Sparx Roofing / Roof Decking Repair
Decking is the wood layer under your shingles. Rot is common in Central Texas and you cannot see it from the ground. Here is how we handle it when we find it.
Your roof decking is the plywood or OSB sheathing nailed to the rafters. It carries the whole roof system. Shingles, underlayment, and flashing all sit on top of it. When the decking is sound, your roof does its job. When it rots, the whole assembly weakens. Nails lose grip. Water finds a path. The problem is that decking rot is almost always invisible until the old shingles come off.
In Central Texas we get heavy spring storms, long stretches of humidity, and hail that cracks shingles open. Moisture seeps through small breaks and sits against the wood. Over time the decking softens, delaminates, or turns to pulp. A roof can look decent from the driveway and still have sections of bad decking underneath. That is why we do not quote decking replacement before tear off. We cannot see it until the old roof is in the dump trailer.
Roof decking, sometimes called sheathing, is the flat structural panel that spans the rafters or trusses. Most homes in our area use plywood or oriented strand board, commonly four feet by eight feet and at least seven sixteenths of an inch thick. The decking gives the roof its stiffness and provides the nailing surface for shingles. Without solid decking, the roof has no backbone.
Building code calls for decking to be fastened on a specific nailing schedule and to meet minimum thickness for the rafter spacing. When the decking is intact, it distributes live loads like wind and foot traffic across the framing. When it is compromised by rot, it can deflect under weight. A soft spot that gives under a boot is a sign of trouble, and by the time you feel it from above, the damage is already done.
Rot begins where water lingers. The most common starting points are around pipe jacks, chimneys, valley intersections, and clogged gutters that force water back under the eave edge. A small leak can wet the top side of the decking for months without showing a drip in the attic. The shingles above may still look fine because the granule surface sheds water even while the underlayment below is failing.
By the time a homeowner sees a ceiling stain or peeling paint on a soffit, the decking has usually been rotting for a while. But many roofs with bad decking show no interior signs at all. The attic side of the sheathing can appear dry while the top side is crumbling. We have pulled shingles off roofs that looked five years old from the street and found decking that crumbled in our hands. Tear off is the only honest inspection.
$7 per square foot, material and labor included, on 30 year architectural shingles. Tear off, haul away, underlayment and flashing, labor and a magnet pass on the cleanup are all in that number. Rotten decking found after tear off is quoted and approved by you before it is replaced.
Once the old shingles and underlayment are stripped, the decking is fully exposed. Our crew walks the entire roof plane and checks every panel. We look for dark staining, delamination where the plies are separating, soft wood that gives under pressure, and any area where the fasteners have lost their bite. We also check for gaps, broken edges, and panels that were installed with the wrong span rating.
A sound deck is solid underfoot and holds a fastener firmly. If a panel is questionable, we test it. We do not replace decking that is still doing its job. We also do not leave rot in place and cover it up. The standard is simple: if the wood is compromised, it comes out. If it is sound, it stays. The homeowner gets a straight explanation of what we found and what needs to happen next.
Decking replacement is not part of the per square foot price, because we cannot know how much is needed until the old roof is off. Here is how it works. After tear off, we identify every section of decking that needs replacement. We measure the total square footage of the affected area and provide a clear cost to the homeowner. Nothing is replaced until the homeowner has seen the issue, heard the number, and given approval.
We take photos and show you exactly what we are seeing. You do not need to climb a ladder unless you want to. The cost is straightforward: a price per sheet or per square foot of decking replaced, quoted on the spot. Once you approve, the crew cuts out the bad sections, installs new decking of matching thickness, and fastens it to code. Then underlayment and shingles go on as normal. The whole process adds time to the job, but skipping it is not an option on a roof we are putting our name on.
Decking replacement is priced by the sheet or by the square foot of affected area, depending on the layout. Because every roof is different, we quote the exact amount after tear off. The cost of a few sheets is modest. If a large portion of the roof has widespread rot, the number goes up. We tell you the figure plainly and let you decide.
Some roofs need only a sheet or two around the chimney or plumbing vents. Older homes with original decking from decades past sometimes need more extensive replacement. The common thread is that the homeowner controls the decision. We do not replace decking that does not need it, and we do not hide the cost in the base price. Keeping the decking line item separate means you pay only for what your roof actually requires.
Bad decking does not just weaken the roof. It compromises the fastener holding power. Shingles nailed into rotten wood will not stay put in a windstorm. The nails can back out, shingles can lift, and water can get under the field of the roof. A roof is only as good as what the nails bite into. If the decking is soft, the whole system is unreliable.
Rot can also spread to adjacent framing if left unchecked. The decking is the first line of defense, but moisture that sits long enough can reach the rafter tails and fascia. Replacing decking promptly when it is found stops that progression. It is not an upsell. It is the difference between a roof that performs for the long haul and one that starts failing from the substrate up.
When we replace decking, we match the existing thickness or exceed it. Most roofs in Central Texas use 7/16 inch OSB or half inch plywood. If the original decking is thinner than current code minimums, we bring the replacement up to standard. We stagger the joints, leave the proper gap for expansion, and fasten on the required nailing pattern. H clips are installed between panel edges where the span calls for them.
The goal is to leave the roof deck as a uniform, solid surface that will hold fasteners for decades. We do not patch rot by nailing a thin sheet over the top. The bad section comes out completely, down to the rafters, and new decking goes in flush with the surrounding panels. The underlayment then covers the entire roof in a continuous layer before shingles are laid. That is the right way to do it, and it is the only way we do it.
Decking rot hides under shingles and underlayment. There is no way to see the full extent of damage from above or from the attic in most cases. A roof that looks fine on the surface can have soft spots that only become visible after tear off. Quoting decking before seeing it would mean guessing, and guessing leads to surprises. We wait until the roof is stripped, inspect every panel, and then give you a real number based on what we find.
We will show you exactly what we are seeing, with photos, and give you a clear cost to replace the affected decking. You decide how to proceed. If the rot is widespread, the cost is higher than a few sheets, but the process is the same: we quote, you approve, we replace. No work continues on the new roof until you have made the call on the decking.
We do not install new shingles over rotten decking. The nails will not hold properly, the roof will not meet code, and the problem will get worse under the new shingles. A roof is a system, and the decking is the foundation. Covering rot does not fix it. We would rather walk away from a job than put a new roof on a bad deck. It is your home and your decision, but we will not do work we know will fail.
Decking replacement is separate from the per square foot roof price. The roof price covers tear off, underlayment, shingles, flashing, labor, and cleanup. Decking is quoted by the sheet or by the square foot of affected area after we see what is needed. You approve that cost before we replace a single board. Keeping it separate means you pay only for the decking your roof actually needs.
Replacing a few sheets adds an hour or two. If a large portion of the deck needs replacement, the job will take longer. The crew cuts out the bad sections, fits new panels, fastens them properly, and then proceeds with underlayment and shingles. We factor the time into the schedule once we know the scope. The work is done in the same day as the tear off whenever possible, so the roof is dried in before nightfall.
If you are in Killeen, Harker Heights, Copperas Cove, Belton, Temple, Salado, Nolanville, Georgetown, Round Rock, Waco, Austin, or the surrounding Central Texas area, call Sparx Roofing at our quote form. We measure, we price, and we tell you plainly what your roof needs.