The roof never fails where you spent the day working — it fails at the foot of metal you trusted, the flashing you sealed instead of lapped, the detail you left for the next trade. When that detail lets go, the leak shows up rooms away from where water entered, the callback eats the margin you bid, and the warranty turns on whether you can prove how you built it. This handbook puts the watertight craft at your fingertips — every critical detail decided the same disciplined way, so the roof holds where roofs actually fail. Inside these pages: • Layered water control, made automatic — read every lap so water runs over the joint, never into it, and stop trusting sealant as the barrier • The Watertight Detail System on every detail — five questions answered at each flashing, penetration, edge, and termination before you walk away • Wind that starts at the edge — design and verify perimeter edge metal to ASCE 7 loads and the ES-1 securement the IBC requires, before uplift peels the field • Single-ply, built-up, metal, tile, and slate — installed and detailed by each system's own rules, not one-size-fits-all habit • Reroofing decided right — recover-versus-tear-off, the code limits on layers and added weight, and the flashing heights a recover quietly destroys • Drainage that holds — slope, internal drains, and the overflow provisions code demands when the primary drains block • Fall protection first — OSHA 29 CFR 1926 Subpart M applied to the most dangerous foot of the building This is for roofing apprentices, journeymen, field foremen, and the instructors training the next crew. Build the roof that keeps its promise — pick up the handbook, and make every detail watertight.
