Hi everyone, I have a property that has been recently purchased. The
building is quite old, approximately 100 years old. The property has a

flat roof section measuring 30x40 feet. The roofing type is tar and
gravel.

During the recent spring season, rain has penetrated in certain
sections to leak into the commercial tenant below. I have had a couple

roofing specialists come in, and all have recommended on re-roofing
with a torch on roof. Now that can get quite expensive.


Since its only a couple holes causing the leaks, can i not:
1. Scrape up all the rocks
2. Plaster a good coat of new tar all over the roof
3. Re-spread all the rocks


to heal the problem? If so, are there any recommendations on types of
tar to do this? Any insght would be appreciated as I am unfamiliar
with roofing options.

wrote:
Hi everyone, I have a property that has been recently purchased. The
building is quite old, approximately 100 years old. The property has a

flat roof section measuring 30x40 feet. The roofing type is tar and
gravel.

During the recent spring season, rain has penetrated in certain
sections to leak into the commercial tenant below. I have had a couple

roofing specialists come in, and all have recommended on re-roofing
with a torch on roof. Now that can get quite expensive.


Since its only a couple holes causing the leaks, can i not:
1. Scrape up all the rocks
2. Plaster a good coat of new tar all over the roof
3. Re-spread all the rocks


to heal the problem? If so, are there any recommendations on types of
tar to do this? Any insght would be appreciated as I am unfamiliar
with roofing options.

The pros wanted to re-roof because it is the correct way to be sure of
no leaks. If they try to spot repair, you'll be having them back
everytime it leaks in the future. The PIA is just not worth it for
them.

How old is the current roof? How long has it been leaking? How much
rain does the roof see? Is the current situation compromising the
timber? How quickly does the roof framing dry out? Does thre flat
section drain ok? Any pooling? How unhappy will the tenants be with
more leaks? How severe are the leaks?

I have a very small flat roof section that drains a shingled roof.
Every year I do some repair / patching work on it; some years it leaks
a little, some a lot, some not at all.

Flat roofs suc; torrch down is the way to go.

cheers
bob

wrote in message
During the recent spring season, rain has penetrated in certain
sections to leak into the commercial tenant below. I have had a couple

roofing specialists come in, and all have recommended on re-roofing
with a torch on roof. Now that can get quite expensive.

Other sections will not be far behind. Sure, you can patch, maybe get
another year, but the potential for more damage from a leak can be the
deciding factor. How old is the roof? It may be time to do it right.

The property has a flat roof section measuring 30x40 feet. The roofing type is tar and
gravel.During the recent spring season, rain has penetrated in certain
sections to leak into the commercial tenant below. I have had a couple
roofing specialists come in, and all have recommended on re-roofing
with a torch on roof. Now that can get quite expensive.

As mentioned by the others, you need to bite the bullet and spend some
big bucks here. If you absolutely can't float it at the moment, a high
quality UV tarp might be your best bet for a year or two. But any
other "fix" will only be a temporary, at best solution.

Advice from the "been there, done that, finally paid for a totally new
"A-Frame-type" roof at $11,930.....

We do maintenance on many properties where the landlord can't or won't
bite on a new roof. When they are flat or extremely low slope, this is
what we do:

- Sweep back all rocks and debris for an area that is about 10' X 10'
around the leak area

- Knock off any chunks of tar and rock with a spud shovel or bar. The
smoother you get your surface - not perfect - the better your patch
will be

- Sweep the surface with compressed air (just a nozzle for the
compressor)

- Seal any obvious holes or cracks with mastic (tar)

- Pour out a coating of asphalt emulsion and spread to about 1"
thick

- Embed 36" fiberglass sheet (commonly called "scrim" or screen
available at any waterproofing supplier) into the emulsion by pressing
the scrim all the into the emulsion. Push it in until it almost
disappears.

Patch ONLY when the roof is perfectly dry. If the layers of paper
underneath are wet, molded, moist, rotted, or anything else that water
does or makes, cut them out completely and put new paper down over the
wet areas before applying the emulsion.

This patch will last anywhere from a year to five years. But as others
have pointed out, the roof is probably failing, and this may excercise
you don't need. And if you have a traveling leak that is showing up at
a sag in the roof you may not get the leak at all by patching because
you won't know the exact location of the leak.

But on the other hand, it is a lot cheaper than a new roof if you are
still trying to get your budget under control.

Robert

from buffalo ny: no. get a loan and estimates. the roof has failed. we
did ours with a new nord rubber type of roof, if it is used in your
area get one and leak worries will be over. or kiss your tenant
goodbye. and you'll really find out how much a vacancy with a leaking
roof costs.

wrote:
Hi everyone, I have a property that has been recently purchased. The
building is quite old, approximately 100 years old. The property has
a

flat roof section measuring 30x40 feet. The roofing type is tar and
gravel.

During the recent spring season, rain has penetrated in certain
sections to leak into the commercial tenant below. I have had a
couple

roofing specialists come in, and all have recommended on re-roofing
with a torch on roof. Now that can get quite expensive.


Since its only a couple holes causing the leaks, can i not:
1. Scrape up all the rocks
2. Plaster a good coat of new tar all over the roof
3. Re-spread all the rocks


to heal the problem? If so, are there any recommendations on types of
tar to do this? Any insght would be appreciated as I am unfamiliar
with roofing options.

Better:
1. Clean off as much junk from the area of the leak as possible.
2. Put down roof repair stuff according to directions.
3. Forget about the rocks.
4. While you're on the roof, look around for gaps, cracks, weak spots.
Slather some roof repair into the weak areas. Forget about the rocks.

We did the above six years ago. No leaks since.

The problem is finding the leak I suppose. Since its a flat roof,
can't water can be entering at any point, and once inside, it drips
near the drain pipe. I am not sure of the age of the roof, but it
doesn't seem to have much of a sag in it. Completely replacing the
roof is a tough thing to do, since we have a huge AC unit on top. And
that would have to relocate before roofing.