Country Style Roof Construction: Sticks, Bricks, Mud, and Goop

I spotted this interesting roof construction in Cuenca, Ecuador: Branch logs as rafters; purlins of split branch logs with thin brick overlaid in two strata.

A thin layer of concrete covers the top—like icing—and then a dense asphalt glazing.

— Fernando Pagés Ruiz is ProTradeCraft's Latin America Editor. He is currently building a business in Ecuador and a house in Mexico. Formerly, he was a builder in the Great Plains and mountain states. He is author of Building an Affordable House and Affordable Remodel (Taunton Press).