This week we were called out for a project installing a new flat roof on a canopy at the rear of a residential home in London, Ontario.
The client had an aging existing roof system that was comprised of shingles, and you can see in the video that patches have been applied to combat leaks and roof issues. The primary issue is that shingles were the wrong material to use on this canopy as the roof is too flat. When shingles are used on a home, there should be a decent angle so that water can shed off the roof and be controlled via spouts and eavestroughs etc.
What was happening on this system was because there wasn’t a sufficient angle, the shingles were taking in water during heavy rain, ice build ups, and melting snow etc. The client reported that water was coming in under the overhang.
We presented a couple of options to the client as far as a new roof system, we offered to roof over the existing shingles to save costs, or go all out and remove everything to the wood substrate and build up the flat roof from there. We always want to provide the best recommendation, and then taking into consideration a homeowner or business owner’s budget, and offer a few other options that don’t compromise the project.
The client opted to roof over the shingles, so we are going to install a sopraboard to fasten the new roof on and go from there. We have a shingle tie in detail which requires us to remove a few rows of shingles, work around a vent stack, and get the new membrane up and under the shingles to control water effectively. There also was some drip flashing around the edge as well, and to get the metal flashing installed we are going to trim the singles to provide a flat section to install the flashing correctly and create a wonderful look that protects the canopy.
We did have to do a bit of framing work as we could see that there had been significant water damage, so we ensured that the roof structure was strong so we could build up on it.
It was a small job, a simple job, but we are so happy with the way it turned out and we really feel that the client will be thrilled and have great peace of mind as soon as the rain starts up, or the snow begins to melt, and have a little less anxiety!