So okay, I need another layer of roof decking. Fine. Except there were some minor imperfections perpetrated during the installation of the first layer which I fully expected to simply cover up with finish trim. But now that I need another layer, those imperfections are actually in the way. Such as? Such as the side wall boards not being beveled to match the angle of the roof and, in some cases, actually protruding upward of the roof deck’s plane by a little. That sort of thing would be easily concealed by a little bit of trim, but if you want to put another layer down and have it lay good and flat and solid against what’s there, everything needs to be flat for real and all the angles have to be correct.
Okay, up the ladder I go. Peel off the flashing tape at the defective parts, and go after it with my power planer. Happily, I have a power planer. The last time I used it was probably 20 years ago, but it was patient to wait for its next job and happy to be back in service. Fortunately, the nails holding down the first layer of the deck were sunk in a bit, providing clearance for the planer’s blades.
This was a very difficult shot to take, being 13 feet up in the air, on the edge of the roof ridge, and trying to get a long perspective of a narrow area. And I was standing in the cozy loft, standing up through its skylight (no way I was going to climb around on the roof deck with my camera) which was not aligned with this angle. So I was just holding the camera in the general direction of where I thought it should be, watching the view finder from a distance, trying to focus and hoping for the best 😀.
For reference, the board edge on the right is about 1/2 inch thick. This is a view of the path of the power planer, having just aligned the exterior board’s angle and top plane with the main deck (left).
I dislike on-roof work in general (it’s not the fall, but the sudden stop at the end that gets ya), and roof edge work in particular. The high edge wasn’t so bad – the low edge I did not enjoy at all. For that, since I do not at all fancy facing down-slope while working, I used the ladder and a stand-off bar. That was effective, but still sufficiently dangerous and very slow going, since I could only work about 24 inches at a time while maintaining a reasonable center of gravity on the ladder.
A big thank you to Melissa who very patiently ensured the ladder was steady and that I didn’t over-reach all day, even though it was mind-numbingly boring, yet vital safety work.
Inconveniently, with all the up-and-down of measuring and installing for the second layer of decking, plus this slow edge re-work, it took the whole day to get the decking installed. I did not have enough energy to do the taping and it was about to be dark, anyway. I will need to wait for the next dry day (which is not today) to get it taped up. That should only take an hour – no more than two – but when you’re tired and sore and it’s starting to get dark, you STOP working on the roof.