May 29, 2010
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Repairs on a steep roof
A coworker asked me to fix a leak in her roof. It was an intimidating place to work; about a 45-degree pitch, except at the bottom edge. No convenient way to climb it. So I asked a friend (a “real” contractor) for advice.
He described some equipment roofers use. I didn’t want to invest in tools that I would rarely use, but he got me thinking, and I came up with some simple devices made of scrap lumber. I’m kind of proud of them. They consist of a scrap of thin plywood attached to a short 2×4:
The plywood tucks up under the shingles, and you fasten it down with a couple of screws. When you’re done and take them off, the screw holes are hidden by the shingles. The 2×4 scrap provides a good place to put your foot while you climb. Here is what they look like once you install them. There are three fastened down and one just resting against a vent stack (I didn’t end up using that one).
The leak seemed to be along the bottom of the wall to the right of the skylight, so I added that yellow piece of Hardie trim (cement board) and re-did the rain diverter flashing above the skylight. Previously the diverter didn’t have enough angle to the left, so instead of running away from the skylight and wall, the water backed up and ran down the narrow trough between the skylight and wall. I cut the long diverter in half and made two short ones, which I installed at a sharp angle to make sure the water went to the left. Not very classy, but it should be effective. The skylight is at the bottom of the photo below, the two diverters above it, and at the top, the valley of the upper roof. You can see that with this valley right above it, the skylight had been receiving a lot of water when it rained.
The old diverter had directed a lot of water at this chimney. As you can see, it collects leaves, too. There were several tiny saplings growing among the debris.
I cleaned out the leaves and added another deflector to keep most rainwater away from the chimney. It should prevent future problems; chimneys are notorious for developing leaks. Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture when I was done. It runs along the bottom edge of one of the rows of shingles and diverts water to the far side of the chimney.
I was working in slow motion, since I had just been to my first softball practice of the season, so when I finished, I went home to rest.
Comments (13)
you’re making me dizzy lizzy … i like climbing trees … but not roofies!! what a handy man you is!! *~)
@windupherskirt - Roofs are not my favorites. Especially not steep ones. I deliberately procrastinated a week before tackling it. The job itself was not too bad once I got started, except for feeling exhausted already from softball practice.
@Roadkill_Spatula - yeah, i know procrastination … and then it really ain’t so bad … it’s just the thinking about it …
I like that your fingernails are dirty. It means you’re a hard working man! Oh, yeah, and all the other stuff is amazing too.
I cannot believe you were up there~ TAKING PICTURES! lol Oh what you do for your readers~ you are too good to us.
You are a genius. A generous genius. A generenius.
Impressing steep slope of the roof . Your system to climb on it is genius !!
Compliments .
In frielndsip
Michel
Interesting. You wouldn’t even get me on that ladder, let alone climbing on that roof.
You are so resourceful, Tim! Great job.
@heart_beep - Yeah, roof work is always dirty. I had to pry up the shingles to slide the plywood under them, and to install the diverters. I hate shingles! By the way, the bus is awesome! Save up your pennies and maybe someday you can buy it and live in it!
@fauquet - I don’t know how they work on steep tile roofs in Europe. This idea wouldn’t work over there.
@ideaguy - Not that generous. I charged her for time and materials.
@WildWomanOfTheWest - Well, the client herself asked if I had a “portfolio” of past projects. I have posted a few here, but I want to do it more regularly, particularly interesting ones.