An elevated A-frame has one long, steep roof. That roof is the building. On a treehouse resort in the Finger Lakes region of New York, built on treated timber platforms six feet above grade, the roofing choice mattered more than usual, and corrugated metal won.
Corrugated panels are cost-effective, tough enough to ship to remote sites, and quick to install. Matte black 7/8 inch panels, full length, with exposed fasteners, read clean and modern on a long slope. Standing seam can show oil canning on a run that long, and it is often bent on site because it does not stack or travel well, which adds a coordination item the project may not need.
In the Mountain West the same logic applies to snow country roofs: fewer seams, full-length panels, and a profile that stays flat through freeze and thaw.
The last layer is the one you see from inside: the surface of the timber itself.
Adapted with permission from a note by our colleagues at Red Falls Timber Co.
