Composite Decking Sleepers On Flat Roof

nywoodwizard

I,ve got two decks to do on flat roofs,any thoughts on using the composite decking as sleepers? I'm using evergrain and one roof will provide enough scrap material for the sleepers on the second deck,I'm just concerned how well the product will hold up in such a wet enviorment,consistantly in water.Some flat roofs always have puddles so the product will always be wet.I thought of finding another type of decking that is "all vinyl" instead of the composite, for the sleepers.At the same time ,throwing away decking at about $3.25 per ft kills me.In time the wood fibers in the composite may start to rot and in turn the boards will crush and the decking screws may start to come thru and pierce the roof.Am i crazy for thinking this ? Maybe so ,but i never did a deck on a flat roof yet,just trying to cover all the bases.

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Learning without thought is labor lost; thought without learning is perilous.

John Hyatt

I do a fair amount of roof top decks, we frame them with fall to the outside so they are never flat or leval. Anyway I give a thumbs down to using composite for the sleepers for all the reasons your thinking of plus the hold down power of pt material composite is total junk for that. Use that left over for some benches.

Be real sure when screwing down the decking you dont go past the stringers into the roof, Man I just bid a $32,000 repair where the stupid carpenter did just that. It starts a slow leak right away most of the time it wont show up for a year or so by then everything below is completly ruined.

Ride Hard,Ride Safe. John

nywoodwizard

I'll still need a substitute for sleepers that are always going to be wet ,these flat roofs always have a puddle (big puddle).But there is also a height restriction, can't be more than one inch,or you will end up tripping on the edge on the way out from the slidding doors.How long could Pt wood posibly last in those conditions,i give it a couple years at best.You may think i'm nuts but i actually thought of aluminum channels for sleepers.I love getting call backs for more work,not repairs.It wouldn't be so bad if these dam roofs weren't soup bowls.

__________________
Learning without thought is labor lost; thought without learning is perilous.