Mid Century Modern Flat Roof Replacement - Day 1

Happy coincidences are good. It's Cincinnati Modernation's 50th blog post and it's about none other than the new roof finally starting work here at Westminster. Coming home to the scene on the left during my lunch break, the roofers had begun excavation, juicy.

The goal for day one was to rip up about 8-9 feet of the existing sloped roof, install insulation and new decking, then 1" of polyiso insulation, then glue down the new reinforced EPDM membrane.

Some of the initial discovery involved just about what was expected. The roof joists and 2x purlins are in pretty good shape as is the existing redwood fascia board. The workers are standing on the existing plywood decking, probably the original plywood. On the sloped portion there was very minor damage and wear. Nonetheless this must be removed and replaced for the insulation installation.

Trying to get a shot of the existing fascia, which is fastened to a perimeter 2x that is connected to the stepped exterior masonry wall. It's a long way down to the back yard from the high point of our roof.

Here's a look at the open structure. A couple of the purlins had to be replaced, but since not much water has ponded and been absorbed in this area, not much damage. The 2x10 joists are 12" oc and with the 2x purlins the roof is a bit overbuilt to today's residential standards. This shot reveals that our solarium didn't have a ceiling before the vinyl 'Gened Up' nightmare that occured to it during the 90's. Thankfully we will resolve this in the future.

A closer look at the edge of the existing shingle roof. The roofers use a ginormous saw with wheelbarrow like handles set to depth to rip the existing roof into strips, ply it up by hand and to the dumptruck it goes.

A closeup of the four friggin layers of roofing at this area. Shingles over EPDM membrane over rolled asphalt shingle roofing over the original built-up tar and gravel roof. Almost a new roof for every 15 years. Photos speak louder than text here.

Later after Day 1 completion of work, I grabbed my ladder and headed up to check out progress. Here's a closeup of the new construction vs. the old from what I could get a photo of. The roofer's policy is if it's predicted to rain, no tearing off and any work that is done is sealed off in case of weather issues. It has rained a good bit since this work was done.

Overall everything is securely weighted down and the new rubber looks extremely clean.











A nice view from the side. Note the perimeter of the roof is now higher to create a mini dam which will lend to a nice coping condition at the edge of the roof. With all the existing layers of roof, this is a flush, overflowing condition in heavy rain currently. I'm thinking we need a couple of overflow scupper locations on the flat area just in case.

Nothing like dead weight to do the job. As of today with the rain, Monday will be the earliest that work will progress. It's hard not to be anxious seeing the smooth field of new reinforced EPDM. We're doing an infrared thermal scan after the next phase to analyze the difference in the existing and new. Make sure to check out more photos on Cincinnati Modernation's facebook website as the roof makes progress.