Ian F
MegaDork
2/12/18 6:15 a.m.
I would imagine it's not rocket science, but it seems some special equipment may need to be improvised. Something to melt the tar for sealing the joints. I am fairly sure more than two people will be required to keep the work flow moving. Wear clothes you can assume will be trash when the job is done. Let me know if you need a hand.
Edit: Doesn't sound terribly difficult...
If you can get a break in the weather and are in the mood to go sleuthing for roof leaks, this stuff works really well: Vulkem goop in a tube. If you have a way to bring a heat gun on the roof with you, it can help dry the leaky spot before you goop it. We used to use propane torches- until the guy I worked for caught someone's historic home on fire. Oops.
Rolled rubber (EPDM) roofing is good stuff. I'm not familiar with the mineral product, so I don't know how that stuff works. In these parts we do use "Ice and Water Shield"- it is some sort of self-adhesive magic, but that is usually just along the drip edges.
We used to get rolls of the rubber stuff, but it wasn't self adhesive. They are heavy AF. Then we would get 5 gallon buckets of the glue to glop on, they are heavy AF too. The key to getting it to work is cleaning the existing roofing and keeping it clean so the glue forms a good bond, as well as the stuff you are putting down. Also you would want to inspect the existing surface well for any pointy type stuff that could wear through the new rubber.
As IanF pointed out, it isn't a clean process, so don't wear your sunday best :-) And it ain't rocket science. As long as you think like water when you are putting it down it will work well.
Thanks! I'll see whether I can get a visual on any obvious leak points some time this week for a temporary fix with the goop stuff.
For tar/coating type stuff like in Ian's link, what about a roof coating like this? Looks like there are a few coatings (that one included) which claim to be usable over the type of roofing that's currently up there.
Here's a photo of the current roof (from the inspection report):
We've got three different roofs here at work that are all low slope or flat. We limped a couple of them along for few years using those coatings. They're not perfect and won't hold up forever, but they do a good job of being cheap, simple to apply (though very messy), and at least temporarily will stop minor leaks. We did eventually replace all the roofs but used contractors for it - it's a little different when it's an income generating property full of tenants with 20k sf of roof. Makes it hard to DIY a roof repair!
You can lay a new roof over the old one as long as the old one isn't too decayed. You do need to adhere the new roof well so the old one needs to be clean and dry. If the adhesive bond fails you end up with a giant plastic bag whipping around on top of your building and it doesn't last long at that point.
Good luck. I would say, if you have patience and can get at least one helper, and read up on the stuff, there's no reason you can't do a replacement yourself. Roofers are not usually MENSA candidates, after all. One thing you might consider when you do the roof replacement is to add foam insulation board under the new roof. That would require a tear off of the old roof, so you'd need a nice long spate of good weather. I know you have energy efficiency concerns in this building and our newly insulated roof combined with other efficiency moves has saved us thousands PER MONTH in heating and cooling costs. As long as your roof isn't curved, it should be pretty easy to insulate. It's not super cheap, though.
I'm tempted to "limp it along" for now with the coating, since with a complete re-roof I'd want to do it right- and I don't think I have the budget for that right now, DIY or not. A coating would punt it along to my future self, who might have more money since he didn't just buy a house 6 months ago. Don't know, more research required.
From the picture that stuff looks like an asphalt type base with the granular/grainy surface on it?
If that is the case I'm not confident rolled rubber would stick to it. Well, it might- but I don't know how long it would last. As dculberson pointed out, if you are going with rubber a tear off and insulation would be the permanent fix.
Based on my limited experience, the tar method or the silvery Lowe's stuff method would either work. I've never had the pleasure of doing the tar thing. But the other coating should be able to be rolled on over the whole roof, no special equipment needed.
759NRNG
SuperDork
2/12/18 9:51 a.m.
With the 'limp it along' philosophy being the order of the day......this.....Flexglue.com....I'm 'this ' close to pulling the trigger on this snot......good luck
Ian F
MegaDork
2/12/18 10:12 a.m.
A whole bunch of cans of Flex-Seal?
As seen on TV - so it must be good!
759NRNG
SuperDork
2/12/18 10:17 a.m.
the glue can be applied under water...........operators standing by.........here's how to order
RedGT
Dork
2/14/18 7:43 a.m.
Our porch roof has that same roofing material, and the second layer...they nailed it on along all the edges and then sealed the nails with tar. I assume because adhesive would have just pulled the granular coating off the previous roof and done nothing. It' almost time to re do it, too. Fun.
IME, most of the spray/roll/brush on stuff is crap.
Either Lowe's or Home Depot sell a product called Henry's.
It's a cookie dough consistency tar product for roof patching.
Use a putty knife and knead the stuff into the roofing texture.
I've had the stuff last for years.
Rolled roofing is pretty easy to find leaks in. You're just looking for cracks in the tar or the roofing itself.
If you find any places the where the texturing is gone and you just have the exposed paper/fiber backing you're pretty much screwed.
My stepdad and step Brothers were able to lay down a couple runs of rolled roofing as an emergency stop gap after a tree took out a swath off shingles on their house. IIRC they used some kind of diy friendly tar/sealant available from one of the big home stores that didn't require a liquid asphalt heater.
My brother (who is a musician by trade - I only mention that to say he's not a roofing contractor) did the EPDM roof on his flat-ish roof at his project house in Lancaster. The roof was shot already, so he had nothing to lose, except the giant blue tarp. That being said, it required a good, clean surface, and (compared to asphalt roll roofing) a larger amount of mess. We did his roof in white, to help with cooling. We did get a general contractor to come help us not screw it up though.
Not the cheapest solution, but the life expectancy is way longer than asphalt.
Great project you have going!
I've used the Flex-Seal products for sealing leaks in old drink coolers and also around the windows of an old motorhome. Both applications were very easy to do and I've had zero leaks since! Over a year now, and that stuff is still holding up. Never tried the tape, but the caulk and the spray stuff is damn good.
~Peter
The non-heated tar sealant is "Lap Cement", it's a black liquidy tar product. It seals the rolled roofing edges before nailing. Sold at any home improvement store. Worked well in SoCal, not sure where there is a real winter season....
To give an update on the roof front, the caulk/vulkem/whatever I put in the cracks up top seems to be keeping the water at bay for the most part. Still planning to do something more substantial if this winter ever ends.
But that's not why I'm posting. After swapping our tow rig's transmission, all I wanted to do on Sunday was go for a motorcycle ride in the relatively nice mid 40s weather, but the plumbing in the shop had other plans- the pressure relief valve on the pressure tank tee was leaking, but the gauge indicated only 40psi, so I picked up a new gauge and relief valve, shut the pump off, and drained the tank. The old stuff:
I replaced both while I had things drained, noting that the old gauge still read 40psi after it was removed
Then I turned the pump back on, and the new gauge pegged at 100psi with the new relief valve spewing everywhere Adjustments to the pressure switch had no effect, so I turned it all off again and rode the Buell to Lowe's because goddammit I'm getting my motorcycle ride one way or another. Snagged a new switch, wired it in, fired everything up, and it all seems happy now sitting at about 50psi.
This weekend managed to include plumbing, wiring, and automatic transmissions, which are pretty much my least favorite things but at least I'm getting better at all of them.
Look into elastomeric coatings for the roof. Not permanent, but that stuff is good. If you use it un-tinted it also will help keep roof temps down dramatically during the summer since it reflects the sunlight. I have used the Black Jack brand from Lowe's, and it's a nice product. It can be rolled or sprayed, and depending on your square footage isn't too crazy on price. Tons of people use them for RV and mobile home/trailer roofs with a good success rate.
Kitchen sink handle broke off while making Easter dinner? No problem!
Sara just looked at it and said "I'm fine with this"
RossD
MegaDork
4/2/18 8:11 a.m.
We bought our 100 year old 'forever house' just about a year ago now. We first called it our forever house because we thought we would live in it for the rest of our days, but now its our 'forever project house'. I'm sure you can relate!
In reply to RossD :
Eh, they're all forever projects- if I wanted to keep using the same car every day for the rest of my life I'd have a lot of work to do on that too
After a couple days of vice grip sink, spare parts arrived. I have no idea what faucet parts are called, but the problem was that this crusty doodle right here broke:
Hooray!
The parts kit has seals and stuff for it, which I'm sure it needs, but I can do that some other time... the shutoff valves are stuck so cracking it open isn't something I want to tackle on a Wednesday at 830pm.
So I guess I can post about this now that we have the insurance check- a while ago somebody tried to torpedo the shop with their car while "avoiding an animal" (/being on their phone). Luckily the concrete wall, which was put there a couple decades ago after last time this happened, did its' job:
Miraculously, none of the vehicles inside were hurt by the glass or whatever went through it either:
So now we get to get that fixed, which is fun- until then I've got a storm window duct taped over the broken one. The guy's insurance paid out, and his Nissan Rogue went straight to the scrapyard.
Of course, the smart thing to do would be to just fix the wall, but I'm tempted to purchase a vehicle to use as a buffer instead. Something like this, perhaps? https://allentown.craigslist.org/cto/d/1972-ford/6705335583.html That ought to stop a car.
java230
UltraDork
9/25/18 9:49 a.m.
Rebuild the wall, with a lot of rebar..... no sense in having it break off again.
That truck is too sexy for "wall" use. Although they suck to drive :D
I think whatever the "wall vehicle" is would need to look cool, otherwise what's the point? How about this: https://easternshore.craigslist.org/cto/d/1961-cadillac-coupe-deville/6690569532.html
Then every few years, assuming the wall vehicle has survived, it becomes a project and is replaced with a different piece of vehicular sculpture.