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Im looking at a house to buy and redo. It has a huge deck that serves as a carport. It has marine carpeting on top of plywood. Looks like some tar is present. YThere is some damage inderneath to the plywood in one place.
The worst of the worst is this carpet. It is wrinkled badly. this has caused it so pull off the walls, where this tar looking stuff is visable next to the house. I think it was built up to drain away from the house which looks like sh… what I need to know is what to do with it for it to serve as a covered carport and a deck …..and be water proof. This was built on a very fine home ,…..20 years ago.I would appreciate your help.
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Tim,
Is there a chance we could see some pictures? Maybe that would help with responses.
*It will take a few days to get pics as Im working a hetic schedule. I will have to remove the carpet. What will be able to go down next? I have thought about the torch rubber floor, but Im wondering about adhesion to the tar. Also,Im wondering about carpeting over the rubber. I thought there is some of you that have done this before and done the research for it since its a very good use of a deck. However;I know this town very well and there isnt another one to look at. Actually this was my fathers idea 20 yrs ago.I have never seen another one.He came up with bright ideas with the houses he built sometimes, some havent been so bright. I could go back with deck boards easy enough, but this deck was dry underneath , a very nice feature to sit and look at the mountains with nice furniture sitting out side .It is on the veiw end of a two story a frame. Then the deck wraps around the house half way on both sides.Its a four thousand square footer., sitting in a very nice older neibor hood, looking off the end of the mountain. So it needs to be water proof to enjoy it and nice looking.
*Tim,It's a bad situation that's gone worse by bad repairs.Flat or low-sloped roofs used as decks over usable space have got to be one of the most problematic situations in house construction. There is no cheap, easy or quick fix to this. There are complicated layering methods but without knowing much more, the best advice I can give from here is to consider the deck a roof and treat it as such, and not walk on it once you've "roofed" it.If you need to keep it as a deck there are some good articles in FHB. If nobody else can find them for you, I'll look them up later when I've got more time. But this system is much more costly and still subject to further problems.What you have now seems to be a cobbled up mess, which won't help at all; you'll likely have to rip it all out or add ply over the top.Good luck,MD
*I appreciate the response. I know you are qaulified in your answer. I have read many of your other replies in other posts. This is the second post; the first got no replies at all. Ive been working on taxes this morning and I have been thinking about this post more than my work at hand. I think you have also explained to me why noone wants to touch it. I dont reply either if I feel there are others out there that are more knowledgeable. The posts Ive answered, I pretty much feel Ive been there done that enough to answer. Judeging from my knowledge about this town having no other decks like this one around has lead me to believe that it wasnt a good idea also. I need to fill in this blank also.This house has too many costly repairs already to think about spending a lot of money on this deck. It would probably be the best to tear it off and go back with deck boards. I just thought there might be something out there I didnt know that I could make use of on this house. Fact is ;I want the house for the adjoining lots around it. I have made up my mind to auction the house as is ,where is and like it is , if Im the successful bidder. So my price to buy will reflect that. thanks again ,Tim
*You can use EDPM membranes. They are waterproof rubber made for this purpose. They glue together.
*Tim,We do this type of waterproofing for a living. Check out the attachment. The Sealoflex CT is the best material that I have come across yet. It is an elastomer that is reinforced with a polyester fabric. You build it in place making it 100% adhesive to the underlayment. Sheet goods such as EPDM are OK until they get a leak. The problem is then to find the leak as the water can travel between the sheet goods and the eventual spot where it comes down on your furniture, etc..The Sealoflex CT is both water and vapor proof. If you want to call the factory they have an 800 number: (800) 770-6466. Ask for Rob.Good luck,Cliff.
*check with local paint store for their decking systems. name common here in san diego/so cal is excel(cote/coat?). referred to as *** herein...basically...replace ply where damaged and nail where loose. clean off. trowel on *** masonry product (basically DAP cement masonry repair/floor leveller material variant) to 1/8" to 1/4" thickness. lay fiberglass mat. with paint roller, apply adhesive on fiberglass. spray with *** texturecoat. with paint roller, apply latex "epoxy" deck sealer.suggest a coving bead along the deck and house. what wall material are we talking about?brian
*Its rough native stone Brian.Can I lay carpet back over any of these?thanks guys
*TimI'm curious about the nature of a wood deck, covered in plywood and carpet, that can support a car. IMHO the only way to park a car on a roof, and have a watertight roof, is to install the roof membrane on a concrete and steel structure. Over this you pour a second layer of concrete to protect the roof membrane. This is a very expensive design , but parking a car on framing and plywood????? Insurance? There is no cheap, easy design for this problem.Terry
*Terry,Tim's carport is i underneaththe deck. The cars are on ground level.
*DOH!!!The doctor warned me about counting my meds out properly, and not taking to many of the pretty ones.SorryTerry
*Tim, i put 45 mill EPDM on a deck on the walkout side of the basement where i have my wood shop. I spray lacquer under it, so i'd soon know if it leaked. I also did another for my new shop that is a 24 x 16 carport cum spray booth, part of a waterprrof deck/catwalk system i ran almost all the way around the house. I ran the EPDM up the wall for flashing, used term bar where the siding was already on; will tuck it under the new siding on the next job. Indoor/outdoor carpet to protect the surface, but i don't have any BBQ's up top, only foot traffic, people and dogs. No problems, but you don't want to mix asphalt and rubber products, though, so the residue from the previous carpet adhesive would be a problem. Same goes for the next carpet. Also, you want to be able to replace it, so anchor it with carpet tape at the edges and planters! And don't get the cheap stuff that stretches! Can you flip the ply and use the unglued side? Or re-sheathe; 20 years is a lot to expect of a sheet of wet ply.The first one i did was a balcony in an inside corner against a brick wall and i have a little trouble sealing against the brick--have to go up every so often and redo it, as there's a valley there and it gets built up with snow and ice sometimes, too. That one has a regular wood deck on top, but the only leaking seems to be at these term bars, which i should have set higher on the wall. I haven't got any idea what to do for rough stone, though.
*So there is people doing this. Well, I will tell ya;that must have been the problem here, because the tar is built up against the house ,asking the water to please exit away from the house.What I have got in my head is that this would have been a better idea in new construction than now. It could have been flashed properly. I can see that the only problem with this job is they had no way to flash it. Whats worse is there is about 24 feet of wall and windows that catches rain and drains down to the carpet . Its must be a lot of water. I want to thank every one again as I have copied this all to file. This is a great thing to be able to come here and trade ideas, get some , or give them . You all have been great to give your time.happy trails ,Tim
*Tim, how about a free-standing carport that doesn't have to be flashed. You would let the water drain off the inside edge instead, with a gutter to carry the water to the side. Not perfect, but an idea to throw out......maybe way out, LOL!