Thread: Poorly attached sheathing

As soon as I pulled up to this place I could notice the wavy appearance of the roof. This looked much worse than I had seen before. From walking on the roof it didnt feel spongy , but what I saw in the attic surprised me. Some of the pictures didnt turn out real well because directly above the scuttle hole there was a maze of CVPC pipes. On one sheet of plywood every nail was missed except one, on one line of nails. At the edge of the plywood there was a 3/4 gap between plywood and roof truss. I am going to call for a roofer to give his opinion, but is the fix for this a tear-off, renail and reroof?

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Those could have missed, however the roofer could have followed up with more nails that hit, without removing the ones that you see. You wouldn't see them because they are IN the wood.

Gabe it is very obvious that the plywood is not in contact with the trusses. These pictures just dont show it clearly.

"Gabe it is very obvious that the plywood is not in contact with the trusses. These pictures just dont show it clearly."

If it does not show up in the pictures, it's really not all that obvious, is it?

Originally Posted by Rick Cantrell

"Gabe it is very obvious that the plywood is not in contact with the trusses. These pictures just dont show it clearly."

If it does not show up in the pictures, it's really not all that obvious, is it?

So Rick, are you saying the exterior roof looks fine as is. As I put in OP, I could not get close with my body through the scuttle due to the pipes blocking the access. I took a bunch of pictures but it was with my arm through the scuttle and pointing the camera. Guess I will wait for the roofer for a response.

From the first picture it looks like the 'hump/ridge' runs the full length of the truss which could indicate that the the trusses are not aligned properly at the plate line. If the ends are not perfectly aligned it will create that wavy look.

"So Rick, are you saying the exterior roof looks fine as is"

That is not what I said. What I did say is, looking only at the pictures provided, it is not "obvious that the plywood is not in contact with the trusses".

I was trying to point out that they may still be nailed in properly even though you see some of the nails (those may have missed) as I said. I was trying to rule out the "renail" option that you gave.

If the roof is wavy, that definitely can't be a good thing. Could be that too thin of a sheathing was used and then sagged due to snow load or as the other poster stated about the trusses not being even to each other.

Let me ask you this: Where the 3/4" space exists, can you see any nails there?
In other words, was it never nailed to begin with? or did it pull away after it was nailed? If it pulled away that may be a clue to other things being wrong.

Where the 3/4 " space is, is the same sheet with all the missed nails. No snow load here in South Florida.. Here are the pics of the reason for the bad photos, and the second would have shown clearly, but the camera focused on the piece of pipe and not the sheathing like I wanted.

Paul, …. I would have to agree with what Chris said about the “hump / ridge” running the length of the truss. From the picture – it appears there’s a few humps. I tend to think the trusses were not cut to proper length and/or placed correctly – causing the hump.

From the 1st attic picture you provided – it’s not obvious the sheathing has risen from the studs. I haven’t met a perfect carpenter yet – where they get 100% of the roof nails into the trusses. I’ve put many a nails into roof sheathing – and – you can always tell (feel) when you missed the truss. Move over a half inch and re-nail where you missed.

If I see humps in a roof (as in your case), I carefully walk over effected area and feel for any movement (bouncing or springing). To me – if it does bounce – that would be an indication of sheathing coming up and/or being rotten. If it doesn't bounce - then it could be due too improper (too thin) sheathing being used - causing it to curl at joints.

Your 2nd set of pictures really didn't help much. I couldn't help but wonder why someone would install all that piping over the attic access hatch. Correct me if I'm wrong - but that's a violation in itself.

Originally Posted by Robert Schenck

I couldn't help but wonder why someone would install all that piping over the attic access hatch. Correct me if I'm wrong - but that's a violation in itself.

In-house irrigation such as for a grow-op

Originally Posted by H.G. Watson, Sr.

In-house irrigation such as for a grow-op

Maybe they had the weed in the attic, and it tried to push through the roof as it grew. Now thats the most logical thing I can think of.