When are you taking on new projects? It really sounds like you know so much more about this, as you are a contractor in the business. I’ve just bought an old restored house and would like to add a rooftop deck.
Thanks!

Linwood

As an experienced contractor in this type of work, what type of wood have you used for the supporting cross beams on a roof deck ?

I’ve noticed that treated or wolmanized wood can begin to deteriorate after a few short years and like any wood exposed to the elements outside will have some kind of obsolescence.

Roof decks are normally built (I know, I’ve built them) on beams that run from brick party wall to brick party wall. It doesn’t matter how strong your roof trusses are because you won’t be stepping on them. The deck is suspended over them. Also, although repairing the roof is a little more difficult, a carpenter who has any idea what he’s doing will use wood screws to attach the decking to the beams, and not nails or glue. So when you have to repair a spot on the roof, you can just unscrew the decking in that particular place and repair the roof. You don’t need a metal roof just because you’re putting in a roof deck- a normal rubberized membrane is fine. Finally, architecural plans for a deck shouldn’t cost you any more than $2500, and probably could be had for a lot less. No where near the 10K quoted above.

I’m a developer and contractor (although I’ve got my hands full and am not taking on any new contracts), and I’d say a good estimate for a roof deck should be about $20-25K, depending on how you access it (spiral steps are about $4k for a 10 ft section, for example). Keep in mind if you have any vents from bathrooms or furnaces you will probably have to reroute them, which can be a bit of an extra expense. Also if you’re in a historic area you will encounter a lot of resistance from neighbors as the deck may be visible from the street.

Good luck!
Dave