Waterproofing ideas for plywood roof/deck platform
SeattleDIYer
| Posted in General Discussion on
Hi all,
We just bought a house that is high up on a bluff overlooking a lake. There is a staircase that leads from the top of the bluff to the shore below. Before reaching the shore, there is a 15ft x 15ft landing/deck area that looks out onto the water. The landing is also the roof of a small storage shed below that holds kayaks and such. The landing/roof is all plywood and rotted. Any ideas on material/waterproofing I could use to replace this rotted plywood?
Diverting the water could be an issue because the deck appears to be flat. Creating a drainage system would require us to build up the landing and add a slanted roof to the shed, which is more than I would like to take on. Any ideas?
Replies
Why not just use typical decking (pressure-treated or a composite decking like TREX) for the landing? You only need the slightest angle for drainage, like a porch floor, it can be practically imperceptible. To protect the boats underneath you could suspend a "roof" under the landing, angled so that any rainwater coming through either rolls off into a simple gutter or just past the area covering the boats/storage shed (not sure if your shed has walls). This roof could be made of a simple corrugated metal or rigid plastic, fastened securely to the existing framing so it doesn't catch the wind and flap around.
You can also treat it like a boat deck, replace the plywood, use a tongue and groove product to ensure the edges stay aligned. You could even use composite decking panels instead of plywood if you want to go all out.
Make it overhang the support structure and allow for a drip edge or flashing so that water does not follow back to the wall surface below.
Then fiberglass the surface and sides of the new deck.
https://www.fisheriessupply.com/resins-and-epoxies is one source for materials.
EPDM roofing with walkway pavers for foot traffic would be my recommendation. The fiberglass route from uncle Mike will work too but you wont find toomany builders willing to take that on as project.