Tahoe Donner Deck Rebuild Over Torchdown Roof

Work began with full demolition of the existing deck. The decking, framing, and railings were removed down to the garage roof deck below. The original stairs and stair structure were kept in place, with only the stair railings and tread surfaces planned for replacement.

With the deck stripped, a subcontracted roofing crew installed a new low-slope membrane system over the garage. DensDeck cover board was laid first, followed by a CertainTeed Flintlastic Ultra Glass SA base sheet, a Flintlastic STA Smooth interply, and a torch-applied Flintlastic GTA cap sheet in the homeowner's selected color. The full SBS torchdown assembly is designed to outlast the new deck above it.

Once the roof was watertight, pressure-treated 2x sleepers were laid across the membrane to create the structural plane for the new deck. The sleepers float on the roof surface without penetrating the membrane, preserving the waterproofing integrity. New redwood 4x4 posts were set and through-bolted for the perimeter railings and stair railings.

New redwood decking was installed over the sleepers using concealed fasteners for a clean surface free of exposed screw heads. The railings were built using Wild Hog black metal wire panels with HogTrack channel, framed in redwood top, cap, and bottom rails. Eighty linear feet of hog wire railing was installed around the deck perimeter, with another sixteen linear feet on the rebuilt stair railings. A custom hog wire latching gate was built at the top of the stairs to match the surrounding railings.