Comments on: Flat Roof Repair – DIY roof repair guides, options and costs involved.

By: Mike

Mike — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 21:53:07 +0000

Hi,

I have a tar and gravel roof. I’ve noticed areas where the gravel has washed away and the exposed tar is dry and cracked. What repair method would you recommend?

Thanks

~Mike

By: Leo - roofer with a vision

Leo - roofer with a vision — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 15:38:55 +0000

Hi Peter,

I would stay away from elastomeric coating, or any coating for that matter. Every flat roof coating job I’ve seen – be it on rubber roof or other single ply (such as TPO or PVC), the coating starts chipping / peeling and if such roof leaks, it becomes impossible to fix it, by applying original type material, as coating is in the way. And scraping the coating off is very problematic, time consuming and expensive.

I would recommend IB roof. As you can see, you are having what I believe a material failure – not improper installation, although it could be a combination of both. So don’t install another layer of TPO.

Good luck.

PS, I have some questions for you, so I will send you an email.

By: PT

PT — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 03:57:25 +0000

Leo, our church in texas has over 10,000 SQ 9 years-old TPO manufactured by Stevens Roofing System.
the roof started to have leaks from various spots 3 years ago. the roof has no ponding issue. we called the original installer to fix the leaks on our expense. but the situation was not improved.
for past 2 years, the leaks continued to show up on same spots plus some new area. i can see tiny crack line around the seam joint. the church elders are inclined to 2 approaches:
(1) apply elastomeric coating on top of existing TPO, or (2) lay new TPO on top of existing one.
by reading the discussion in your title “Single-Ply flat roof system: PVC vs TPO”, i have 2nd thought of TPO. i will contact a couple of IB contractors next week locally.
how do you think about the elastomeric coating? is it reliable?
thanks in advance for your suggestion.

By: Ben Nguyen

Ben Nguyen — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 00:57:52 +0000

Hi
I live in Montreal Quebec Canada. I have a 43*52 flat roof composed of tar and gravel with 15 upside down J shape ventilations. I was told that have been done 15 years at the time that I bought this house in Aug. 2008. After the 45cm snow storm passed Montreal Thursday 27 Dec,next day water sipped through the ceiling of a living room in one of the unit next to the roof, water started to form the guttes, but not drop then dried out the next day. I had the whole roof clean up the 29th, today in the same unit, in one of the sleeping room, the same problem in the living happened in that sleeping room.
After yours specialities, what is the most closest cause to this phenomements?
The contractor that I hired to clean snow on roof told me that might be that the roof is to old that the heat is lost, caused snow to melted because there was ice on the surface of the gravels, caused cold atmostphere under the roof then moisture warm air rise meet the cold air, water develope. Or the ventilation were installed in all direction, wind blowed snow into them, snow then melted and water collect on the ceiling of the living room which is direct below the ventilations that oppose the wind.
My questions are if these scenarios above are true. what can I do to stop the water form inside this unit until the summer for a complete roof change? I am in a difficulty finacing now, however if must change the roof now, How much more will be in the middle of winter to change a roof of this size? What kind of the roof will free me problem like for the next 30 years? How do they calculate the cost?
An extra questions, Can you please recommand me any trustful roof cover contractor. I was told that my roof is warranty 25 years, I tried to tract the contractor that did my roof, it does not exist anymore.
I am very appreciate wether you can help me or not. Happy newyear to you and your family.

Sincerely

Ben Nguyen

By: Leo - roofer with a vision

Leo - roofer with a vision — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 18:45:46 +0000

Hi Nikki.

Sorry to hear of your troubles, and that your original roofer is ditching you till next year.

To help you i would need to know what type of rofing material you had installed, if tuetr is any ponding water on your roof, and where you are located.

It would also be very helpful if you could send me some pictures of your roof. You can email them to leo @ coolflatroof.com (no spaces). I’ll take a look and see what i can recommend.

Leo

By: nikki hayden

nikki hayden — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 18:25:42 +0000

Hi i am looking for some help, i got my flat roof replaced last year in feb so 22 months ago as i had a leak and the roof was old so we decided to replace it. today i noticed a my bedroom ceiling was damp in the same place as 22 months ago (we have had nothing until now). I called the company who replaced the roof but the guy told me hes going away till Jan. do you have any idea how this could happen after so long in the same place, I’m devastated

By: Tom Potter

Tom Potter — Sun, 28 Oct 2012 01:26:16 +0000

Tar and gravel roofs are a problem for the inexperienced roofer or building owner. They are a very good roof if installed right. I have almost 40 years of experience repairing all types of roofing systems. They all leak. Metal, PVC, Tpo, Mod bit, Bur,or rubber the roofs are only as good as the roofer applying them and the maintenance provided.
A tar and gravel that does not pond water is well worth the investment. With single ply roofing you only have one ply of protection. Step on a screw and you have a leak. Have a branch fall on the roof and you have a leak. Have a piece of metal blow across your roof and you have numerous leaks. The gravel on a hot tar roof provides protection against numerous types of punctures as well as protection from UV rays. When ever repairing a tar and gravel roof remove the gravel as a good bond is important in any repair. Never go over wet when it can be avoided as moisture will come back at you later.

By: Matt

Matt — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 19:31:10 +0000

I am in Maryland and just got hit like everyone else. My power came back on and I have a hole in the roof where it got speared by a tree limb. I have been doing research online and was wondering if using a coating and polyester fabric over the hole would be advisable. This is the stuff I found on youtube, does anyone have any comments either way? Thanks. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2COhRC83_ss

By: mark

mark — Fri, 18 May 2012 02:49:42 +0000

Ivan
Depending on what type of flat roof you have repairing it with Andek would work great. It has a ten year warranty. If your sheetrock has water damage chances are there will be more like your insulation or the studs.

By: Ivan

Ivan — Thu, 10 May 2012 04:10:03 +0000

I am about to purchase a home, which has a balcony on top of the garage and this part of the house has a flat roof. There are signs of water leaks all over the garage ceiling. According to the owner there are leaks only when it rains. What would be your recomendation on how to fix or solve this problem. Owner states that this has been going on for about 5 years,do you think there could be damage to more than just the sheetrock? Thanks in advance.