The roof deck is the material layer between the primary structural component of trusses or joists. An insulative layer or weatherproofing layer is used in a typical roof system.
There are many types of roof decks. Plywood, OSB sheathing, wood tongue and groove, corrugated metal, grancrete encapsulated polystyrene, reinforced concrete, double tee, etc.
Some roofs may require elastomeric coatings. Roof coatings should not be confused with deck coatings. Deck coatings are traffic bearing. Roof coatings will only water proof the substrates but will not withstand ongoing traffic.
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Roof decking should never see water ideally, as long as all other roof components are intact. The shingles are the first line of waterproofing, then the “felt” or tar paper will remove any small amounts of water that penetrated. Sealing roof decking would be overly redundant as there are two layers of waterproofing already.
A pitched roof has to breath… decking when properly installed is spaced with clips then a underlayment is applied. If the roof decking is unable to breath it will rot.
A flat roof is an entirely different animal and in some cases is sealed with an elastomeric coating or a similar product. Usually a flat roof will be rubberized though.
Hope this helps! Happy New Year!
Sealing the decking would hinder its ability to breathe properly.
A roof deck has to be able to breathe. Even though it is a solid object, moisture will pass through it. If it is painted, plan on it rotting from the inside out. The same goes for installing ice and water shield on the whole roof.
Bullsh*t…the decking can “breath” through the bottom (in order to keep it from “rotting from the inside out”) if the top surface is painted with elastomeric or if ice and water shield is used on the entire roof system…the reason that nobody does it is because of the extra cost in material and labor…if you can afford to do it; why not have 3-ply (shingles, felt, elastomeric) protection?
It all depends what pitch the roof is and the Roofing system you have in mind.But generally you don’t paint the roof decking you install any one of the compatible roofing underlayments on the market today, mostly considering pitch.