I have a garage with a flat roof that is slightly angled in a house. I used to live in the house and do the repairs myself or have someone help me, but I went back to finish up school and have not been able to do the work this summer. It has been leaking for a while but because I live many hours away, I have not been bale to drive there and do the repairs.
I believe the covering might be called a tar roof, but am not sure. It has a rubberish material covering it with a kinda tar along the edges. From below the roof is plywood. The walls are concrete and brick.
The house is in northern Indiana, so the fix will need to be able to withstand snow in about an 10 foot by 6 foot area. The roof is sagging slightly and in that area is where the leaking is happening. The rubber has torn in a few places and nails are pushing through in others.
I was thinking of getting something to push the roof up slightly from below and then either replacing the rubber or getting large patches cover the holes and sealing those patches.
Would it be better to do this type of work myself or to hire a contractor? I would have probably only a day and a half to work on this. Getting help is not a problem, the help would just not be professional. The time is probably slightly more of a constraint than the money, although I much more prefer to do this myself. What are your suggestions?
Thanks,
Ben
Ben, thanks for your question. I will try my best to help you out
here. Flat roofing, when applied correctly can last for many years. In
my opinion, especially in a situation like yours, the best material to
use is an EPDM Rubber Roofing, that in fact may be similar to what
you already have.
This type of roofing is a flexible
rubber and there is a seam type tape then when applied that can look like it
is a tar like seam. However if the roof has been leaking then sometimes
a roofing cement is used to try and seal off the leaks and this too
will look like tar.
The problem is that over time your roof has developed a
leaking problem and it may be that trying to patch it, is now out of
the question. The other concern I have is if the roof is sagging, there
is a posibility that the lumber may need to be repaired or replaced.
Any way you look at it, you need to have the time to do this job right
and prevent further problems.
EPDM Rubber Roofing is one
of the best solutions because of it's flexibility which helps it to be
able to hold up to weathering and failing joints. Plus billions of
square feet of this product have been installed and it has been proven
to give home owners many years of leak free service, and yes, you can
install it yourself.
You may need to have a professional roofing company come out and look at it to make sure there is no structural damage. Then if there is wood that needs to be replaced or repaired, you should have it done. I know that this is not the simple fix that you wish it may be, but I would just hate to see it get worse over time and cost you more in the long run.
However, if you want to try and take care of this yourself, you can click on the following link to find out more about the product and find complete instructions on how to install this roofing click on the following link.
Installing EPDM Rubber Roofing
Be sure to click on the link at the bottom of the page after clicking on the link above, to go directly to the website.
You can also check out ways to patch existing rubber or flat roofs by clicking on the following link.
How to Patch a Flat Roof
I hope this helps, Rick
Rick Maselli is Founder and Editor of Showroom411.com