Henry Walker Homes, Columbus Court

Columbus Court, by Henry Walker Homes

 When your building homes with views like this how can you best take advantage of them?  Henry Walker Homes has the answer, call in the experts and make every use possible of the space available with the design.  Here they have used a roof top deck to bring the city views into the home.  Imagine waking up, looking out your bedroom to this breath taking view of the capitol.  There are two steps to be taken when adding a walkable roof to the design - First - use a product that meets or exceeds building code for a walkable roof.  Second - Have a trained professional installer do the work.
In this case Duradek and Lone Star Builders Inc. who have a long history together again teamed up to provide an awesome waterproof walkable roof top deck that is bound to be a drawing feature of this home.  Doing a job like this has to be done right the first time and with ascetically pleasing details.

Flush drip edge

Builders and roofers have been doing membranes for a very long time.  Membranes are the best option when it comes to providing a cost effective roof that will last without any ongoing maintenance costs.  But, they have a tendency to be "ugly" the way they are installed.  This is where the folks at Duradek have stepped in and provided the correct details in order to make the walkable roof design a focal point of the home.  Here are but a few of them as they were being done on this Columbus Court home.  To the right you can see where the Lone Star installer has recessed the edge of the rooftop substrate.  By doing so they have made it so the drip edge will fit flush to the plywood, eliminating seeing the drip edge and aiding in water run off.

Notice the recessed area, lower right corner             

Since the membrane is going to be fully adhered to the plywood substrate preparation is key.  Any imperfections in the plywood such as knot holes are filled in.  The seams where the plywood meet are also addressed so there is no line showing thorough the finished product. In the lower right hand corner the trained installer has already measured out the location of the seam and has recessed the 3/4 inch over lap.  This will allow the bottom sheet to drop into the groove, the top sheet then will be aligned thus eliminating the "bump" often seen with over lapped seams.  Although the seam doesn't go away completely they are more difficult to locate and will not impede the water flow.

As you see on the left a Duradek installer uses a scrapper and rubs the membrane in by hand.  This provides them an opportunity to catch any debris that may have been trapped under the membrane as well as assuring the best bond possible. Here they are aligning the bottom sheet with the recessed seam.

Here installer is heat welding the recessed seams together.  Basically the two sheets are melted back as one. As you can see here, the recessed seams are not even noticeable.




Roof decks are fast becoming a highly sought after feature of any new home in the Utah market.  Virtually every location has a wonderful view and with the right design, like the one seen here will help to increase the builders sales and customer satisfaction.

Concrete, radiant heat. Lonepeak Contracting does it right

No this is not a new design being used on this concrete radiant heated roof deck.  This type of work can be found all to often, it is called a band-aid for a water intrusion problem.  What you see here is a concrete roof deck (over living space) that began to leak into the rooms below.  This design like so many others in the Park City area has a radiant heat system buried in the concrete.

The home owners made great use of the deck and the ability to use it fro entertainment and just plain relaxing, getting this job done right was imperative. Thanks to the professionals at Lonepeak Contracting in Salt Lake City they have their beautiful roof deck back even better than it was with a peace of mind that the water issues will be gone for decades.

In order to make the installation as quick as requested and yet keep all the furniture, barbecue's, umbrella's and other items together Lonepeak simply took advantage of one of Duradek's greatest features.  It is in use as soon as it is down.  So they simply moved all the stuff to one side, installed half the deck and then moved all the belongings to the finished side.  So much easier then trying to remove all these things from a roof top.
Once done it was a simple re-arrangement to the home owners liking.

The choice of Duradek's Utra Marble Mocha really added a touch of elegance to the roof deck.  With these wonderful glass wind breaks they can sit outside and relax in comfort with their new roof deck.  There is enough room to have dozens of friends over and have a great time.

Adds value and outdoor living space!

This beautiful home has a over sized yard with a play area for the kids but was lacking and outdoor area for entertaining and watching the sun sets.  The home owners knew they wanted to accomplish several things to improve the home and increase the value as well.  First thing they wanted was a waterproof, long lasting deck that would be virtually maintenance free an yet stand up to the harsh winters and allow shoveling, rock salt etc. By making it waterproof they opened up the lower level slab deck too, double the area of use providing them with 600 sq ft of outdoor entertaining area and lots of dry storage. 

Above the Duradek Ultra Mocha Marble surface allows them a wonderful design that compliments the exterior of the home.  Now they don't just welcome friends out to the deck, they marvel at the difference a waterproof solid surface can provide for years and years to come without the concerns about winter and water intrusion.

Here is where the design really made sense.  The lower slab deck being dry was important to them but they also wanted to have a true "dry storage" area that could be secured.  Great idea to use the stairs and landing as that area!  Both the stairs and landing are covered in Duradek (with composite steps) providing them with a nice place to put the furniture, lawn tools, or whatever.

Because Duradek is a true roofing membrane and meets or exceeds the ICC testing requirements it is common to see the use of lighting or ceiling fans as you see hear.  There is no concern that water will short out or damage the electrical system that can happen with other products.

This is a great example of Duradek being used to protect the initial investment (building the deck). Adding dry storage (the lower deck and the under stair storage). Most important adding value to the home because of these things.

Open House Rivercrossing Town Homes, Logan Utah

Be sure and come by Saturday the 28th of April and visit with us while taking in beautiful views off these roof top decks. Relax and enjoy listening to the river or watch some golfers hitting into the green. DRD Properties as well as Duradek of Utah will be on hand from 10-2

Rivercrossing Town Homes Logan, Utah

We have been posting about the Rivercrossing Town Homes in Logan, Utah and will continue to add more so you can have a before during and after view of the project.

This article just came out as well and has some highlights / comments form DRD Properties too.

http://www.duradek.com/_customelements/uploadedResources/RoofTopDecksAddValueMarch2012.pdf

Roof Decks - Rivercrossing Townhomes Logan, Utah

Rivercrossing Townhomes - Creating Value in Real Estate and Quality of Life.
If your from the East coast the term "Roof Deck" is very common. Condo's and Townhome designers have been using them as a feature for decades. If your a fan of the many home improvement shows like HGTV or House Hunters you have probably seen an episode where the perspective buyer wants a Townhome so the maintenance is minimal but they all require that it has a roof deck for entertaining.

When done correctly they are a great addition to the home. Duradek is the way to do a roof deck right, ask David Rupp of @Home Realty. David has been instrumental in bringing this very unique design to life in one of the harshest climates in Utah.

What makes Duradek different than the other products is really very simple. They don't mess around, waterproofing is a serious business and not one to be taking shortcuts in. Duradek's walkable roof membranes meet or exceed both traffic coating and roofing approvals. That means they go through more than four times as much testing! A coating product will only be tested in four areas while Duradek goes through eighteen of them, there are very, very few products in Utah that are approved as a walkable roof system.

Over the next couple of posts here we will walk through the installation process from beginning to completion and explain the steps taken that will provide you with a waterproof deck that will last for decades. Oh yeah, the maintenance program is - Wash it off!

Ideas for Decks interview

Here is an interview based on a project in Capitol Hill, Salt Lake City, Utah.
http://duradek.blogspot.com/2012/02/ideas-for-deck-designs-offers-quality.html