Thursday, April 29, 2010

Waterproof upper-level deck

Waterproof upper-level deck with waterproof membrane to protect room below
Shell Busey, Special to Vancouver CourierPublished: Wednesday, April 07, 2010

Q: I have a tar and gravel roof and want to create a summer deck. Other than laying down new T&G plywood and fibreglass, is there another solution to finish the area to give me total water protection since there is a finished room under this area?
A: One of the most common methods of waterproofing an upper-level deck is to lay down a waterproof membrane. Fibreglass would not be my first choice for reasons of maintenance and heat.
My suggestion would be to use Duradek Vinyl, which has a 60-ml grade that qualifies as a roof membrane and is installed by professional contractors providing a fire-rated, building-code-approved roof deck system.

To begin, remove all the loose gravel from the roof and the perimeter flashing. To prepare for a flat sundeck surface, a sleeper joist system is required. Calculating the dimension of the sleeper joist will require taking a level off the top of the perimeter facing board and taking a measurement. Use 2x4 treated lumber at 16 inches on centre (shimming with treated cedar shingles where required) to give a slope to one or two sides to run water; or proper drains may be required to adapt to existing drains.
Around the perimeter, it's best to install 4x4 treated lumber to prepare for secure safety railings such as ProBuilt's Aluminum Do-It-Yourself Railings.
Finish surface with tongue-and-groove select fir plywood. Contact Duradek at 1-866-591-5594 and they will refer you to the appropriate installer in your area.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Album - Leaking flat roof turns into 900+ sq ft usable outdoor space

What was a tiny little walk out deck has become a beautiful roof deck. A great example of how to get the most out of your home while adding value.
Wouldn't you like to invite your friends over for dinner on you new roof deck overlooking the forest and the Wasatch Mountians?

Laying out the materials for a dry fit eliminates errors.
Adding slope manages the water flow off the roof into the gutter system.
Sanding the plywood surface helps to turn this roof into a "floor"

It was a mess, doing it right with Dekmax and Duradek means no worries for decades to come.
Look at the amount of room that was gained by using a walkable roof product!

The tar seaping out of the overlapped areas get on your shoes and ends up in the house.

You can see the rail at the bottom of the picture cut off the largest part of this flat roof. Since they had to fix a leaking roof anyway why not do it right and open up the whole room as an etertainment area?









Monday, April 12, 2010

Do it right the first time!


Although it is beautiful now, this awesome outdoor area had some serious issues. Unfortunatly these costly repairs would have been avoided with the proper system and professional installation. Originally done with tile a water leak into the living space below was the cause for repair. What was found is all too common and can be avioded.

The process that was used involved several different products and some did not follow the manufacturer's recomendations. The subfloor was OSB, ice & water shield, 1/4 inch fiberboard, thinset, then tile.







The picture to the right is a tile from the outer edge of the deck. You can see the tile and about 1/4 inch of thinset was used here.









In this picture you see another tile this one comes aproximatly ten feet from the above picture. What you see here is the dramtic change in thickness of the thinset and an additional inknown product. This was done in an effort to create the nessesary slope to drain the water from the deck surface. This is one of the errors in the installation process.




Tile, thinset and grout are not waterproof. Adding thicker layers does provide slope as you see it and with a level, but water is being absorbed into these materials and looking for an escape. This is a very common problem and can be very costly when failure occurs. When your project calls for tile / stone on an outdoor surface we recommend that you use only products that are fully warranteed over living space and comes with a roofing approval.


Here we have some pieces of the 1/4 inch fiber board that were used over the ice & water shield. When installing tile again we recommend using 1/2 inch cement board per the tile industry standards.

Here you can see the long, darker color piece on top of the larger one. The color difference is the amount of moisture in the longer piece. According to the label this product is moisture and mold resistant. Again the manufacture does not approve of this product being used in an outdoor application.





This is what was to be the waterproof material for this project. Once again it is not for use in a walkeable roof application. It is a deck we are talking about but, since it is over living space this is also a roof. As such a roofing product was needed to avoid these costly errors.

Look closely and you can see the roofing nails that were used to attach the sheets. Never a good idea to put holes into what you are trying to waterproof.


On the right there are visible signs of the water damage and what looks like an area where mold has begun to form. This home owner is fortunate that they are doing the repair now rather then later, this could have been much much worse.







All of this can be avoided by using some simple common sense. Be sure you are using products that are within the manufacturer's recommendations and only a professional who has been properly trained on the products used.