Roofing felt repair?

[Tasky]

My workshop roof is leaking.....

The previous owner built this roughly 4x7m garage-y thing using concrete uprights, with concrete slats slotted in, metal angled triangle roof support thingies (trusses, are they called?) and 18mm plywood with roofing felt over the top.
Unfortunately, it looks like he nailed the roofing tacks a good 5-10mm through the plywood and now I have drips coming in, straight onto my new benchtop!!

Normally I'd just re-roof the thing, but this is a bit of a shack and we'll be moving in a couple of years, at which point the Landlady will just knock it down. It's been decided (by Mrs Budget-holder) that it's not worth spending vast sums of money on and the amount of roofing felt, underlay, adhesive, sealer etc that (it seems ) we'd need is quite expensive.


To that end, is there anything relatively cheap (ie less than £100) that we could simply coat the roof in, that would keep the water out for the next 2-3 years?

 

[AndyT]

I'd try Evercryl, available from Toolstation or similar. You just brush it on. There are plenty of YouTube videos showing it in use.

 

[sunnybob]

if its leaking on the nails , then just run evo stick adhesive flashing tape across the top of them.

 

[Tasky]

Yeah, that looks like the sort of thing I was imagining... but at 1-2kg per m², for a 4x7m garage I could need as many as 28 of these?

I probably need to do some detailed leak-testing to see where the leaks are coming from... I assumed it was the nails, as that's where the drips mostly form. I suppose it could be anywhere, though... just the nails, possibly air pockets in whatever quality plywood the PO used...

I hate whichever cowboy built this heap!

 

[Steliz]

I've recently had a similar problem with my shed roof and I coated it in Black Jack Bituminous Paint whci is available from Toolstation.

https://www.toolstation.com/shop/p88792 ... r8QAvD_BwE

It worked a treat for me.

 

[Racers]

Heat the nails with your heat gun to remelt the tar and seal them up.

Pete

 

[powertools]

It's not your house and you are not looking for a long term repair. My recommendation would be car underseal.

 

[Rorschach]

What about a couple of tarps laid over and nailed down at the edges?

 

[Tasky]

I've recently had a similar problem with my shed roof and I coated it in Black Jack Bituminous Paint whci is available from Toolstation.

AH YES!!!
That sounds even better - I wondered if such a thing existed. Pretty cheap, too.
I don't need to heat this up like the stuff they use on the roads, do I?
I assume I'd need to brush away all the loose and semi-loose gravelly bits off the roof felt?

Heat the nails with your heat gun to remelt the tar and seal them up.Pete

Ah-hahahahahahahaha!!!!!
No no, good sir - You cannot assume that the 'Distaster-It-Yourself' expert who built this heap used any kind of quality material in the first place... Judging from the exposed and loose-hanging fibreglass insulation surrounding the electrical wiring in one corner, I doubt there's much tar even left on the felt! :shock:

Seriously, there's so much wrong with this construct, you'd have a heart attack if you saw!

It's not your house and you are not looking for a long term repair. My recommendation would be car underseal.

I understand from caravanners who tried this on their wooden 'vans that, when the wood expands/contracts the underseal can crack and let water in.

What about a couple of tarps laid over and nailed down at the edges?

Too much that could go wrong wth it, too flimsy, too noisy in the wind...

 

[rafezetter]

I've recently had a similar problem with my shed roof and I coated it in Black Jack Bituminous Paint whci is available from Toolstation.

https://www.toolstation.com/shop/p88792 ... r8QAvD_BwE

It worked a treat for me.

+1 for this stuff, but when I use it I thin it down a bit purely because otherwise it's like trying to roller treacle, and a 15% thinned version rollers on lovely, and flows right into any cracks etc.

Yes to brushing off any major loose stuff, but if you thin it out so it's more like paint and less like treacle, you'll see what I mean, as you roller it on it'll just flow over the residual loose stuff and bind it. I laid it on copiously - if it's a flat roof you could get away with pouring it out and rollering, if thinned, which I seriously recommend.

I've overpainted one roof and relaid felt on 2 others both of which had OSB boards, and this worked a treat for ensuring the OSB was sealed against any future minor felt failures. My own sheds will get the same treatment before laying felt again.

2 coats should see you for the next few years and then some.

 

[Tasky]

+1 for this stuff, but when I use it I thin it down a bit purely because otherwise it's like trying to roller treacle, and a 15% thinned version rollers on lovely, and flows right into any cracks etc.

Sounds delightful!
What do you add to thin it? I'm guessing white spirit won't quite cut it?

 

[Steliz]

Buy a couple of cheap 4 or 5" brushes and throw them away afterwards. I didn't dilute mine ( I wish I'd thought of that) and it went on OK but the brush did start to get pretty stiff towards the end of my 12x6 shed roof.

 

[Bm101]

+1 for this stuff, but when I use it I thin it down a bit purely because otherwise it's like trying to roller treacle, and a 15% thinned version rollers on lovely, and flows right into any cracks etc.

Sounds delightful!
What do you add to thin it? I'm guessing white spirit won't quite cut it?

http://www.arconsupplies.co.uk/uploads/ ... -paint.pdf

Datasheets says no.
Not saying you can't obviously. Whitespirit or thinner should work i would guess just put in the minimum possible.
If you've never used bitumen based paints before it's always wise to never have spare rags and plastic bags around for binning brushes so you're stood on a roof looking for the least bad place you can lob it and ruin forever. And to wear your best new jeans and trainers.

 

[Marineboy]

I’ve just used this stuff on my log store roof. Goes on well and works a treat.

http://www.wilko.com/roofing/ikopro-roo ... vt/0135698

 

[Tasky]

And to wear your best new jeans and trainers.

I have to buy trainers, now? Won't old combat boots be sufficient?
I haven't owned trainers since about 1992... where do you even get them these days? I imagine I'll want white ones?

Blimey, this is suddenly getting really expensive... I assume I have to buy good ones, like a minimum of Nike Air Cosmans, yeh?

 

[Bm101]

And to wear your best new jeans and trainers.

I have to buy trainers, now? Won't old combat boots be sufficient?
I haven't owned trainers since about 1992... where do you even get them these days? I imagine I'll want white ones?

Blimey, this is suddenly getting really expensive... I assume I have to buy good ones, like a minimum of Nike Air Cosmans, yeh?

Depends. How high is the roof? Remember them pump up basketball boots from the 90's? They'd be just the ticket if you're ladders broken I'd have thought.
White though yeh. Its HSE mate. What can you do? :roll:

 

[Tasky]

Depends. How high is the roof? Remember them pump up basketball boots from the 90's? They'd be just the ticket if you're ladders broken I'd have thought.

Ah, you mean these things:

Yeah, forget the ladder... with shoes like that I can just use my Hoverboard™!! :lol:

White though yeh. Its HSE mate. What can you do? :roll:

Well how else would I know I've spilled any black tar paint...?

 

[Bm101]

Great Scott! That's them!

 

[Newbie_Neil]

I've recently had a similar problem with my shed roof and I coated it in Black Jack Bituminous Paint whci is available from Toolstation.

https://www.toolstation.com/shop/p88792 ... r8QAvD_BwE

It worked a treat for me.

+ 1, this is excellent.

 

[Tasky]

I've had a quick inspection up top and it turns out the PO put battens down on top of the felt, before nailing through these and right through the roof, which is what the nails are sticking through my workshop ceiling!!

I have next weekend off, so I think I'll grab two 5l tins of bitumen paint and see about coating the lot!