I've just botched a felt roof - will it last?
Discussion
Following on from my shed posts, I decided to try and prevent the mass leakage I am getting on my shed roof to buy some time until Summer. I don't do ANY DIY so anything more than a screwdriver turn is beyond my understanding.
Anyway, yesterday I bravely picked up a roll of sand felt, some clout nails and some felt roof adhesive (which I got all over my hands and had to spend ages getting off with white spirit and washing powder granules, evil stuff).
I literally got on top of my shed, and attended to the leaking side of the apex. (All this terminology is advanced to me and already if you told me I would be using it 6 months ago I would not have believed you). The leaking side has a seam line where the old felt overlapped, some of the nails were loose and the line runs the length of the shed. It is directly laong this line the shed is leaking. When I say leaking, I mean that when it rains outside, it rains inside on this part of the shed. All our stuff was getitng wet. What I have done is cut the felt and lay it downwards from the highest point of the centre of the shed. I have allowed the felt to fold over slightly and down the opposite side so rain can't slip down any gaps at the top. I have laid around 4 sheets with a decent sideways overlap onto each other, all from top of apex and down the leaking side to the edge. I then used a load of clout nails at the top of each sheet and used adhesive to roughly and probably quite poorly fasten what I could of the edges of the sheets. It looks abysmal, and it's an amateur job for sure, however, I have just been out in the pissing rain to find that the shed is not leaking - it's holding and the wet wood inside along the length of the shed is slowly drying despite niagra falls outside.
Is my rough method right and am I likley to find this buys some decent time? My logic is that it can't rain upwards, and other than some condensation which may cause a few damp spots, there is no reason why large mounts of water should be dripping / leaking into the shed getting things wet.
I can provide a picture of my handy work if required...
Anyway, yesterday I bravely picked up a roll of sand felt, some clout nails and some felt roof adhesive (which I got all over my hands and had to spend ages getting off with white spirit and washing powder granules, evil stuff).
I literally got on top of my shed, and attended to the leaking side of the apex. (All this terminology is advanced to me and already if you told me I would be using it 6 months ago I would not have believed you). The leaking side has a seam line where the old felt overlapped, some of the nails were loose and the line runs the length of the shed. It is directly laong this line the shed is leaking. When I say leaking, I mean that when it rains outside, it rains inside on this part of the shed. All our stuff was getitng wet. What I have done is cut the felt and lay it downwards from the highest point of the centre of the shed. I have allowed the felt to fold over slightly and down the opposite side so rain can't slip down any gaps at the top. I have laid around 4 sheets with a decent sideways overlap onto each other, all from top of apex and down the leaking side to the edge. I then used a load of clout nails at the top of each sheet and used adhesive to roughly and probably quite poorly fasten what I could of the edges of the sheets. It looks abysmal, and it's an amateur job for sure, however, I have just been out in the pissing rain to find that the shed is not leaking - it's holding and the wet wood inside along the length of the shed is slowly drying despite niagra falls outside.
Is my rough method right and am I likley to find this buys some decent time? My logic is that it can't rain upwards, and other than some condensation which may cause a few damp spots, there is no reason why large mounts of water should be dripping / leaking into the shed getting things wet.
I can provide a picture of my handy work if required...
sounds like it'll do the job for the short/medium term.
If you want to do a permanent job, Have a google for EDPM rubber roofing, they do kits on ebay. It's one massive sheet of rubber stuff and a pot of glue. You'll need a couple of mates to help if it's a big shed. It's all in one piece and will last for ages onces its on there. Job for the summer! I did mine last summer, bone dry inside now, and seems to have rescued the roof timbers as they are all dry and no sign of rot.
If you want to do a permanent job, Have a google for EDPM rubber roofing, they do kits on ebay. It's one massive sheet of rubber stuff and a pot of glue. You'll need a couple of mates to help if it's a big shed. It's all in one piece and will last for ages onces its on there. Job for the summer! I did mine last summer, bone dry inside now, and seems to have rescued the roof timbers as they are all dry and no sign of rot.
it is not raining in , good job . secondly , you managed to do it yourself , result .
what i tend to do with any job i have not tackled before is to have a quick look on youtube.
a few years ago i got fed up of tradesman messing me about and not turning up . i started doing it all myself. with varying results admitedly. the more you do , the better you get . and an impressive set of tools to keep in youyr waterproof shed.
what i tend to do with any job i have not tackled before is to have a quick look on youtube.
a few years ago i got fed up of tradesman messing me about and not turning up . i started doing it all myself. with varying results admitedly. the more you do , the better you get . and an impressive set of tools to keep in youyr waterproof shed.
Apart from the fact you've done it completely wrong, it looks pretty good,certainly better than expected.
So long as the shed is dry, job done.
For future reference, you felt shed roofs with the felt horizontally, starting from the bottoms either side and a piece along the ridge, You usually only need clout nails that way.
So long as the shed is dry, job done.
For future reference, you felt shed roofs with the felt horizontally, starting from the bottoms either side and a piece along the ridge, You usually only need clout nails that way.
As said above, you have the seams going the wrong way. It will keep the worst out, my shed has a bodged roof like that with vertical seams, after a bit of propping up and straightening bent OSB panels it keeps the worst out, and I've been here 2 years now. The proper fix is to strip off the crap, straighten boards, and refelt with the seams horizontal. Start at the bottom, of course, then finish with 1 sheet over the apex that overlaps the sheets covering the sides.
I suspect that if you don't expect great things from your shed you will still have it as it is in 5 years' time.
I suspect that if you don't expect great things from your shed you will still have it as it is in 5 years' time.
It'll be fine. It's just a shed!
I did our rickety old thing 5 or 6 years ago and it is still bone dry. Strip it all off, roll out the felt lengthways, overlap at the top with a length folded over the top in an inverted V. Use bitumen felt glue sealanty stuff to glue them down and clout nails to secure.
I did our rickety old thing 5 or 6 years ago and it is still bone dry. Strip it all off, roll out the felt lengthways, overlap at the top with a length folded over the top in an inverted V. Use bitumen felt glue sealanty stuff to glue them down and clout nails to secure.
stevensdrs said:
Vertical seams? It will do as a bodge but not a long term solution.
Yes, you should have laid them horizontally, starting at the bottom, so you could overlap the strips by about 4 inches to make a waterproof joint. (None of this mm/cm rubbish for me)But yes, good job, I don't want to rain on your parade.....
(Do better next time)
Piersman2 said:
Apart from the fact you've done it completely wrong, it looks pretty good,certainly better than expected.
So long as the shed is dry, job done.
For future reference, you felt shed roofs with the felt horizontally, starting from the bottoms either side and a piece along the ridge, You usually only need clout nails that way.
This. Do the felt length ways and work your way up, so it works like roof tiles and the rain water runs off using gravity as your friend, easier to lay too. If you've copied how it was done previously no wonder it leaked.So long as the shed is dry, job done.
For future reference, you felt shed roofs with the felt horizontally, starting from the bottoms either side and a piece along the ridge, You usually only need clout nails that way.
lol thanks for the replies.
The only reason I chose to run the seams horizontal was because having figured out the weakness was along one of the existing vertical seams, I wanted to totally cover it with no gaps near it. I have overlapped the strips of felt sideways by around half a foot, so there is lot's of overlap.
For a 1st attempt it seems to have worked, just been in the shed, all surfaces bone dry and no drips. The damp beam in the roof will take some weeks to dry but for now, so far so good!
The only reason I chose to run the seams horizontal was because having figured out the weakness was along one of the existing vertical seams, I wanted to totally cover it with no gaps near it. I have overlapped the strips of felt sideways by around half a foot, so there is lot's of overlap.
For a 1st attempt it seems to have worked, just been in the shed, all surfaces bone dry and no drips. The damp beam in the roof will take some weeks to dry but for now, so far so good!
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