While your roof may need occasional repairs to shingles and flashing, you may never have to deal with a major roof repair like a bad deck. If the deck of your roof has water damage, it starts to rot and get soft. That can make your roof look like it's sagging, and that's dangerous since the roof might fail. When your roof has widespread deck damage, the entire roof may need to be replaced. Here's a look at roof repairs for a bad deck.
Determine What Needs To Be Replaced
Your roofer needs to look over your entire roof to determine how much damage needs to be repaired. The sagging deck may only be on one side of the roof with the other side still being dry and firm. If so, you'll need to decide if you want to replace the whole deck and shingles or just replace the damaged side.
Insurance probably won't pay to help with roof repairs needed due to neglect, so you may opt for replacing just one side in order to save money. However, if it fits your budget, you may want to replace your whole roof so the shingles age at the same pace.
Begin By Tearing Off The Old Roofing In The Damaged Area
Once your roofer knows the boundaries of the damage, they can tear off the old shingles and underlayment to expose the sagging deck. When they can see the deck clearly, they can cut away the damaged deck and leave the dry materials alone. The crew has to work carefully since walking on a rotted deck is dangerous and a person could fall through and land in the attic.
Check And Repair Rafters
It's possible rain leaked on one or two rafters under the deck and caused them to rot too. The roofer has to repair the rafters by reinforcing them so they can hold up the deck. The roofer may need to look around the inside of your attic to check all of the rafters carefully since it's important to repair them and stop the rotting.
Once the rafters are repaired, work can begin to build back the roof. If it will take time to complete the rafter repairs, the roofer might need to cover the hole in your roof with a tarp to keep out the rain until the deck and underlayment can be replaced.
Replace Deck, Underlayment, And Shingles
Plywood can be cut to any size and shape needed to patch the deck. The plywood is nailed to the rafters to make it secure. Then peel-and-stick underlayment is applied to the deck to make it watertight. The final step is to put on new shingles. These are layered over the underlayment and blended in with the existing shingles so the roof is as resistant to leaking as possible.
Fixing a sagging deck is an involved repair that takes time. However, it should be done as soon as sagging is noticed or the roof might cave in and then you'll have an emergency to deal with. For more information, contact a roofing contractor near you.
When you develop a roof leak, you don't have time to ignore it. Issues with leaks can cause problems as simple as incoming water and as wide-ranging as mold accumulation inside your home, which is why you should never let an issue sit. However, if you aren't careful, you could develop problems with roofing that is simply open to the elements, allowing rain and snow to enter your home, melt, and contribute to problems like mold growth. On this blog, you can learn more about the kinds of roofing issues that you could be faced with, and what to do about them.