Step By Step Instructions Of Building A Deck On A Sloped Roof
A deck on a sloped roof needs a contrasting way of dealing with the framing below the joists. Roof deck framing, as opposed to the decks at ground level, doesn't necessitate a ledger affixed to the rim joist of a house. Instead, a pair of beams rest on supports, called by the name of sill plates, in order to create a frame for the deck. After you have kept your beams in place, everything above them, like joists, deck boards, balusters, and handrails is the same as for any other deck. In order to build a rooftop deck on a sloped roof, go through the below-mentioned steps carefully:
- Prerequisites: Acquire the prerequisites for a deck above a sloped roof from your control's permit office. Communicate any special setbacks to your architects, for instance, rules that the deck front starts 8 feet behind the roof ridgeline or that the deck height is no more than 2 feet above the midpoint betwixt the gable and the rear of the roof. These prerequisites will help keep a roof deck's framing closely and neatly packed together as well as hide the deck from the street in historic districts with older row houses.
- Sill Plates: Trim 4 1-foot lengths of 2-by-6 lumber for your sill plates, which will function as bases in order to support each end of a pair of beams at the front as well as the back of the deck. Your architect will assign & select that the plates be secured to a strong area of the roof, usually over a masonry end wall.
- Create Beams: Now, build beams to the architect's description in terms of length as well as thickness, for instance, you may need to build a 4-by-10 beam out of two 2-by-10 pieces of lumber. Fasten the lumber together in place with a clamp. Mark the top as well as the bottom of the beam every 3 feet, 3 inches in from the edge. Drill between both pieces of lumber at each mark with the help of a paddle bit. Press a galvanized lag bolt between the face of the beam into each drilled hole and position a washer and nut on the back of the beam. Tighten the nuts smoothly with the help of a ratchet wrench and socket.
- Position Beams: Place one beam at the front of the sloped deck perpendicular to the front pair of sill plates. You will need an assistant to take hold of the beam in place with the help of a spirit level to find a true vertical. Position a hold-down, a strong metal angle bracket, on either side of the beam at a higher level than one sill plate. Make a marking on the holes in each hold-down on the sill plate before placing the beam aside.
- Pilot Holes: Drill pilot holes between the sill plate and its shim with the help of a 3/8-inch wooden drill bit through your marks. Press the drill bit moderately between the shim in order to cut the roof surface to mark the starting of your pilot hole for a threaded rod to take hold of the sill plate in place. Move to a hammer drill with the help of a long 3/8-inch masonry bit if you are relentless into brick. Keep drilling deep into the roof structure in order to accept a 3/8-inch threaded rod, which acts as an anchor, per the architect's prerequisites, which may call for the rod to be embedded 8 inches into roof masonry.
- Epoxy Glue: Glue the threaded rod in place and let it to set as per the epoxy manufacturer's instructions. Turn a nut quickly on top of each threaded rod and secure it after the epoxy has set to firmly tighten the hold-downs, sill plates, and shims. Continue the process for the other sill plate and hold-down.
- Hold-downs: Position the beam betwixt the hold-downs. Make the marking on the holes in the top arm of the hold-downs where it connects with the beam. Drill between these marks with the help of a wood drill bit. Press a galvanized bolt between the hold-downs and the beam, add a washer and nut, and firmly secure it.
- Install Joists: Place the rear beam over the rear sill plates by going through the same procedure. If your architect has planned stylishly and your roof slopes smoothly, your deck joists will run from the front beam to a joist remaining atop the rear beam, building a level deck surface above your sloped roof. On a steeper sloped roof, the rear beam may have to be lifted on brackets above 6-by-6 posts supported by the sill plates in order to build a level deck. Install joists above the beams, as well as deck boards, posts, balusters, and handrails per a standard deck at ground level.