H Clip On Roof Sheathing Over Skip Decking

Some older h clips do not provide a built in gap.

H clip on roof sheathing over skip decking.

Zip system roof assembly combines our revolutionary integrated sheathing and flashing tape or liquid flashing to provide a sealed roof for protection against moisture intrusion during construction or if high winds strip the roof covering away. Not always required but a good idea. The lumberyard told us to install h clips as for conventional sheathing but after taping over all the seams between panels we found that water leaked through the tape at almost every clip. A strong resilient roof is a home s first line of defense when the roof deck is exposed to weather.

When you think of a modern plywood roof deck you re not imagining gaps between the sheets of plywood. Simpson strong tie panel sheathing clips are used to brace unsupported sheathing edges and provide a 1 8 gap to address shrinkage and expansion of roof sheathing. Later i heard that the h clips weren t needed in the first place. Help prevent roof leaks many tile roofs have a polymer underlayment our clips work very well with the polymer underlayment.

Osb or plywood over skip sheathing makes for a much stiffer roof deck resists problems with expansion better and obviously doesn t require all the hassle of removing it. H clips provide additional stiffness between bearing points for the unsupported edges of wood panel plywood or osb roof sheathing along with the necessary 1 8 gap for expansion as shown below illustrated on a bag of simpson h clips. I don t know how they handled the h clips but we never went over the original sheathing we stripped it and started with new plywood. When a cedar shake roof needs replacing the shakes should be removed and the skip sheathing sheeted over with solid plywood.

We recently installed a zip system roof over roof trusses spaced 24 inches on center. The entire roof deck is relatively uniform where you can step on any part of it without. Help prevent sheathing warping our clips leave a precise 1 8 gap created from a full width spacer bar without this full gap sheathing can expand under moist conditions and you can end up with the sheathing. The crew stripped the roof and nailed a second layer of 1 2 plywood over top of the 3 8 existing layer.