I started making a garden on the roof off my bedroom 5 years ago. It's grown like Topsy with a pond and plants. It became the place I put things that weren't really ready for prime time. As my downstairs garden became more and more shady, it also became the only spot where I had full sun all day. The main problem with it was that I had to walk along a narrow ledge to get out to it and there were several levels because of the concrete beams that ran across it. Here are some pics of it before we started the renovation, it really helps to see it if you click the pictures.
My dobie walking out to the roof from our bathroom.
This is the drop off right outside the door
looking towards the street from the door.
and looking back towards the entrance to our bedroom and bath, you can see the sloped ledge I use to get out there.
The problem was that I share this roof with an AC compressor, the water softener and pressure tank, the gas tank, water heater and various water and gas pipes.
The pond is made from a cattle trough, we painted the outside white to reflect some heat. While it worked fine, it's not very attractive.
This roof can only be accessed from our master suite so it isn't what I would consider a public space. I'm not going to be having any parties out there. That is what has kept me from renovating it before this. However, it's not really safe walking out there and I am getting older. I watched my old dog almost fall off the ledge one evening and it struck me that I really should at least make it all one level for safety. Well, one thing led to another and I decided if I was going to have it leveled and tiled, I might as well have some planter boxes built in and a real pond made of concrete. So, this project has grown a bit.
