roof decking

roofthis

i have a 120 year old baltimore city row home. it has 4 exterior brick walls they measure 2 @12 feet wide and 2 @ 45 feet long. The entire roof deck is rotted rough cut 1 x ?s. They're all different measurements. I replaced all the decking borads with 2 x 6 x 10. The rafter span is approx. 3' 3". i cut approx 3" off each board thereby centering the but end on the rafters. Someone mentioned they need to be staggered. i see no reason to stagger the deck boards, your thoughts

1910NE

I am curious why you used 2x instead of plywood? Probably just my lack of knowledge, but that doesn't stop me from being curious...Also worth mentioning that you have changed the thickness of your roof, and will need to compensate for that along the fascia

roofthis

no problem curious george...LOL

did i mention its a flat roof and the rafters are 3' 3" on center. plywood is to thin. the change in thickness won't matter because were addressing everything new at the low end, gutter, fascia etc.

Its really a brick shell, a "full gut rehab" we call them here. i'm contacting the city for codes tomorrow so i'll have their take on it soon. Check back ill post the answer.

just something to think about...my understanding is that we stagger lumber to strenghten structures against lateral movement in this case we have a brick structure. in my mind there is or will be no relative lateral movement ( at least thats what i think ) but i'm not an engineer.

thanks for replying

woodworkbykirk

staggering the joints will stenghten whatever your sheathing, if its the roof the roof becomes stronger. just because the building is brick it doesnt have anthing to do with the roof. floors, walls, and roofs are all individual systems that act as one. the stronger one is the stonger they'll all be.

besides, by staggering the joints it wont telegraph through the roofing material as much. on cold days the easiest spot for heat to escape is through the joints, this is why in the morning if you look at newer convential roofs with plywood sheathing you can see a grid pattern from the plywood, its the frost melting at the joints

OhioHomeDoctor

Dont forget the clips