apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Rooftop, no. Fire escape? Yes. I keep a large floor cushion near tucked near the window. I'll pull it out to the fire escape and use the edge as my "end table". Works for now though I'm looking at new apartments--maybe something with a terrace!

Great place for a garden!

Also not good for the roof. Roofs are not designed to support a lot of weight and foot traffic.

There is a small house I see everyday on my bus route that has a tiny rooftop porch with no apparent access. There are no windows or doors that open on to it. And yet there are chairs perched on it, so it must be used. There is one window a few feet away and I imagine a dangerous sideways leap. Or perhaps there's a trap door in the roof? If I were a bolder person I'd knock on their door someday and ask, but it just seems rude.

As a geeky bookworm in my preteens, my favorite reading spot was just outside of my bedroom window, on top of the garage rooftop. I would climb out of my bedroom on long summer days, shaded by a giant oak, barefoot, with a tall glass of ice tea and my favorite book of the moment and settle in for a long read until dinnertime. There's something so perfect about being up high and out of reach!

That is, until the cops caught sight of me one day and scared the bejesus out of my mother. After a stern lecture, the window screen was nailed shut to prevent further breakouts...:(

We used to go up on the flat undecked roof of our 5th floor walkup apartment in NYC--officially known as "Tar Beach"--at sunset cocktail hour.

Psssst! Quick, go out there now! Nobody's looking......

Katy
http://fengshuibyfishgirl.com

In a certain neighborhood full of older (1920s and 1930s) homes near where I live, houses commonly have what are call "airing porches" off of the second floor, which I assume were meant to air out rugs and such back in the day. They are generally accessible through a door located in one of the bedrooms. Homeowners are cautioned not to use them because they are not designed to support furniture and people. But come on, it's so tempting. My husband and I refer to them as "party porches" . . .

@spoonful -- I did the same exact thing!

I have a few potted plants on mine, but it is mostly used for my cat. She loves to watch the neighborhood from above and I can leave the window open without worrying about her going anywhere.

We're not supposed to have access to our roof...but it's not locked, so we do. We don't go there as often as we would like because we can't have furniture up there (I tried once and either management removed it or someone stole it). In my dreams, someone gives building management a bunch of tax credits or money and they make it a green space. But highly unlikely. I'm not sure why people aren't supposed to be up there. Rumors vary. One is that at one point there were lots of break ins with access from the roof and that's why it's supposed to be locked. Another is that it can't be accessed because of insurance purposes -- though seriously, it would be really hard to accidentally fall off - you would have to make an effort. Or three because it can't support people -- though I doubt that because 1. it does, 2. it supports lots and lots and lots of snow. But I'm not an engineer, and there was an episode of ER where a deck/balcony collapsed killing a bunch of people -- I always think about that when I'm up there. And then I enjoy the view.

I understand the temptation! My freshman year at college, my dorm had a covered entry porch and the porch was accessible by a stairwell window. A few of us would sneak out there to hang out, read, etc but we were quickly told to stop by the RA. I still miss escaping to the roof on a hot August night from my un-air conditioned dorm room.

my senior year of college i lived off campus in a big beautiful house with a few of my girlfriends. while the garage and house were separated, they were connected by a large roof, the center of which was a ground-level porch, complete with furniture, darts, and a brick wall sectioning this little backyard haven off from the driveway. however, we spent most of our time on the garage roof, one side of which hung down low enough to lean a ladder up.

we had some of THE best parties in upstate new york that year. being dumb college kids we obviously did not see a problem having 20-30 people on our roof (of a house not renovated since 1976, might i add. my senior year of college was a few months ago!), that is, until our landlord charged us over $500 in damages to the gutter and roof.

that was bad. dangerous. expensive. disrespectful. but i still can't say i regret it...i must have graduated from dumb college kid to dumb kid in her 20's!

two houses of my childhood had perfect rooftop spots. the first house had the perfect spot for watching fireworks over the tree tops; we would climb out a bedroom window every fourth of july to watch. the second house had my favorite reading spot. again, climbing through a bedroom window, i could sit just outside on the roof (very small slope) and view the back yard. this rooftop also provided emergency access when i had forgotten my keys and the front door was locked. a quick trip to the garage for a ladder, and voila, entry! funny, mom never worried about me climbing around on ladders and roofs, but she gave me a stern talking to about leaving the ladder out in the rain! small wonders!

We had a tiny sloped roof area just outside of our bedroom window in the townhouse I shared in college.

It was a great place to sun bathe.

One day we looked out the window, and our neighbor's chihuahua was sitting on that same roof. I guess he liked sun bathing there too. (Don't worry, we rescued him)

I'm a roof-sitter. I'll admit it.

misshoxie: Don't trust your cat too much. I have an indoor cat, and I used to humor her by letting her sit on our roof (thinking, stupidly, that she wouldn't or couldn't get down). This ended the day that we spent many tearful hours searching the area until a neighbor found her. It must have been quite a jump, but she did it. After that escapade, poor Matilda remains in "cat-tivity."

When I was a teenager I used to climb out my bedroom window and sit on the porch roof and just hangout, sometimes putting down a blanket to lay on.

Our coop building just got a new roof installed (mucho $$$) and while we have a warranty for ten years it's very specific about what's allowed to attach or go on it's surface. Apparently these tar-type roofs really aren't meant to be walked on. Not that they'd cave in from your weight but their membrane could easily be punctured causing leaks. So after spending a fortune getting the roof replaced, everyone's pretty nervous about doing anything to compromise it's durability.

We also looked at installing a green roof but the tax credits weren't going to be sufficient to cover the expenses. Too bad would have been a nice way to reduce water run off. We're still looking into it.

We have private access to our roof. It's a tar-type. I didn't realize it wasn't necessarily meant to be walked on. I'm sorry to hear that. We're lucky enough to have a little patio, too. So we take full advantage of that. In fact, I'm going to go sit and read on it right now!

Emily

The deck/porch collapsing and killing a lot of people at a party wasn't just an episode of ER. It actually happened here in Chicago some years back.

The house I grew up in had this wonderful balcony on the front, over the porch, but my parents wouldn't even let up go out on this, because it was "bad for the roof". It never seemed fair to me.

@spoonful and @mlleErica, i too had a roof as a kid. i used to go out there and get my pillow all tarry and read and read and read with a lemonade by my side during the summer, with some johnson's baby oil to help me tan.

The last house I lived in had a little porch similar to the airing porch described above. It wasn't tarred or shingled, but coated with something that was meant to be a surface to walk on. It was lovely to camp out on a summer afternoon with blankets and pillows and books.

maybe it's because American Houses are made of wood, or maybe it's because Americans are obsessed with insurance, safety and rules, but ... people... come on!

We live in boxes all year round, some people cannot afford a house with a garden or with a terrace, so we need to use the space we have to the max. I cannot understand why a roof cannot become a terrace, at least not without some tweaks.

Obviously, I would discourage 120 kg women from tiptap dancing on this space, but otherwise, it would be a pretty shitty house if it cannot hold one or two people.

I live in an attic-turned-apartment and I am having the whole roof above my house made in a terrace, like they do in venice.
Granted, I live in Milan, not Venice, but the idea is still awesome:

http://www.veneziasi.it/images/stories/venezia/arte_storia/curiosita/altana.jpg

And if Venice is build on a forest of wooden pales, how the hell can you not walf on your roof? What is it made of? Paper?

When I was in Waltham I had a small roof outside my bedroom window. I didn't go out often, but I did go out on the 4th of July one year and watch the fireworks, I remember. Very nice. I like the idea of a quiet little deck out in the trees. Brings me back to my childhood tree forts, but more importantly, we all need a little retreat from the frantic day to day. Consider it your own little Walden Pond.

our sorority house had the greatest flat roof that we used to sneak out onto during rush when we were locked in the house. great college memories...

In our old house, my daughter's habit on a similar rooftop. Sort of drove us nuts, tho.

any roof in the new england area should at least be designed for snow loads, which can be pretty hefty but still only about half or 1/3 of the loading of a typical travelled floor. just saw on the news that a BU kid fell to his death off a fire escape this past weekend... which just reinforces the idea that rooftops might be good for a relaxing get-away spot, but not so good for drunken parties.