For many people, the construction of a house that is intended to be their home is the largest single (and sometimes only) construction project that they will ever oversee. Most of these people will work with a contractor to build their home, although some will attempt to contract the building of the home themselves, using sub-contractors to set the foundation, frame the house, install the plumbing and electrical elements, siding, roof, etc. This can be intimidating for someone who has never done it before, as there are many elements that go into the construction of a home of which the lay person is not aware. One such item is the choice of material used for the roof deck construction.
What is a roof deck? We’re not talking about a place to set out lawn chairs and while taking in the sunset over a few drinks. No, instead, of concern here is one of the layers that goes into creating the roof. The roof deck is the substrate, or underlying layer of material that goes on top of the wooden roof truss structures, but beneath the waterproofing layer, and shingles (or other outer material, depending upon the kind of roof it is). The roof deck construction material can be one of several in standard use: Oriented Strand Board (OSB), plywood, or insulating panels, such as those that are made from a combination of light weight insulating concrete and polystyrene insulation.
It is important for someone building a home (or other structure) to be knowledgable about the attributes of these various roof deck construction materials. For example, OSB is often the cheapest, but it is also the least resistant to moisture, and this can lead to problems later on. Plywood costs more, is slightly more resistant to water than OSB but it still is a wood product. Insulation panels cost the most, but quite frequently will pay for themselves in just a few years in energy savings alone. it is important to know which of the available roof deck construction materials is the right one for your construction project, and to insure that the roofing contractor you hire uses the materials of your choice.
