Maintaining Your Roof Deck

A roof deck is a second outdoor living room where you can kick back and relax. Long bench seats are comfortable for entertaining, especially when topped with throw pillows and blankets.

Vegetable and fruit plants can thrive on a rooftop, so you can grow your own produce while enjoying the views. To keep your garden looking beautiful, consider adding planters with a variety of colors and shapes.

Design

Rooftop decks create inviting open space in vertical, urban environments. The design and implementation of these spaces requires careful consideration for constructability and long-term success.

The type of roof deck material chosen depends on the weight it needs to support, which further varies based on roofing materials and special features such as walking decks, swimming pools, bars and more. The most common choice is wood, with plywood or tongue and groove wood systems able to hold up well to almost any roofing material.

Hardwood decking is durable, and can be restained to stay looking like new. Oriented strand board (OSB) is another great option, as it can provide similar strength and durability to plywood, while requiring less maintenance. Planting herbs and lush greenery in large-scale planters is another low-maintenance way to spruce up your rooftop deck. Turf is also an easy-to-care-for ground cover that can make your roof feel like a natural retreat. Decorate your deck with comfortable furniture and throw pillows that complement the colors of the sky.

Materials

Roof decking is usually made of flat sheets of plywood or oriented strand board (OSB). OSB is engineered wood that is produced by compressing and gluing wood strands in set orientations, and it has overtaken plywood as the preferred roofing material for both residential and commercial construction.

Using steel roof decking can increase the longevity of your roof. Steel is available in various finishes, including uncoated, galvanized, and prime painted. The finish you choose will depend on the engineer and/or specs for your project.

When constructing your rooftop deck, use proper underlayment to prevent sheathing from swelling or rotting. The underlayment should be moisture-resistant and provide a barrier against excess heat or cold. It should also be installed in a way that prevents leaking from the roofing system to the sheathing. To reduce the chance of roof lift-off during a storm, nail sheathing in a pattern that evenly distributes lateral loads and use galvanized nails to protect against corrosion.

Safety

Whether you plan to use your roof deck for entertaining guests or simply relaxing with a book, it’s crucial that safety is prioritized. Falls from rooftop decks are the leading cause of injury, and most involve a sprain or tear to the shoulder. Regular inspections and maintenance can help prevent these accidents, including examining the structural integrity of your roof deck.

Other safety measures include securing loose objects, especially those that are lightweight and can become projectiles during strong winds. Installing child-proof barriers can also protect young ones from hazardous areas of the deck.

It’s also essential to consider the weight limit of the deck, especially with furniture and other accessories like grills and planters. Too much weight can damage or even collapse the deck and deteriorate roofing materials. It’s important to check with a professional contractor before starting your roof deck to ensure it can handle the additional weight. It’s also important to follow building codes and zoning restrictions to avoid legal complications.

Maintenance

When the decking is in bad shape, your roofers can’t just replace a few sheets of plywood or OSB and call it done. They’ll likely need to dig down, remove the damaged material, replace it with a new layer and make sure that there are no leaks in the substructure. They’ll also need to ensure that the outer roof material, whether shingles, tile or metal panels, is protected from water and rot by proper drainage.

Wood splinters are another common problem with roof decks. When temperature and moisture changes cause the boards to expand and contract, they rub together, creating rough surfaces that may give people splinters when walking on them. In order to prevent splinters and other structural problems, roofers often recommend semi-annual inspections. Water stains, sagging rafters and curling or buckling shingles are all signs that it’s time for a roof check-up. Proper ventilation is vital to the long-term survival of roof decks as well.



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