IB Roof Installation in Lynn, MA
Even though this was a relatively big two family house with the roof being about 1200 sq. feet it only had one 3 inch drain in the middle of it – that was just the way houses were built back in the days. The roof was originally tar & gravel and naturally, after installing couple more new layers, it lost its slope towards the middle of the roof where drain is. That, of course, caused water to pond making the situation even worse and resulting in multiple leaks. Roofing contractor who was called for repair charged $3500 and installed another patch right where water was ponding – naturally, story repeated itself in no time. So, when we met the owner he was very frustrated and angry about the whole story – costly repairs were done but with no improvements.
We decided to strip top two layers, recreate original slope and install 50 mill IB PVC membrane over ½ inch fan-fold insulation.
After the strip was done we discovered that because water was getting under the roof for a long time there were multiple places were roof deck was completely rotten and deteriorated, we even found a termite colony at one place (wood and moisture, talk about better combination for termites!). Another problem was the drain itself: after multiple repair attempts it had some build-up around it making it not the lowest point of the roof.
After all rot damage was repaired and frame was rebuild we proceeded with installing IB membrane. 6 inch wide pressure treated wood nailer was installed around all edges. Than we installed ½ inch thick insulation and started rolling out IB membrane.
Two old vents were removed and replaced with IB vents; both chimneys were wrapped around about two feet high and terminated with masonry anchors and termination bar. After all seams were hot air welded together – forming one continuous piece of membrane – it was a time to replace the drain. We cut the old piece out and installed new 3 inch IB drain with rubber gasket to prevent possible back-flow and aluminum dome over it to prevent it from clogging with leaves and other debris.
As a result – nice watertight roof, no ponding water and one happy customer.
