Andy Hall wrote in message . ..
On Wed, 5 Nov 2003 15:57:15 -0000, "News"
wrote:

Can anyone help please?

My garden Shed roof is leaking due to sagging. The roof is 11 foot 6 x 7
foot 6 with a 6 inch drop.
The shed was handbuilt (poorly) by the previous owners and is covered in
felt over tongue and groove boarding. The 2 supporting beams are along the
long axis rather than the shorter one.
Each "beam" is are made out if 2 lengths of 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" with a short
length of the same bracing them at the join (something like -_- ).
This has caused the centre of the roof to sag and leak. I have tried bracing
the roof with poles and sealing the joins of the felt with bitumen paint
with limited success.


From experience, trying to fix something like this never works
satisfactorily.

I would suggest you buy a roll of the cheapest felt you can find or
even some plastic sheet and nail it on for the time being.

Then, when the weather improves, rip the whole lot off and build a new
roof. Generally you don't want the pitch to be mush less than about
15 degrees......


Hi. I quite agree with Andy.

Your existing roof has 2 design problems. First its too light,
resulting in sagging. and thus holding water. Second its t-n-g and
felt, and the 2 dont mix well. Felt has to have a flat smooth surface
to sit on or it fails prematurely.

Come warmer weather I'd pull the whole roof off and build the frame up
a bit on one side to give more slope. Replace roof with 8x4 sheets of
18mm water resistant wood, and preferably pay attention to how you
joint the sheets. Run a length of eg 2x3 along under each joint, screw
into from above, and this is important, fill the resulting depression
smooth. Also fill any gap left between the sheets. The result is
you'll have a much longer felt life.

Now add good quality felt. A days work.

You can use any old junk for the filler, in this case. Dont build on
the existing roof because a) you trap wet, b) the roof isnt strong
enough to last, and c) its easy to remove and replace.


Regards, NT