# Want to shim up over a flat roof



## MTLA (Oct 6, 2011)

I have a 60 x 30 flat roof in Los Angeles. It had a big puddle in the center.
House built in the 50s - no problems until now.
From inside, the ceiling is beautiful open beams - well, now they are water stained beams. over these beams is just: the roofing material! i.e., no plywood over the beams, just the roofing material.

OK, so I am facing the fact I must "shim up" and create a slope so the water pours off - right?
so on the "high" side (which is the back) not the "low" side (which is the street), what do you do to the opening to close it. Also, if it is 60 x 30, how high does it need to be shimmed up? One guy told me 3" to slope down; the other guy told me 5" to slop down. 5" sounds more like it, right? so how do you close off those 5"?

thanks so much. this is pretty traumatic for me - the ceiling was so beautiful. can I ever get those water stains out?


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## Horseygirl (Sep 25, 2011)

*Basically a tapered system will consist of tapered panels either 1/4" or 1/2" slope and, working from the eave line back, fill is used to increase the slope so at the back part of the roof, you will have "flat" fill on the bottom with the tapered panels on top. There is also a tapered edge panel that will either go from 0" to 1/4" or 1/2" depending upon the slope you plan to use. The use of ISO will give you a higher "R" value than perlite and is more costly. So, in essence you will start with your regular tapered panels then add 1" fill and put the tapered panels on top then, going further back, another layer of fill with the tapered on top and so on.........*

*Check out this link so you can see the jist of what I am talking about. Don't worry about the cricket sections as that would not apply to your situation.*

*http://www.mcclurejohnston.com/images/supplierimages/taper.pdf*


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## MTLA (Oct 6, 2011)

*odd shaped - and gutters on the straight side*

interesting way to begin to think about it: thank you.
Gee, that would give me insulation from hot and cold, too, eh?
nice. sounds expensive, but nice.

I was thinking of a one-way slope, towards the street, which is depicted in this drawing http://sorenkerk.com/roof.htm  - where the green line represents the street and the location of the gutters.
the little pointed side represents a deck, on the back side (no gutters)
so I guess the point itself would have to be the highest grade, and slope down evenly to the green.
does one need a permit to do this kind of work?


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## Horseygirl (Sep 25, 2011)

MTLA said:


> From inside, the ceiling is beautiful open beams - well, now they are water stained beams. over these beams is just: the roofing material! i.e., no plywood over the beams, just the roofing material.


*I just re-read your question....what type of roofing material is on the roof and what do you see from inside and how is it attached supported? Also, is there anything going around the roof like a knee wall or parapet? When doing a tapered system, the high point just can't be floating above the deck. I should have asked to see a picture because I invisioned this differently. **If you could provide a picture, it would be helpful. Sorry..:whistling2:*


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## MTLA (Oct 6, 2011)

Oddly enough, my roof is nothing more than the open beams I see from my living room and then regular rolled out roofing paper tarred onto the top of that. No plywood!
no parapet - it just ends with flashing.
look at same link - now it has a picture of the front - can you make it out?
you can see a little "overhang" in the front there.
the deck is just a larger overhang - 10' at the "point" and more like 4' at the two ends.
Make sense?


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## MTLA (Oct 6, 2011)

*carpentry work nearly done*

laid down 2x4s, 16" apart, lengthwise
perpendicular-ly, shimmed up with 2X6, ripped from 6" to 1"

now it's time for the inspector.

Going to ask him about what insulation on this flat roof - but any recommendations here? That pink stuff? it would just lie down and "float" on the 2x4s. Is that the way to go?


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