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A sealed roof deck provides a secondary water barrier or a supplemental way to keep wind-driven rain from coming through the deck joints or seams when the primary roof covering (shingles, etc.) and traditional underlayment are damaged, detached or blown away in severe weather. Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety research indicates that a sealed roof deck can prevent as much as 90% of wind-driven rain from coming through deck joints and entering your attic. This keeps the equivalent of nine bathtubs of water per minute from seeping through your ceilings and causing costly damage.
Roof decks are made with plywood, oriented-strand board, or engineered wood panels with an integrated, water-resistive barrier.
Panels are spaced slightly apart to allow the wood to expand and contract (move) in heat or cooling conditions.
There are four ways to seal your roof deck:
Note that some state building codes now require sealed roof decks for new and replacement roofs.
Closed-cell spray polyurethane foam insulation applied to the underside of the roof deck can seal your deck, create a secondary water barrier, strengthen the roof deck connections to increase wind resistance, and improve energy efficiency.
Spray foam adhesive comes in two forms: closed or open cell. While both provide a measure of increased R-value and wall insulation, closed cell provides better heat resistance, second water barrier benefits, and enhanced strengthening properties that reinforce the roof deck attachment.
Identify a licensed, bonded, and insured professional who is certified to install spray foam. Apply a 3” minimum, full insulating layer of closed-cell polyurethane foam adhesive between roof rafters/trusses and on the underside of decking at all points of framing and sheathing intersections.
With 52 million downloads, the wildly popular MyRadar app is a weather alerting leader, and this podcast with MyRadar’s Mark Taylor delivers insights for weather geeks of all kinds. From the early days of polygons and maps to the state of weather tech, Mark and guest host John Zarrella cover all the bases. Don’t miss this engaging conversation with two former national broadcast journalists who serve as FLASH board advisors and help advance the cause of disaster resilience.
I hope you enjoy this podcast episode and don’t forget to subscribe, rate, share, and provide a review on iTunes. Don’t miss these helpful resources and links too:
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
National Hurricane Center (NHC)
No Code. No Confidence – Inspect2Protect (building code resource website for consumers)
Federal Alliance for Safe Homes (FLASH)