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Discussion Forum

Roof a deck over living space

Sco | Posted in General Discussion on October 15, 2003 06:50am

I am building a house that has a 2nd floor, 18′ x 8′ deck over first floor living area.  My first problem is that I suggested this “feature” to my wife prior to adequately considering how I would “roof” this deck.  Now my wife is absolutely sold on the idea and I need a workable roofing solution.  Can someone recommend a roofing method that will work in this scenario?  Ideally something that I could do myself.

Thanks in advance!
Sco

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  1. CHUCKYD | Oct 15, 2003 11:16pm | #1

    If it were mine, or for a client, I would use a single ply membrane, such as Hypalon. That's a high end one, but all the major roofing manufacturers have suitable products. The cost per square foot may be high, but you have a small area to cover.

    There are several advantages to such a membraine: No hot bitumen (and all the hazards that go along with it), most brands are chemically bonded, repairs are simple, flashing details are simple, it is highly suitable for low-slope roofs, and it is an excellent water barrier.

    Most membranes are available with three methods of installation: ballasted, mechanically fastened, and fully adhered.

    The ballasted method simply relies on ballast, or water washed pebbles to keep it in place. This method works well, but adds weight to the structure. Ballast is not recommende at the building perimeter and certain other locations where the wind could move the ballast. I would not recomment this procedure for your application.

    The mechanically fastened method is just that. Each manufacturer has its own method and parts for connecting the membrane to the roof substrate. To me, although the manufacturers will provide warrantees for it, this method holds the potential of puncturing the membrane at each fastener. I would not recommend this method, either.

    The fully adhered method is just a glue-down. The substrate can be plywood, and, if not, the manufacturer can supply a suitable substrate to install over the plywood. The material itself can be used as flashing.

    I recommend a minimum roof slope of 1/4" per foot. Slopes less than that tend to result in birdbaths over the roof, and the resultant sitting water can lead to algae formation on the membrane.

    I would run sleepers parallel with the roof slope and cover them with the membrane, and then proceed with normal decking. Most manufacturers have a fairly thorough set of details to use for wall and edge flashing, as well as various penetrations and sleepers. They are free, so use them. Not to plug any one manufacturer, I would say that Carlisle has very extensive drawings and specifications for their products.

    1. Sco | Oct 16, 2003 06:16pm | #4

      Thanks for the info! You mentioned running sleepers under the membrane - I was considering applying the membrane (or whatever material I decide to use) directly to the advantech subfloor. Is that a bad idea? Then I was going to build a "floating" deck on top of the membrane and attach it to the wall using angle iron of some sort. This way there would be no penetrations through the roofing material. At least no intentional penetrations.

      I'll check out the products you mentioned.

      Thanks again!

      1. CHUCKYD | Oct 16, 2003 11:23pm | #6

        The floating deck would work, as well. Be sure to follow manufacturers recommendatins for installation. Most will want to apply another strip of membrane or some  object to enable thermal and dynamic slip between the membrane and the deck.

        For some reason, I assumed you were talking about a wood deck. If you are open to other options, such as the "Duradeck", I have another suggestion. You could install the membrane mentioned above in a ballasted manner, but use concrete pavers for the ballast. The manufacturers typically require a separator between the pavers and the membrane. The separators are usually placed at the corners of the pavers, and usually maintain a joint width of 1/8", or so. You put the paver/ballast down, and you're done! The pavers are usually available in a variety of styles, and you are looking at adding about 10 PSF to the deck.

        I have never used Duradeck, but I am sure it is a good product, as attested to by another poster. I would just urge caution and consider the activities that may take place on the deck. If you use it only for lounging and relaxation, that one be one thing. But you have more rugged activities, such as 300 Lb. women (or men) in spiked heels doing the jerk on the deck, that would be quite different. Golf shoes would also be a no-no.

        1. SledBC | Oct 17, 2003 01:54am | #7

          I've done many decks with Duradek that were the main entrance to the house and with the 60 mil. Ultra product it will last for years. The only real problem i had was one bozo who decided to chop firewood out on his deck... High heels, work boots, etc...no problem....keep caulk boots and golf cleats off it though :)

          If there is no Duradek dealer near you there are competitive copy-cat products that are perfectly fine if installed correctly, check Weatherdeck, or Deck-King. You can buy Deck-King product yourself (which is very good product) but if you aren't skilled in heat-welding the seams it could be sketchy, I've never had a seam leak, but I've fixed other peoples leaky seams and its not pretty.

          Still, this is probably your best option IMO.

  2. SledBC | Oct 16, 2003 02:25am | #2

    easy....Duradek. http://http://www.duradek.com I've been a dealer for 15 years and done numerous decks like you've spoken of and never had one problem. Im currently forming in some concrete stairs on job where I built a garage for them with a deck for a roof about 4 or 5 years ago, still looks like new. The 60 mil products are rated as a roofing membrane, so these would be the ones you would be looking at.

    Get a qualified dealer to install for you, im not sure what you're looking at cost wise where you live, but I charge $6-7/sq foot plus a perimeter charge per lineal foot for that product, labor and materials (CDN of course :)

    There really is no other nice option.

    1. SledBC | Oct 16, 2003 03:43am | #3

      Here's a couple links to some pictures of the deck i was referring to. It's nothing spectacular, and its a bit dirty since its a few years old now,  but it handles our northern climate very well, and I wouldn't do anything else for a deck over living quarters.

      http://www.wwwebproduction.com/work/deck2.jpg

      http://www.wwwebproduction.com/work/deck3.jpg

      http://www.wwwebproduction.com/work/deck1.jpg

      1. Sco | Oct 16, 2003 06:19pm | #5

        That is a nice looking deck! I actually looked into this material a few weeks ago, but according to their web site, there are no authorized applicators in the state of Maine. I'll have to drop them a note and see if that's still true.

        Thanks for the info!

  3. BaltimoreBrent | Aug 28, 2011 12:24pm | #8

    Roof Patio materials

    I own a rowhome in Baltimore city on which I am tearing up a rotted low pitch asphault shingle roof (to low pitch for asphault shingles).  To get something out of this mess I am looking to make a roof patio on the 38x13 foot second floor space, framing out a 1/4 inch per foot slope new roof.  I am looking for the mest roof patio materials to use... Duradek, deck king, epoxy paints, epdm, etc....   the one material I seem to keep coming back to is Sani-tred.  Has anyone here ever used this?   AMES research labs seems to have something similar but not quite as good.  I like that pathing in the future is easy (if ever required) , seemless, and that the sani-tred actually absorbs into and bonds to plywood (or many other building materials).   I dont know, for some reason this seems much better to me than vinyl or pvc glued down sheeting with seams.

    http://www.sanitred.com/DeckMaterial.htm

    I am just a DIYer, but maybe this stuff will hep some of you guys in a search for alternative materials. 

    I would love to get feedkback or experiences with thsi stuff... If you have any comments on this stuff either post here or let me know at [email protected]

    If I end up using this stuff maybe Ill try to photo/ video document it and post somewhere.

    Thanks!

    Brent

  4. bd | Sep 01, 2011 07:11am | #9

    another option

    Just one product that hasn't been mentioned. One of the old posters liked Sealoflex a lot. I've got absolutely no experience with it, but if you do a search on "mcdesign sealoflex", you'll get links to quit a few posts from him on why he likes it.

     

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