Weep Screed

I know I'm voyaging deep into unchartered territory when I start reading about weep screeds. Weep Screeds are basically a water shedding feature at the very bottom of stucco buildings. ( my house doesn't have one)

Speaking of new discoveries, I tore into the rotting wood roof trim and discovered the roof is not the roof. This adobe house has a parapet roof that the previous owners got tired of dealing with so they had someone build a roof on top of the roof.

Here's an example of authentic parapet walls on an adobe building. Probably similar to the original roof on my house.

I knew something was odd when I looked above the ceiling in a small rafter space when I was messing with the kitchen light source...and I felt I was not high enough to where the ridge is, but my head was 2 inches from the roof sheathing. Well, how is my head 2 inches from the roof sheathing but I'm not 11 feet above the ground? I had other problems on my agenda that day so the mystery remained until I tore into the wood trim.

Here is what a roof built on a roof looks like. Decaying old asphalt paper under a framework that holds up more sheathing and another roof. It looks like a normal attic crawlspace, but there is no access to this area from the inside of the building because this is looking at the top of the original roof.

The original parapet roof is low pitch. Maybe there is no ridge at all. I will find out when I take off that awful Masonite junk that is giving the illusion that it is siding, when it is really hiding the framework of another roof. There should be a vent somewhere in there but, you know, who could be bothered to cut a hole and put a vent?

The wind was blowing pretty hard today so I did not finish the new fascia and drip edge. But I got an idea of how I'm going to install it around the whole house. This eave is the most important because water runs onto stucco. The original wood vigas were ruined and also the source of water into the walls that caused water damage. I think. So, I used the widest fascia I could find (12'') and the widest drip edge I could find (4''). At worst, it gives the elements one more thing to destroy while I decide what to do about this roof. It's nice to buy a house that not one person knew had a false roof. Even if I had gotten an inspection, I doubt he would've torn off the fascia to figure out there was a false roof. And it wouldn't have made a difference.