Everything Private Roof Decks

Interesting. I am on the board of a condo that has 2 penthouses. They are responsible for all liability insurance, but as to the 'limited common areas' ie areas that the condo board is responsible for repairing and maintaining, any leaks of the 'roof = outdoor ph area' are the responsibility of the condo association. Unless of course the ph owner on it's own does decking etc to void this 'warranty'. Therefore all additions and or impovements to the roof MUST be authorized by the board, but as you can see we've yet to approve any such requests and or we have put I bank on the ph owner to take the liability if thy want to go ahead. FYI, ph owners have made 0 changes to the roof.

Hope this helps.

Appreciate the input w67.
And your approval basis would be on what? An engineer's report?
What happens if the penthouse portion is negligent because of a clogged roof drain or a warped pitch that sends excess water to the common area?

And setbacks if you have them. What if someone puts a hottub on their setback? Would an engineer's report saying it could hold the wait be enough for an approval? Or would you insist on on a takeover liability?

Any coop board members with input?

I was on the board of a coop with a true PH w/ wrap terrace and a sep common roof area. The coop was responsible for the roof in general (much like the ext walls of the PH were covered along with the rest of the bldg ext). However, any changes to the private terrace required board approval for the reasons mentioned above. It was quite a few years ago, so I don't recall the details, but the PH owner did propose a change where the board required him (i.e., his insurance carrier) to be responsible for any subsequent water damage to the bldg or other units. He decided not to make the change. I think it was some sort of decking, but it must have meant some sort of structural or permananet change since if it was a removable system, I'm not sure there would be a concern for the board.

I wonder though, if it were a duplex situation, where the private roof was above only the owner's space just below, whether that would be an acceptable risk to the unit owner or the board?

And how often are actual repairs, and how much did they cost?

If you are talking about a private roof space a la "roof rights" where the person buys the unit sans roof deck and is building their own (plus adding some sort of access/bulkhead) I strongly suggest not actually having any of the decking on the roof. Instead (assuming it's possible) lay beams across parapet walls and then use that as a framework to lay decking on top of.

This can have multiple advantages. You can build the bottom of the decking high up enough so that there is room for workers to make roof repairs without even removing anything. Parapet walls are certainly stronger than any roof membrane, but even more importantly it removes the argument that some footing on the roof caused a leak, since there is no footing on the roof membrane at all.

Also, if it is an older building, unless you rip up the roof, or the ceiling below, you never really know the structural integrity of the roof. If it was assumed (which most likely it would be) that nothing of any substantial weight would be put on the roof, the load bearing capabilities of the roofing may be substantially less than the floors inside, which were expected to bear a fairly substantial "live load". A number of years ago there was a leak on a small section of roof which was the top of a 3 story extension on a 4 story building (the extension was the size of a kitchen or bath). The roofing company wanted to just lay down a new roof on top of the old one, but I insisted on a rip up so we could examined the structural integrity of the supporting members (building is about 160 years old). In the end, it turned out that not only was most of the wood rotted, but in the process it was also discovered that about 100 SF of brickwork on the exterior wall of the extension below was basically just being held in place by friction so it had to be taken down and replaced. Of course this cost a hell of a lot more than just putting a new roof on top of the old one would have, but think about what the consequences could have been?

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David Goldsmith
DG Neary Realty Ltd.

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David Goldsmith
DG Neary Realty Ltd.

ok so hypothetical situation here, let's say I own in a building and some problem happens with the roof. Is aboutready entitled to money from me?

30 yrs
I am talking about ALL scenarios.I appreciate the input. Would like to know all opinions in all settings.

Yes,for sure,the less weight on the actual roof the better by any means, beams across parapet walls would seem ideal.

I think once you'ver had water leakage, damage is almost alway worse than anticipated. Usually it's been going on longer than first noticed, and travels places unrealized.

How many bathroom projects start out as "just change the tiles" only to see what's been going on behind the tiles and before you know it, whole new bathroom.Pretty much every job through friends and family I've witnessed ended this way.

Any ideas on a per ft cost just to lay down those beams and decking? Let's assume there is a roof between 1000 sq ft and 2000 sq ft and you could either deck most of it or maybe half of it because of common areas.

Currently we have pavers on top of drainage mat on top of membrane. The pavers are dirty and retain a lot of moisture after it rains. Also because the pavers are directly on the roof, they follow the pitch and so the terrace is less than level. I like things level and clean and I don't want to disturb any of the existing structure or materials, which would make changing things problematic. Ideally I would like to run joists from the parapet to my penthouse structure as 30yrs suggests, but that is not a possibility in my case. So after a long hunt I am seriously considering deck supports http://www.bisondecksupports.com/ I had a rep come out and give me a demonstration of the product. I liked it but I'm still exploring other ideas and still not ready to take anything to the board.