Replies

1. 
   CaseyR_ | Feb 21, 2002 08:46pm | #1

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   Along the lines of Roger's recent thread, I am having the roof on my 1100 sq ft 1957 vintage ranch in the S.F. Bay Area redone after having a tree fall on it. This is about as simple as a roof design gets. No valleys or fireplace. The pitch is pretty shallow - something around 2/12. It is the unfortunate design where the facia is raised above the roof level about 2" to provide a trough or gutter. I have added a couple of downspouts as the original construction never puts in enough and almost never puts them in the low spots on the roof.

   The existing roof was hot-mopped and gravel. Unfortunately, enough of the gravel was carried into the downspouts to clog them up. This house is in a small subdivision where all houses are similar and most have tar and gravel roofs. A couple have hot mopped roof with a very light grey coating and no gravel.

   In this style of roof, it is common for the felt that goes up and over the facia to fail and for dry rot to occur behind the facia. I have never seen any additional material used to protect this area, but it seems like the "snow and ice shield" or whatever would be a good idea. I did back prime the facia boards that I installed with a copper based primer.

   Questions:

   Is the hotmopped tar and gravel still the best roofing for this type of roof? (One house in the area had a torch down roof of some type, but it certainly is not as attractive as the tar and gravel roofs.)

   What is the best way to protect the area behind the facia that acts as a gutter - some type of membrane or will that not work under hot tar?

   Any other suggestions for protecting this type of roof construction from water damage?

   (As an aside, the tree that hit the roof poked about a dozen holes in the Homasote panels that form the roof, ranging in size from about 3" in diameter to over 12". I replaced 7 of these 2'x8' panels at a cost of $80 each. Took me about three days by myself to remove the existing tar and gravel roofing over about 25% of the roof, pull the nails from the panels and remove them, salvage some good material from the removed panels, and place and nail down the 7 new panels and the 5 partial sections of salvaged panels. The only roofer that was recommended to me as knowing how to repair/replace these Homasote panels gave me an estimate of $1800 to replace the damaged panels and reroof just that section of the house or $4400 to repair/replace all damaged areas and do the complete roof. After I fixed all the roof areas, he gave me a new estimate of $4200 to just redo the roof. Thus in stripping off 25% of the roof, spending $650 on materials and most of three days labor, I saved $200 if I go with him...

2. 
   CaseyR_ | Feb 21, 2002 08:47pm | #2

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   Need some advice on re-roofing a low slope ranch style house roof. See first post.