Spongy Flat Roof

Most roofs have plywood sheeting underneath the roofing tiles or shingles.

Spongy flat roof. One of the most common questions we receive here concerns roof soft spots. If you can tell there s a soft spot on your roof this most likely means that the substrate below the roofing material is damaged and deteriorating. This will need to be repaired before the roof can be built up in. These roofs work well but you do need to inspect them on occasion for cracks and other signs of damage.

A conversion of a flat roof to a pitched roof is not a simple exercise. Before coming up with a repair plan it is essential that you understand why this roof failed. Flat roofs which are mostly level are common on older homes and in arid environments. And that extreme heat can damage both your shingles and the wood decking below them and causing your roof to feel soft when walking on it.

Without good attic ventilation your roof gets extremely hot. If the roof feels spongy beneath the puddling area it means water has seeped through to the lower layers of the roofing material. The slope should be a minimum of 1 in 80 but in practice a minimum slope of 1 to 40 should be used to allow for deflection of the roof and for normal building tolerances. Most roofs have plywood sheeting underneath the roofing tiles or shingles.

You don t want to put new sheathing on top of spongy sheathing. The reason for these soft spots is that the layer underneath is probably very soaked due to gaps in the shingles cause over time and weather changes and the water is seeping through the sheeting. These will often appear spongy. It is a structural modification so it will involve engineering and a development application.

These soft spots usually form when the layer underneath gets soaked due to gaps in the shingles. Roof surfaces where ponding occurs will have a spongy feeling when touched. When inspecting your flat roof look for splits or long cracks that if present will be visible parallel joints of your insulation. The roof work on a new house can be about 20 to 30 of the total house cost.

Inadequate attic ventilation can also cause your shingle roof to feel spongy or bouncy. These are cracks are caused by poor workmanship freeze thaw conditions and surface stress. For clarity flat roofs actually have a slight slope to allow rain water to drain off the roof but they seem flat when compared with more traditional steeply sloped roofs. How attic ventilation keeps your roof cool and healthy.

This can be a result of the plywood sheeting becoming wet from rain above or from moisture not being able to escape from below and leading to mold mildew growth on the wood. That dip in the roof with a soft spot indicates that you should have your roof repaired asap.