Alex C Posted July 6, 2014 Report Share Posted July 6, 2014 (edited) Hi Chaps, My Granny (89 Years Old) has a garage with a flat roof which is leaking. I had a look at it yesterday and its knackerd. The roof rises and falls along the length and water is pooling in the low spots and its leaking in. At some point in the past its been covered with some sort of tar and had grey gravel spread on it. Its the black tar thats breaking up and letting water in i think. She has had a few quotes but quite rightly all the tradesmen want to re roof it and the lowest quote was £2000 plus VAT. She quite simply doesnt have the money to pay this. She also refused to let me pay for it but has agreed for me to try and fix it !! Now my plan is thus. Sweep off all the old gravel then screw sheets of 12 mm weather proof ply over the whole of the existing roof packing, up where the low spots are. I will then use some sort of bitumen to cover the boards and also glue down sheets of new roofing felt and nail it down with clout nails. Couple of questions. Firstly will this work and last at least a few years? Second what can i use to glue the felt down, i was thinking some sort of bitumen / gloopy black stuff ? Third will shed roofing felt be sufficient or will i need something a bit more heavy duty ? I dont have a big blow torch etc so any fix must be done without pro tools. Also i dont want the joints in the felt to let water in so someway of sealing them will be required. So what do you reckon guys ? Is this doable ? I know ,and she knows, that this isnt a long term fix but as she said to me today ''I wont be here in the long term so what do i care'' Comments welcome Cheers Alex Edited July 6, 2014 by Alex C Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
remy 700 Posted July 6, 2014 Report Share Posted July 6, 2014 Flexocryl waterproof solves a great deal of leaks , its that gloopy tar/bitchumen stuff but do not get it on your clothes or hands , you should be able to repair it with this and some felt( a bodge) but it works! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex C Posted July 6, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2014 By that was quick !! I'll google the stuff and look into buying a truck load. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ack-ack Posted July 6, 2014 Report Share Posted July 6, 2014 I dont have a big blow torch :-( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rupert Posted July 6, 2014 Report Share Posted July 6, 2014 Torch on felt. Comes on a roll and applies with a blow torch big or small Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonicdmb Posted July 6, 2014 Report Share Posted July 6, 2014 You should be able to hire a torch from the likes of Jewsons Speedy maybe even B&Q. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex C Posted July 6, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2014 No blow torch to be had unfortunately, plus i would probably burn the place down. Was think more of a numpty fix like some squirty glue or tarry stuff from a tin, where the worst that will happen is i might get black hands ?? Just seen the hire comment. Is the blow torching thing pretty easy ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonicdmb Posted July 6, 2014 Report Share Posted July 6, 2014 Basically its a long handled burner you'd have to buy the gas but that part should be sorted with the hire. All you have is two taps one on the bottle one on torch bottle fully open torch controls size of flame. then its just a case of heating the felt to melt the tar backing it goes on with an over lap that seals joints between pieces. not to hard as long as you don't get too giddy and burn the felt. You could buy some paint on bitumen using a roller apply it to a strip a bit wider than the felt rollout per cut length of felt and repeat till its covered not forgetting to overlap the joints. Both work the first is better paint on bitumen tends to melt in summer torch on doesn't Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scotslad Posted July 6, 2014 Report Share Posted July 6, 2014 Is the garage attached to anything? House etc that limits the roof hieght If not could u put more fall in the roof and use some ply to reroof it and either felt it or corragated tin/that other soft stuff u get??? seen it in wickes. even some 2x2 frame lifted at 1 side, dependening how ur width of the roof If u can inrease the pitch/slope will help get the water off. Not saying don't use a burner but i know 2 local roofers who have had some quite decent house fires with them and there pro's. It can happen But by the time u start buying lots of timber, ply plus either felt or tin money will soon mount up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex C Posted July 6, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2014 Its attached to the next doors garage, but my granny's is higher by about 4 inches. I did consider the building a new roof over the existing but then by the time i had done that it would probably be just as easy to pull the old one off and start again. I was thinking around 6 sheets of ply at around £40 a sheet plus £100 for sticky tar stuff plus £100 for felt. So for around £500 i could get it water tight again ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scotslad Posted July 6, 2014 Report Share Posted July 6, 2014 If u are re plying it and it is only 6 sheets worth 2 or 4 inch would make a big difference for getting water off. So even if ur job is not top notch becuase it has plenty of fall the water will find the easiest way, whicjh is running down the slope and not sitting water where it can seep throu seems Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jef Posted July 7, 2014 Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 You're ******* in the wind, I'm sorry. For around 18 sq m £2k isn't a bad price. I do GRP roofs and I'd be looking for £100 per m. Offer to go halfs with your gran, in my mind the money you are going to spend doing it yourself is going to be wasted. No criticisms, just my 2p worth. JF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex C Posted July 7, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 Oh I know its a good price for a re roof, but seen as in her own words, she'll be dead in 5 or less there is little point in her eyes spending 3k of her money on something of little benefit. If i can get away with spending £500 and keep most of the water out for the next few years then its worth doing. Having done a bit more reading today i am going to pack where necessary and ply the whole roof making sure there is a fall, then nail down a felt underlay, then felt adhesive then a top covering of more felt. Its how the IKO web site suggests so must be somewhere near ?? The stuff is purpose made for flat garage roofs so will give that a shot. I'll let you know how i get on in a couple of weeks time Cheers for the advice guys Alex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Imperfection Posted July 8, 2014 Report Share Posted July 8, 2014 I used to be a roofer so when someone i know told me he was covering his garage roof with a butyl pond liner i laughed,but 15 years later its still there and not leaking. He literally cut it to fit,nailed it around the edges to the fascia and then spread pea gravel all over to stop wind getting inbetween the butyl and old felt. Bodge job-maybe,but its lasted this long! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason kaye Posted July 8, 2014 Report Share Posted July 8, 2014 I'm a roofer and have been for the last 15 years or so, £2000 + vat is steep in my opinion for 18sqM, it wants reboarding with 18mm ply, a layer of 4 mm torch on polyester base felt and a layer of 4mm torch on green mineral cap sheet and flashings that to me should cost her no more than £1500 all in and will last at least 15 years, get some more quotes and have a look at the smaller companies that are not vat registered. Atb Jase. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scotslad Posted July 8, 2014 Report Share Posted July 8, 2014 Depending on the shape of garage roof, but i'm guessing 2.4m x 7.2ish? if 6 sheets of ply Thinking about this again, if it was me i'd probably think about using some strapping either 2x2 or 3x2 or similar to raise one sid of the roof to create more fall and stick some corragated tin on it. Relatively easy to do ur self, althou not sure how dear it would be by the time u add all timber and facias etc up. But atleast ur saving on ply and felt and it should give u a decent job which will last for years. Dunno how flat the roof is but i would be tempted to make the fall width ways rather than lengthways if possible, as 4" is a fair steeper gradient over 8ft, if fall is length ways u will never raise roof enough Think my car port was about 600 quid for 25sq m for the tin plus some 90 degree tin facia's. Possibly worth getting more quotes from other roffers but bottom line is flat roofs are never a first choice as a roof so if u can change it to make it less 'flat' should make it better and longer lasting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobt Posted July 8, 2014 Report Share Posted July 8, 2014 I'm a roofer and have been for the last 15 years or so, £2000 + vat is steep in my opinion for 18sqM, it wants reboarding with 18mm ply, a layer of 4 mm torch on polyester base felt and a layer of 4mm torch on green mineral cap sheet and flashings that to me should cost her no more than £1500 all in and will last at least 15 years, get some more quotes and have a look at the smaller companies that are not vat registered. Atb Jase. Jase want to price for a roof in selby? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason kaye Posted July 11, 2014 Report Share Posted July 11, 2014 Jase want to price for a roof in selby? No problem pal I've sent you a PM. Jase. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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