Why is a post-war deck read so carefully?
Houses of the 1950s and 1960s often have plank or early panel sheathing, and the nails and spacing reflect the practice of the day. Plank sheathing shrinks and gaps, and a nail driven into a gap holds poorly, so the technician checks each board for movement and for nails that have worked loose.
The layers are counted before anything is removed. A deck that has carried two or three coverings may hide rot that only a full strip will show, so the count decides whether the job is a re-roof or a tear-off.
What happened to the vents on these houses?
Many houses of the period were given a re-roof that covered the original vents, either because the installer did not understand their purpose or because the attic was insulated over them. A covered vent traps heat and moisture in the attic and shortens the life of the new covering.
The vents are reopened and paired so air moves from the eave to the ridge. The intake is cleared of insulation, and baffles are fitted where the insulation sits against the soffit.
How are original skylights checked?
Many post-war houses have a skylight set into the original roof, with a kerb and flashing that were built before current practice. The technician checks the kerb for square and rot, the flashing for lift and the seal for failure before deciding whether the unit can stay.
Condensation between the panes is a seal failure and is recorded as such. A stain under the opening is traced to the flashing, since the glass is often sound when the kerb has failed.
How are the post-war roof edges and gutters handled?
Gutters on houses of the period are often hung on short brackets fixed into fascia boards that have softened over the decades. The technician checks each bracket and the fascia behind it, and a bracket fixed only into the face of the board is re-fixed into a solid backing where the structure allows.
The eave is read for the drip edge and the soffit. An eave that has been painted over many times may hide a board that has softened, and the trim is probed before the paint is trusted.
What does a Clairemont owner need to know about a tear-off?
A tear-off reveals the deck, and the deck of a post-war house may be plank, plywood or a mix of the two. Each type is checked for soft spots and for nails that have worked loose, and the repair is written into the scope before the new underlayment goes down.
The debris from a tear-off is removed on the same day, and the yard and the drive are magnetised for nails before the crew leaves. The owner is given a list of what was removed and what was reused.
