Question about a roof deck mounted to a shared wall between two brownstones

My husband and I bought a brownstone back in 2010. When we bought the house our neighbor had already installed a roof deck whose steel beams were anchored to the shared wall between our two homes. Almost immediately after moving in we started to get roof leaks. We have repaired, re-roofed and now are being told we need to re-roof again. Every roofer we speak to tells us that they cannot properly re-roof or repair the leaks because of the way the supports for roof deck is mounted directly on to the shared wall. I called DOB this morning to ask if there was any remedy available and they told us that we should talk to someone in the construction codes department (I emailed them). In the meantime, any suggestions? The neighbor does not want to remove the roof deck and claims, in defiance to all my roofers ( I have talked to three now) that the deck is not compromising my roof. Hating conflict here but could really use some advice as our family cannot keep having to re-roof this house every few years. Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

Guest User | 6 years ago

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Guest User | 6 years ago

string(1) "3"
string(6) "200913"

Unfortunately the company I hired went out of business. So there is no one to go back to . The first person we went to was only willing to repair not re-roof with the deck situated the way it was. The second person, after the roofer went out of business said there was nothing wrong with the roof, we just needed repairs. The second guy then guaranteed his work but felt like he couldn’t solve the problem, hence the third person. Believe me if I could go back to the original roofer I would. In the mean time, thanks for the recommendation.

Guest User | 6 years ago

string(1) "3"
string(6) "200913"

Unfortunately the company I hired went out of business. So there is no one to go back to . The first person we went to was only willing to repair not re-roof with the deck situated the way it was. The second person, after the roofer went out of business said there was nothing wrong with the roof, we just needed repairs. The second guy then guaranteed his work but felt like he couldn’t solve the problem, hence the third person. Believe me if I could go back to the original roofer I would. In the mean time, thanks for the recommendation.

deanbh | 6 years ago

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You wont need to jack up the deck to solve the problem……but im curious why go back to different roofers, why not go back to the last roofer and have them repair it under warranty?

We used Jimmy last to replace the roofing membrane under our deck here at 135 Henry St – this also required him to install some metal parapet covers.

You can ask him to have a look but like i said if you did have an entire new roof membrane installed and not just a patch……i’d be going back to the last one and ask them to cover repairs under warranty.

Jimmy Alba
Mobile – 917-214-5193
albaroofing21@gmail.com

ALBA & SONS CON.
1049 BAY RIDGE PKWY
BROOKLYN N.Y. 11228
Office 718-998-6722

Guest User | 6 years ago

string(1) "3"
string(6) "200913"

We have the non-decked roof. And yes, it was installed by a roofer five years ago. Sadly someone who came “highly” recommended. Is there anyone you all recommend as roofer who might know who to jack up the deck so we could properly install roofing underneath. We are trying hard to be good neighbors, but we can’t keep having leaks and doing roof repairs (and yes we have had multiple roofers do the repairs over the years and every one tells us what the other did wrong and then it is the same tragedy a few months later).

Guest User | 6 years ago

string(1) "3"
string(6) "200913"

We have the non-decked roof. And yes, it was installed by a roofer five years ago. Sadly someone who came “highly” recommended. Is there anyone you all recommend as roofer who might know who to jack up the deck so we could properly install roofing underneath. We are trying hard to be good neighbors, but we can’t keep having leaks and doing roof repairs (and yes we have had multiple roofers do the repairs over the years and every one tells us what the other did wrong and then it is the same tragedy a few months later).

GreenThinker | 6 years ago

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That whole side right before the studs start should be properly fixed, try flexible epoxy coating that won’t crack like standard asphalt coatings. After that, it looks like it pitches to your neighbors side anyway. It’s also possible to flash it with a rubber or metal sheet, cutting out for each stud and sealing around the cuts.

deanbh | 6 years ago

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Uhm is your roof on the left?

I thought you said you just installed a new roof in the last few years…..that roof on the left doesnt look new at all.

Call a better roofing company.

stevecym | 6 years ago

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I thought I saw a crack in the flashing cement. shoot that photo straight on at the crack, with a little angle from above and we can see into it then. if you can get your finger in there and it moves, you have an issue.

Guest User | 6 years ago

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oh man. there’s a lot going on there. it looks like when the deck was installed there was already some questionable roofing going on. There should be flashing on the top of the wall under there somewhere but it has probably deteriorated and has gaps. The detail around the beam closest to the camera looks especially iffy. I understand that your neighbor might not want to remove the deck but I wonder whether there’s a way to temporarily support it while removing the material directly under the beams so that you can have a good system in place under the beams.

Guest User | 6 years ago

string(1) "3"
string(6) "195579"

oh man. there’s a lot going on there. it looks like when the deck was installed there was already some questionable roofing going on. There should be flashing on the top of the wall under there somewhere but it has probably deteriorated and has gaps. The detail around the beam closest to the camera looks especially iffy. I understand that your neighbor might not want to remove the deck but I wonder whether there’s a way to temporarily support it while removing the material directly under the beams so that you can have a good system in place under the beams.

Guest User | 6 years ago

string(1) "3"
string(6) "200913"

Here is the picture of the attachment. [IMG_1775](//muut.com/u/brownstoner/s3/:brownstoner:9FKy:img_1775.jpeg.jpg)

Guest User | 6 years ago

string(1) "3"
string(6) "200913"

Here is the picture of the attachment. [IMG_1775](//muut.com/u/brownstoner/s3/:brownstoner:9FKy:img_1775.jpeg.jpg)

joearchitect | 6 years ago

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Can you post a photo? In most cases the shared wall between houses projects up 6″ or more above the roof level. It is pretty common to rest beams on the wall and it wouldn’t necessarily cause any leaks. But maybe you have an out of the ordinary situation or the neighbor could have done something weird – it’s hard to know.