How to Roof Your Gazebo with Outdoor Fabric

Roofing your gazebo with outdoor fabric can be so much fun. Besides, it can be your opportunity to show the artistic side of your nature. Have you ever had a light-bulb moment? Well, I have and it gave us one of the most beautiful and quite unique gazebo’s I have ever seen. Plus, it cost almost no money. We had a gazebo in our garden that needed a new roof. The shingles on the roof were old and cracked causing a lot of leakage. We didn’t want to put shingles on again because they are pretty high maintenance, and asphalt shingles just were not pretty. My husband had the idea that we would use a tarp, but I said a definite “no” to that saying that would look worse than asphalt shingles.

While at a yard sale one day, I came across a large box of drapes that gave me my light-bulb moment. They were large florals the same colors that our house was painted in, and they had rubber backs and in good condition. The drapes weren’t exactly outdoor the ideal material for outdoor fabric, but the rubber backing would help to keep the roof from leaking, so I figured I would give it a try.

We took the old roofing off the gazebo, and cut new plywood to fit the octagon shape. I cut the drapes in exactly the same shape as the plywood pieces, and stapled down close to the edges. To make the edges water-proof; first we ran some caulking down each seam, then we inverted some crown molding and capped off each seam (It had previously been painted to match the trim). When we were all done with this part, we took some 1″ cedar lath and put around the lower edge (It had already been painted also).

We went to Home Depot and found the perfect “crown” piece to put on the very top of the roof to the gazebo. We painted it first, and before putting it on, my husband ran a solid line of caulking all around the edge of the cap to help make that edge waterproof; and then tacked it on with small nails.

I had enough of the drapery material left to make a gathered piece to run all around the bottom edge of the roof. We tacked this on to the inside with the staple gun, then put the 1″ lath on top of the top edge to give it a finished look.

It really turned out beautiful, and my husband was pleased that it only cost about $25.00 total. The most expensive part was the crown piece that we put on the very top of the roof. It cost us $10.00.

We have had the new roof on our gazebo for two years now and it hasn’t leaked yet. It is also easy to clean because all we have to do is hose it off. It makes a beautiful addition to our garden area, especially in the spring and summer when all the flowers are in bloom.