Roofing question - hot mop, insulation under bricks on flat roof

My new (old) house has a roof deck with a pitch of 6" in 16 feet. There is a membrane or hot mop surface, on top of which are 4 x 8 foot panels of what looks like styrofoam, covered by a herringbone pattern of brick like pavers (they look like bricks, but are less than half the thickness and presumably weight!).

There were some leaks when we moved in and I pulled up one of the sections and used a quart of trowel-on repair material and that stopped the current leaks. I noticed that the styrofoam was completely waterlogged, and it weighed a lot!

I'd like to shape up the roof by taking up the bricks, then the styrofoam, applying something in the way of do-it-yourself (mop on?) stuff ( I have in mind something like driveway renewer, but obviously something for roofs!)

SO my questions are:

1) What can I replace the styrofoam with that won't absorb water? 2) What should I mop onto the roof that won't overwhelm the average handy homeowner?

I'm somewhat impressed with this roof - seems like the styrofoam protects the membrane, and the bricks protect the styrofoam.

Thanks for any suggestions!

Reply to
Rick Cunningham
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Which is it? ________________________

Around here, (Florida) tile roofs have a layer of 90# roll roofing material over the roof sheathing and dry in felt. It is applied over and embedded in tar that is mopped on hot. It is the *real* roof, the tiles are cosmetic (as far as preventing leaks go) and are mudded onto the 90#.

Some people attach battens to the roof and nail the tiles to the battens. Personally, I don't like that as water that comes through the tile joints can be trapped by the battens. Moreover, nails make holes through the 90# - the real roof. _________________________

I would think that the styrofoam is for insulation, not protection of the membrane. You could skip it and insulate the underside of the roof. __________________________

IMO, mopping on hot tar isn't a DIY project. Nor is mudding on tiles or "bricks". Especially the former.

-- dadiOH _____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.0... ...a help file of info about MP3s, recording from LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that. Get it at

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Reply to
dadiOH

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