We had a bit of an issue last winter during a particularly cold and windy rain-storm, with water seeping through the roof of the shop. We could see it soaking down the rafters on the walls (the underside of the roof is insulated and sealed with plastic) about every 3 feet or so. Going outside we found that each leak corresponded to a seam between sheets of metal roofing.
Nothing we could do about it at the time, since the roof was covered in ice and water and it rained non-stop for the rest of the winter, but checking and repairing the roof was on our short list of things to do this summer.
Of course, as always happens, it got put off by other projects equally important and more urgent. I made an attempt at it last week, but found I didn’t have a ladder equal to the job. This week we bought a new ladder and I was able to get it knocked out.
A good ladder is a worthwhile expense, as is the extender brace that allows it to lean against the wall instead of the gutter.
First seam checked, no mold or rot in the insulation, but it was immediately obvious why it had been leaking. There was no caulking between the metal sheets, and the screws weren’t spaced closely enough to keep them tight to each other. A quick strip of caulking should fix that.
Notice there is no debris in the insulation. This is the north side of the roof. We never get north winds.
If I were a cussing man… Got all the way up here and found that this one screw was phillips head! Seriously!? One screw?
No weather stripping at the ridge cap. Just blocks of wood hastily glued into place. Removed one and found that some debris had blown in underneath on the north side, but overall not too bad.
Applied some caulking around them as well.
Hopefully this will help keep the weather out of here as well. Not particularly worried about ventilation as the underside is sealed with moisture barrier and the inside of the peak has a ventilation fan.
Take the time to appreciate the view.
At this point it was raining (again) and someone was waiting impatiently for me to come back down.
The rest will have to wait for another day.
Had errands to run on Tuesday (not least to buy a butt-load more caulking), but got up around 11 o-clock in the morning. Didn’t take long to finish the north side. The south side…
That was an absolute mess. This gap was not caulked at all, and this was the second piece of roofing they put down! It wasn’t that they got all the way out here and found that they had to put it in wonky because they were running out of roof space. They just slapped it down carelessly, probably tacked the wrong edge down first and rather than fixing it, just left it like that.
Now there is no way to fix that without taking the entire roof off, so I just filled the gap with almost an entire tube of caulking, and we will see how it does.
This is the south side, where we get a ton of wind in the winter. Hence all the debris that had been washed into the gap. Fortunately, no rot or mold in the insulation yet.
Most of these seams were held down by only 2 or 3 screws, some of them badly placed so they weren’t actually holding anything.
Many of the wood blocks along the peak were out of place with large gaps on one side or the other. I caulked every single one of these heavily. Four hours to finish the south side.
Hoepfully, that will last a few years and keep us from having to replace rotten rafters.
Like Mama said, do it right the first time.
Little Farm in the Big City 