on geodesic domes though we do recognize that durable roofing is desirable for these structures.
