Expert: Brad Zacharia - 7/10/2006

Question
we bought a house about a year ago with a flat roof. they said it didn' t leak any moe we bought as is . now the ceilng is falling in. how can i go about building a picht roof over it. I ve hear you have to cut off the eave over hangs first. the house is a block house with a 30 by 16 by 2ft.high attic that is on top of the flat roof. do I need to tear off the whole flat roof or can I build over it. I'm pertty handy and have l set trusses years ago premade. how many guys will i need to help me. are there any good books and plans for me to do a project like this. do i need an archatect to do this. what about city building permits. maybe subs contractors. Leaking in florida. thank you.  

Answer
First I have to make a comment. If you want someone to take you seriously you have to upgrade your English. There is no excuse for the writing that I had to go through. I had to read it several times to figure out what you were asking. There was no punctuation, run-on sentences and many misspelled words. I know you’ll be mad but it will help you. You could never get a job writing like that.

Anyway, you will need an architect or someone that knows how to build things to come up with a design. The roof isn’t leaking because it’s flat. It’s leaking because it wasn’t done right. You’ll spend 10 times the amount to make a pitched roof rather than just getting the roof done right. If you still want to do a sloped roof you’ll need to tear off the top of the house you have now but then you’re exposed to the weather until you get the new roof done.

Brad