Plank Sheathing Roof

What is roof sheathing.

Plank sheathing roof.

On older homes planks were often spaced for wood or slate roofs with wider exposures than the standard 5 inch tab on asphalt shingles. Roof sheathing also known as roof decking is a strong layer of wood boards that are fixed to your roof s joists and trusses. Without a good solid roof deck in which to nail the shingles problems are sure to arise when the first big windstorm occurs. In the first half of the 20th century roofs in missouri were built with wood shingles over planks spaced about 1 apart.

Roof decking or sheathing is the lumber that is attached to the roof trusses of your home. Since the boards used for shiplap were manufactured here in the pacific northwest it was still cheaper than plywood up through the 1960s. This is the material that your roofing shingles are nailed to. As the boards to do the roof deck were manufactured here in the northwest it was still more economical than plywood through the 60s.

Until the 1940s exterior grade plywood was not available. Plank sheathing usually 1 6 or 1 8 was used as a roof deck before plywood. Roof sheathing is usually made of either oriented strand board osb or plywood. If your home was built prior to 1970 there is a good chance it will have board sheathing.

The plank problem typically sheathing problems are isolated to small areas but old plank sheathing presents more of a challenge. Without these many of the nails used to install the shingles will fall between the sheathing and the first wind storm will blow your shingles off. Exterior grade plywood was not available until the 1940 s. The issue guertin explains is the gaps between boards.

What s roof sheathing made of. Can a roofer determine the state of my decking before starting the roof replacement. Roof decks on homes built before 1970 are often 1 8 fir pre plywood shiplap. Figure 7 this newer roof had been installed with little thought given to proper deck repairs.

There are basically 3 types of common roof decking.