Flat Roof questions

[Dan Mages]

Allison and I have found a Bauhaus/International Style ranch for sale within the neighborhood we are looking at. (A picture from the listing is shown below, please let me know if I am right about the style). One of the things that worry me about this listing is the flat roof. Is there anything I should know about or look at in regards to flat roofs when we see this house? If we decide on this house, what should I ask the inspector to look for?

Thanks!

[Steve Schoene]

With the large overhangs and the use of brick as the exterior, and your Northern Illinois location, I'd think it was based more on the Prairie Style. I'd think the key is to look for water damage in the interior.

[Dan Mages]

The house is located in New Haven, CT.

But yes, there is some Prairie influence in the international movement as Frank Loyd Right did a lot of work in this field.

Dan

[Brian Weick]

Allison and I have found a Bauhaus/International Style ranch for sale within the neighborhood we are looking at. (A picture from the listing is shown below, please let me know if I am right about the style). One of the things that worry me about this listing is the flat roof. Is there anything I should know about or look at in regards to flat roofs when we see this house? If we decide on this house, what should I ask the inspector to look for?

Thanks!

tBuilt up roofing: The type of roof either 3 ply built up/4 ply bilt up- gravel based protection- emolsified aluminum roof coating protection application. look for fish mouths (bubbles- bursts in the roof) cracking of asphalt, expansion & contraction fractures in the membrane.

EPDM - Rubber roof system- ballast or fully adheared. ballast- move the stone - inspect the rubber for dryrot/cracking- same for fully adheared- check for dryrotting and cracking.

APP- attactic polypropylene Polymer- Modified rubber application - either torch/ashphalt application - to old for fully adheared adhesive system- you don't have that! membrane should have aluminum roof caoting on the membrane- check seams for gaps/cracks and expansion movement.
can also be a granular surface membrane- again check for the same problem areas.

Sarnifeld application- (PVC roofing system- doubtfull you have this) check all welded seams for tears/weakness and gaps- check deck feild plates glue adhesion areas for tares (spoted welds on these plates to keep the membrane down) flashings and the perimiter- along with all 8' wide seams

#90lb rolled roof - if it's there- scrap it or deduct it from the cost of the property- garbage roof system- applied with roof nails and asphalt roofing cement- you won't get much life out of this but you will get some leakes and headaches- especially when it has to be torn off for a new roof system-no fun and expensive- twice the labor

Hope this helps- I was a former union forman for a comercial roofing Co. so I am very familiar with most of these applications and problems. One final note- no matter what roofing system you have applied to that roof check the metal cope flashing all the way around the roof for expantion and extraction - there will be signs of crack/tares/ erosion- depending on the roof sytem you have - If there is a problem address this with the seller with an estimate for the repairs or replacement. And if there is shingles on this roof-Totally wrong application! has to be replaced!

Hope this helps you 'Good luck!
Brian

[Steve Schoene]

I saw that in your oil tank question in another thread. I went to school in Madison WI and walked past a Frank Lloyd Wright house or two on the way to classes, which is what called the Prairie School to mind.

But welcome to Connecticut. I'm building a house a little over a half hour east of you in Old Saybrook. I don't know that area of New Haven very well though. I understand Sen. Joe Lieberman recently moved out of Westville.

If you have an interest in period furniture be sure to visit the Yale Garvan Collection. Beyond the displayed items, they have a massive study collection that can be seen with prior arrangement.

I wouldn't worry much about a oil tank pressure test--if I understand it it's done at a pretty low pressure, and frankly if it were to fail during the test that would be a better situation than to have it happen six months later while you are away on vacation. I would check to see if there is evidence indicating that there was a previous underground tank. Clean up of one of these that has leaked can be a fairly costly process.

[Wes Bischel]

Dan,
If the roof has been maintained you're in good shape. If not, you will find lots of surprises.:( Most likely the rest of the place will give you a feel for what to expect on the roof. If it is in bad shape, that might be the best scenario - have the old torn off and a solid membrane (with insulation underneath?) installed. It would then be a non issue for years to come. (yea, easy for me to say)

It looks like this house would fit well in the Mid Century Modern category. There are a large number of boutique firms specializing in MCM, and furniture for these homes in being reproduced. There are actually a few publications such as Atomic Ranch that focus on this era and style in particular. If you buy it, I think you can have a great time restoring it! Do a search on Eichler - lots of similar homes will pop up.

Good luck - and I hope your search is over!

Wes

[Joe Mioux]

Dan,

Brian gave an excellent description of the various options.

All I can add is my experience with flat roofs.

Our old shop had a flat roof with rolled asphalt. It was horrible.

New shop is flat with Carlisle Syntec rubber roof and loose river rock for ballast and I suppose protection. It is Great!

When we were making a decision on the type of roof, the roofing contractor told us that part of O'Hare had this rubber roof with no failure after 28 years.

HTH
Joe

[jeremy levine]

I had a flat roof home in at one time, see if you can get up on the rood and walk as much of it as you can. Look for low spots ( you might see dirty area that indicate puddles ) not really a problem but big one can be an issue. More importantly feel ( with your feet ) for soft spots that is a pretty good sign of leakage.
Also make sure the drains a trully lower then the rest of the roof.

[David G Baker]

I haven't seen too many flat roofs in snow country.
I have an addition on my house that had a 4/12 pitch,it was a major problem. Snow/water ruined the roof and some of the walls. I had it rebuilt so it now has pretty close to a 10/12 pitch.
I have never liked the flat roof because of the potential standing water and snow problem.

[Lee Schierer]

My FIL had a flat roofed house near Erie, PA. We average 70" of snow annually. FOr the first 25-30 years the flat roof was great. For the last 15 years they lived in the house they had one leak after another. Flat roofs are much more prone to leak than pitched roofs. They also tend to collect more debris from surrounding trees and such. Also with a lack of an attic, running of wires, adding insulation or duct work becomes a major problem.

[Rob Russell]

The other posts have pretty much covered it. New haven won't get as much snow as the Litchfield hills, but you will still get some good dumps. Flat roofs are generally considered problematic, although they are used on the majority of commercial retail buildings (think malls).

[Dan Mages]

Thanks for all of the great advice!! I'll let everyone know how the house hunting goes. I looked into Joe Eichler and found a wealth of information on Mid Century Moderns on the web. If we go with this house, it will come in handy with future renovations.

Dan