Deck on Top of A Rubber Membrane
geoffharris
| Posted in Construction Techniques on
Just curious on what everybody thinks about building a deck on top of a newly installed EPDM rubber roof? Obviously I want to have the least amount of penetrations as possible, if any at all. Will 2 x 4 sleepers laying on the deck be good enough without any screwing, bolting, or nailing to the deck? I know the rim joist can be lagged to the house, but what about the joists? Does the sheer weight of the deck alone keep it down?
Replies
Oh yeah, one more thing. How do I resize the pics so they're smaller?
Does the sheer weight of the deck alone keep it down?
Yes. Just don't provide space for wind to get under it.
I like to taper cut the sleepers so the deck surface is level. Glue leftover strips of EPDM to the bottom of the sleepers to minimize abrasion problems.
Mike,
Thanks for the help. Taper cuts make sense, because it is a pretty big drop over four feet. The abrasion parts makes a lot of sense as well.
Mike,
I got the resize down, but how about posting the picture inside of the actual posting?
do a save as .jpeg and they will be 15% file size for same photo size.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Check out the threads IMERC posted. I'm on high-speed, but dial-uppers won't be able to deal with file sizes over 100KB.
JPG's are more efficient users of data than BMP's, too, so you'll get a bigger picture with smaller file size.
24441.75 is a summary thread of the Irfanview download.
Cheers
sobriety is the root cause of dementia.
I am not going to give you any advice until you bring your siding down level with the bottom of the door.
http://forums.taunton.com/n/mb/message.asp?webtag=tp-breaktime&msg=94176.1
http://forums.taunton.com/n/mb/message.asp?webtag=tp-breaktime&msg=24441.114
this should get ya started on thr resizing...
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Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
Use the advanced search here for threads using the terms EPDM, IPE` and deck.
I'll look again after you resize.
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Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
where ...
Excellence is its own reward!
Generally the railing posts hold the decking onto the house. What is your railing detail here?
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"You cannot work hard enough to make up for a sloppy estimate."
We use this dimple drain membrane with the filter side up to hold two layers of 1/4" hardibacker glued together with thinset and then tiled with brick tile in thinset. works great and you don't have to worry about trash getting down between the deck boards and damaging your EPDM.
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"You cannot work hard enough to make up for a sloppy estimate."
Edited 9/18/2007 8:27 pm ET by ShelterNerd
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
Forgot the attachments------------------
"You cannot work hard enough to make up for a sloppy estimate."
That's cool Mike--
I like how you "plumbed" the railings.
What's that dimple membrane called?
sobriety is the root cause of dementia.
I've done exactly as you describe with sleepers of Trex and decking on top. Worked fine, until time to repair the roof, which required a full dismantle. After that I created 24" x 24" diagonal "squares" that drop down on the EPDM and allow for easy removal without tools. The Trex is heavy enough and the tight fit all hold it in place. I've never seen a single bit of movement.
Also, under the sleepers I've laid down a triple layer of landscaping black weed block (just under the sleepers) to allow for any expansion/contraction movement without the sleepers pulling the EPDM. I don't know if it makes a difference but it hasn't seemed to hurt.
Seth
My first EPDM job was a 10X12 corner balcony that gets a fair bit of wind. I constructed it like Mike Maines suggested with tapered sleepers padded with a couple layers of spare EPDM glued on their bottom edge. There has been no abrasion problem and no movement whatsoever. The EPDM was 45 mill.
20 years later, it's time to replace the weathered wood. The only change i'll make is to use a composite material this time.
SG, you might already know this, but if you're replacing the wood, it's a good time to replace the EPDM. 20 years is pretty close to its service life.
I was installing gutter on the balcony for the new owner just last month and i wondered about that, but i tried tearing an exposed edge that wasn't under the wood and it didn't seem at all brittle or rotten...must be some good stuff! I also have it on the flat part of the top of the roof, so now you've mentioned it, i'll check that too when i'm next at the house.
Check what I just wrote above to Mike.
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I'll certainly check the EPDM again when i remove the decking, but the exposed stuff wouldn't tear when i tried. That was only the second EPDM job i'd done (fully-adhered) and i thought it was a piece of cake. The several times since that i've used the material, it had a different feel to it....more elastic, though certainly not 'uncured'-elastic. It did have just a bit more 'give', so that i had to be more careful not to stretch it as i rolled it out into the glue. I wonder if the older stuff i got was made a little differently/better, though to be accurate, i haven't had any leaks at all from any cause. Still, thanks for the head's-up...i'd come to assume the stuff was indestructible!
That one is open to question Mike. The heavier thickness is easily good for fourty years with clean drainage, and UV is the primary aging influence. Not much UV gets through the decking.But on the other hand, there is probably a lot of grit that settles in under there in twenty years that can be abrading the surface with traffic and any vibrations from wind, so replacing the EPDM when the deck gets replaced is a good call.I replaced the deck over EPDM that another contractor had built. The EPDM was fione so I left it, and the sleepers were too. I reset them with the slip sheets that I use, then new IPE and railing. The previous deck was only 8-10 YO and was rotting, as was the railing
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She's got 45mil, isn't that the lighter one with 60mil being the heavy-duty?
8-10 years I can see, but if she's replacing the deck after 20 years I would think she's at least give the EPDM a good visual inspection.
I forget, do you use a slip sheet other than little strips of cutoff rubber?
Check yer email....
Yes, sixty is the heavier. I hadn't noticed that she'd said which.Just strips cut from excess material
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