Proper way to install Torch Down

Question

On the recommendation of a gutter installer I hired a roofer to install torch down over the front porch awning. The gutter installer pointed out that the person who did the awning didn't do it right because they put the shingles under the drip edge instead of on top of it. The awning is relatively flat and had a much cheaper grade of roofing than the main roof.

I hired a roofer to install torch. The agreement I had with the roofer was that there would be 3/4" overhang all the way around the porch awning, which has a 56' square foot surface. Upon completion, I noticed that he shorted the overhang on one side and one side has no overhang at all. Is this a problem?

Additionally one of the corners doesn't appear to have been heated up enough and it is loose, and not making contract with the metal drip edge. This is in the same area where there is no overhang. The roofer said he detected a soft spot while working on the roof, but made no mention of it until after it was completed. After pointing out the soft spot, I took a chisel and determined there was dry rot about 1/2" through the top of one of the rafters and adjacent plywood. Additionally a fascia board in the corner was completely rotted out and will need to be replaced. The roofer recommended I use wood filler to fill in the fascia board, even though there was nothing left of it. And I wonder why the roofer didn't mention and repair the rot before boarding over. I assume the fascia needs to be redone, but what about the rafter with 1/2" of rot at the top, and the adjacent area that rot. I scraped some of the dry rot out and decided to let it sit for a few days to dry out until I can figure out what to do about all this. The torch down was applied over the existing shingle material. A drip edge was installed over that, and another layer of torch was applied over the drip edge, but about 1/2 of one side has no overhang. The bottom side of the awning appears to have sufficient overhang.

I need additional information. I don't know what you mean by scab out 2". Are you referring to scabbing out 2" on the rafter? Or 2" in adjacent plywood? Or 2" on the opposite side of the rafter? Does the torch need to come off? Also, I had made a mistake and the torch was applied over compound 90 in a two layer approach: one layer under the drip edge, and one layer above the drip edge.

Answer 1

For starters, torch down is a rubber product. It should NOT be installed over asphalt shingles. Swelling and contracting will eventually allow the asphalt shingles to wear a hole in the torchdown membrane from the underside. The same applies for rubber membranes.

You are correct about the drip edge needing to be under the roofing material. This applies to ALL roof coverings.

Your roofer should have mentioned the soft spot prior to covering it up. That's complete irresponsibility. Roofers typically don't repair facia but it shouldn't be beyond a decent roofers skill set.

As for what the rafter you need repaired... Unless there's access from below, a portion of your new touchdown will need to be removed, along with the decking above. Unless the rafter is totally rotted out, I'd scab another 2x to the side of the rafter in question instead of removing it completely.

Additional details per OP questions:

The recommended overhang for torch down is 1/2".

For roof pitches below 12/4 torch down or rubber are my recommendation.

To my knowledge, it's not standard practice to double up material around the drip edge.

Since I'm unsure what your rafters are, I used a generic term "2x" ( pronounced 2 by ), which can mean anything from 2x2 to 2x12.

Yes, if there's any bad decking it should be replaced, but it can be spot fixed from rafter to rafter.

Additional Info

Decking is a generic term... Meaning your roof deck ( sheathing ). Spot fixing means cutting out the bad decking from rafter center to rafter center.

I've never heard of Timbor. I ALWAYS replace rotten/dry rotted decking.

To repair the damaged rafter, screw or nail a new rafter to the side of the bad one.