Editing Earth shelter (section)

===Roof===
[[Image:Mesh structure.jpg|thumb|right|Meshed metal stretch net construction]]
The roof of an earth shelter may not be covered by earth (earth berm only), or the roof may support a [[green roof]] with only a minimal thickness of earth. Alternatively a larger mass of earth might cover the roof. Such roofs must deal with significantly greater dead load and live load (e.g. increased weight of water in the earth after rain, or snow). This requires stronger and more substantial roof support structure. Some advise to have just enough thickness of earth on the roof to maintain a green roof (approximately 6 inches / 15&nbsp;cm), since this means less load on the structure. Increasing the amount of earth on the roof past this gives only modest increases in the benefits while increasing costs significantly.<ref name=roy2006 />

Despite being underground, drainage of water is still important. Therefore, earth shelters do not tend to have flat roofs. A flat roof is also less resistant to the weight of the earth. It is common for earth shelter designs to have arches and shallow domed roofs since this form resists vertical load well. One method uses finely meshed metal bent into the intended shape and welded to the supporting armature. Onto this mesh concrete is sprayed forming a roof. Terra-Dome (USA) is a company specializing in construction of earth-sheltered houses and sells a modular system of concrete domes intended to be covered by earth.<ref name="terra-dome">{{cite web |title=Terra-Dome Corporation - Earth Sheltered Housing |url=https://www.terra-dome.com/ |publisher=Terra-Dome Corporation |access-date=29 January 2019 |language=en}}</ref> Others advise the use of [[Timber framing|timber frame]]d, [[gable roof]]s of pitch at least 1:12 to promote drainage.<ref name=roy2006 /> The roofs of Earthships tend to be [[Mono-pitched roof|mono-pitched]], classically using [[Viga (architecture)|vigas]].