Repairing a house

Hey guys,

I was recently given a house that is a "fixer upper." the roof is in ROUGH shape. The plywood is done, it has serious water damage. Its a flat roof, and the left and right hand side rafter beams (which are exposed) are rotten.

I am going to have a roofer redo the roof, but NO ONE in my area wants to do any sort of carpentry work so I wanted to do it myself. I am going to replace the outside rafter 2x10s, and remove the bad plywood and put new plywood down as well as put the underlayment on. My goal is to stop the house from getting anymore water damaged than it is.

I wanted to, once I put new 5/8 plywood down, put the underlayment on it. My question is, how long can the underlayment be exposed (with no shingles)? The soonest I can get a roofer to reshingle the roof is 2~3 weeks. Some have told me they won't start work for 2 MONTHS.

There is also substantial wood damage in a small area where the porch meets the roof. I was going to remove the shingles that are in this area, replace the wood, and do the underlayment there.

I am trying my best to save the house, but I can't do anything else until the roof stops leaking. Any advice/suggestions would be great. I am in New England.

Thanks for your help.

 

Some of the premium engineered sheeting like Advantech have a very long rating for exposure to the elements. Something like that might be a better option than traditional plywood or OSB. The long edges of the sheeting are tongue and groove so if you use construction adhesive on the short seams you might get it almost water proof.

 

What are your thoughts on using 5/8 plywood and instead of waiting for a roofer to shingle it, installing one of those rubber roof systems?

 

Good luck.
No way can you install shingles on a flat roof.
No way is just plywood or Advantec going to water proof a flat roof !!!
Post some pictures.
Only a matter of time for a flat roof to leak.
I'd be calling commercial roofing company's if I had a flat roof.

 

I'm confused that you've said flat roof but then mention shingles. Does the house have a flat or pitched roof? Or both?

The only answer is to get a proper roof on it. Advantech and caulked seams will stop much of the water from going through initially but it's not a roof and while the Advantech may survive getting wet the water will have to go somewhere and it will find any crack or gap in the seams. If you choose a membrane roof system that is an option but the key is getting a roof on the house.

 

So basically, the house itself has 3 porches.

The house has a high pitch. 2 of the porches have a smaller pick, and the back porch ( what I have discussed here) is flat. I am trying to get the leaking to stop in the back porch. I need to replace the plywood and put SOMETHING down. I was thinking a rubber roof.

 

Advantech or other premium sheeting can withstand getting wet without damage. It's not a roof and it's not going to keep the water out but it would allow you to have sheeting that could get wet for a month or two and not need to be replaced once you can get a roof put on.

 

Do you have any experience with those rubber roofs? They seem pretty easy to install. I might just do that...