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I am an existing home inspector and I hate combo roof/decks. I guess it is ok if you put duckboards on sleepers (not really thrilled with that even),but never consider a typical roof covering adequate to be used as a walking surface. my favorite is roof/deck with no guard rail and a lot of 2’high vent pipes
I once saw a slick system that looked to be a typical torch down with 2’x2′ rubber squares glued down on top,they were similar to rubber foot mats. only seen it once ,no clue as to manufacture
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Aaron
Why not use a waterproof vinyl membrane such as made by duradek or deck-king. These are standard products in my area (Pacific North West) where we get more than our fair share of rain. They are designed for exactly your situation.
In your case because it is over a living area you will need the heavier 60 mil guage. In my area the installed price for this product is from 4 to 5 dollars per square foot (Canadian). The product is glued down using contact cement over G1S plywood. The recommended slope for these decks is between 1/8" and 1/4" per foot.
Check them out at http://www.duradek.com and http://www.deckking.com
There are other manufacturers of these types of products however these are the only two I have had installed on any of my jobs. I have seen decks with these membranes 10 years old and still look great.
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I have a site and plan that is well suited to a basement level that projects out farther than the first floor. I would like the roof of this projection to be a walk-out deck for the first floor. I've seen a wooden deck over membrane, but junk falls between the cracks and is hard to remove. Tar buildup with gravel is nasty to walk on. How about a cementitious waterproof synthetic stucco over plywood decking? I am going to use such a product (Grailcoat) on an ICF in the spring. Anybody done something similar? TIA.
*Hi Aaron,I assume it's not to be a covered deck. You know what I'd do? I'd let the junk fall through the cracks. It's by far the least of all evils.MD
*How about Both. Use a simple and traditional built up roof but for the deck floor use a composite deck product like Timbertech which is toung and groved. I have never used it but they have a web site.www.TimberTech.comDave
*We will be installing Grailcoat on 2 decks Monday.We used a peel and stick membrane over plywood decking. Next we screwed Hardybacker on top. We will use fiberglass tape for the joints and hand apply the Grailcoat. About 30 days ago we did a little experiment in our shop with Grailcoat. We coated a cardboard box with it and filled it with water. We left it for 2 weeks. The water did not leak out and the outside of the box stayed dry. It is an amazing product.
*I am an existing home inspector and I hate combo roof/decks. I guess it is ok if you put duckboards on sleepers (not really thrilled with that even),but never consider a typical roof covering adequate to be used as a walking surface. my favorite is roof/deck with no guard rail and a lot of 2'high vent pipesI once saw a slick system that looked to be a typical torch down with 2'x2' rubber squares glued down on top,they were similar to rubber foot mats. only seen it once ,no clue as to manufacture
*I am also planning on building a new house this summer with a daylight basement on one end with a deckabove. But why not just put 2x8s on 12" centers, glue and screw down 1" pressure treated plywood thenapply the Grailcoat on top of that. RHelton
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Noone uses Elastomeric, made by Universal? I have used it over living space. We use it a lot in SF Bay Area. Very good stuff.