I need advice about roofs
Posted by: u6213129461734706 on 27 October 2010
I bought a nice old house about a year ago. The inspection report said it would need a new roof at some point. The roof is flat, highest in the middle and gradually slopes down to both the front and back. It's what you call a built up roof, or BUR, asphalt was heated in a kettle, pumped up to the roof, swabbed across the roof deck with a mop, then a layer of felt, repeat several times and end with a final coat of asphalt topped with small sized gravel. I had a small leak fixed 2 months ago, using the more modern method of material that is unrolled and a torch applied to bond it to the roof.
-The thing about flat roofs is that you don't know there are cracks until you see your ceilings becoming wet and damaged. I can't work now because of my OCD (I'm on disability) so I have time to work on it myself. I've done my own repairs by hauling solid asphalt up to the roof and melting it with a torch and pouring it over the area, then moving the gravel back in place. Works great. I met many people in the industry, and did extensive research, to see if I could re-do the whole roof by myself, basically by "cleaning" down into the top layer, refreshing the felts with an asphaltic primer, then applying a thicker mass of fibered liquid asphalt or melting solid asphalt and pouring it. After doing a test section, I came to several conclusions:
1) There's far too much organic material on the roof - mixed in with the gravel is black soil, which comes from leaves and other organic matter breaking down (almost 30 walnut trees, trimmed them back this year-but previous owners let leaves collect, moss was allowed to grow, etc). Moving gravel aside is one thing, but all this dirt stays damp, has to be dried out, hard to clean the top surface properly to get down to clean asphalt, so that the asphalt primer will bond well. Takes forever and a day to clean.
2) Did a test cut into the roof, down to the wood decking, the roof was saturated with water between the top layer and deck, at least in that area. Re-sealing the roof would mean trapping water in it, wherever water has saturated the built up material.
3) You can't tell by looking what areas might be cracking and accepting water, etc.
-So common sense prevailed, I'm going to have it re-done from the deck up by a professional. Considering 2 leaks so far, and the cut test, the roof is telling me it is aged and due for repair, and trying to save a buck by doing it myself would be a mistake. The best company here in Ontario, with the best reputation and excellent referrals, is a company I trust completely, and they want almost $40,000 Canadian, with tax to do the job. There are two or three others, who I know I can trust, and their estimates are lower, but not far off the mark. Needless to say, no upgrades to my Naim system for some time. My wife and I got the bank to re-do our mortgage to include almost $35,000 to direct towards the repair, and we'll have to find another way to finance the balance.
-I'll cut to the chase. This house was purchased a year ago, at such a fantastic price that I don't mind this cost (just sooner than I expected). I would like to know what other forum members know about replacing flat roofs and their experiences. Has anyone been able to rebuild the roof with much more slope to allow the roof to be shingled instead? Did it cost much more? Can a flat roof take the added weight of more structure, safely? I'll probably just do another built up roof again, and take the 10 year warranty, and be done with it. I should have done more research before buying a house with a flat roof. My bad. I won't do anything stupid like just add a new layer overtop-it's cheaper, but has problems with airlocks, bubbles, and horror stories abound about leaks starting just a few years down the road. It's a much more difficult type of roof to get "right" as opposed to shingles. My wife and I need it to last for ten years, at which point we'll have to do it again. It's such a huge investment I'd really appreciate hearing what others have to say about flat roofs.
Thank you,
Dave
-The thing about flat roofs is that you don't know there are cracks until you see your ceilings becoming wet and damaged. I can't work now because of my OCD (I'm on disability) so I have time to work on it myself. I've done my own repairs by hauling solid asphalt up to the roof and melting it with a torch and pouring it over the area, then moving the gravel back in place. Works great. I met many people in the industry, and did extensive research, to see if I could re-do the whole roof by myself, basically by "cleaning" down into the top layer, refreshing the felts with an asphaltic primer, then applying a thicker mass of fibered liquid asphalt or melting solid asphalt and pouring it. After doing a test section, I came to several conclusions:
1) There's far too much organic material on the roof - mixed in with the gravel is black soil, which comes from leaves and other organic matter breaking down (almost 30 walnut trees, trimmed them back this year-but previous owners let leaves collect, moss was allowed to grow, etc). Moving gravel aside is one thing, but all this dirt stays damp, has to be dried out, hard to clean the top surface properly to get down to clean asphalt, so that the asphalt primer will bond well. Takes forever and a day to clean.
2) Did a test cut into the roof, down to the wood decking, the roof was saturated with water between the top layer and deck, at least in that area. Re-sealing the roof would mean trapping water in it, wherever water has saturated the built up material.
3) You can't tell by looking what areas might be cracking and accepting water, etc.
-So common sense prevailed, I'm going to have it re-done from the deck up by a professional. Considering 2 leaks so far, and the cut test, the roof is telling me it is aged and due for repair, and trying to save a buck by doing it myself would be a mistake. The best company here in Ontario, with the best reputation and excellent referrals, is a company I trust completely, and they want almost $40,000 Canadian, with tax to do the job. There are two or three others, who I know I can trust, and their estimates are lower, but not far off the mark. Needless to say, no upgrades to my Naim system for some time. My wife and I got the bank to re-do our mortgage to include almost $35,000 to direct towards the repair, and we'll have to find another way to finance the balance.
-I'll cut to the chase. This house was purchased a year ago, at such a fantastic price that I don't mind this cost (just sooner than I expected). I would like to know what other forum members know about replacing flat roofs and their experiences. Has anyone been able to rebuild the roof with much more slope to allow the roof to be shingled instead? Did it cost much more? Can a flat roof take the added weight of more structure, safely? I'll probably just do another built up roof again, and take the 10 year warranty, and be done with it. I should have done more research before buying a house with a flat roof. My bad. I won't do anything stupid like just add a new layer overtop-it's cheaper, but has problems with airlocks, bubbles, and horror stories abound about leaks starting just a few years down the road. It's a much more difficult type of roof to get "right" as opposed to shingles. My wife and I need it to last for ten years, at which point we'll have to do it again. It's such a huge investment I'd really appreciate hearing what others have to say about flat roofs.
Thank you,
Dave