We have been battling leaks on the roof of our show room for years now and the finally came to a head on Wednesday night. For years the suspected casue was teh four skylights. We were going to remove the skylights, and patch them in to solve the problem. It turned out that the skylights were not really the problem, but rather just the point of entry. We ended up stripping all 15 squares of shingles, replaced 12 sheets of rotted 5/8″ plywood, and sistered all of the damaged joists. The roof pitch is approximately 1 1/2 over 12. We decided on using epdm since we know that shingling was the problem in the first place.
We are a bunch of kitchen guys and our owner is too cheap to hire a pro. He went and picked up the materials yesterday, but failed to inquire as to the process of installing it. They gave us the adhesive that we know goes on both the sheathing and on the back of the rubber. They also gave us a few rolls of double sided tape that looks like some type of butyl material. There are a few cans that are called seaming adhesive, and a case of tubes of pointing adhesive.
Putting the sheets down is the easy part. The seams are where we are a little unsure. How much over lap do we use? 4″?, 6″? Is the tape for the seams, and if so, what’s the seaming adhesive for? I know what the pointing sealant is for. Also, is there some sort of cap for the edges? Or is the batten strip folded into the roofing pretty much standard?
Like i said, we are two kitchen guys and our cheap
Replies
Get a video from the maker of the product on proper installatiion practices.
I'm a roofer that has a garage full of wood and hardware that I wish was in the shape of kitchen cabinets. Wanna trade?
Just kidding. This will answer a lot of your questions:
http://www.mulehide.com/product/epdm.aspx?Graphic=AREN
http://www.quittintime.com/ View Image
I would beg to differ on the "putting it down is the easier part". I did my deck on the back of my garage and it is not as easy as you say. The problem is that if you don't care about wrinkles and sort you might be fine but I will tell you that once the tow surfaces touch your basically screwed if you want to get it back up. I was luck my sheet was big enough to cover the whole deck without seams.
Were pretty good with the contact cement and doing laminations, so I think we will be ok with that. What I meant by the easy part was that it was easy to understand what goes where. I don't even know who the MFG is. There are no labels what so ever on the rolls of rubber. The three adhesives they gave us are from three different companies, and the tape has no labels on it.I appreciate the help with the links. I'm going to check them out now. I'm sure we'll figure it out, and if not, next time the boss will probably follow our advise and hire someone.
CLEAN the material at laps well before applying anything there.
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i'm nt a roofer ,but i have watched a guy put a couple on for me. the one little secret i have learned:
when it's time to roll the rubber over the sheeting,3 guys one on each end,one the middle. the guy in the middle is always about 3-4" ahead of the edge guys.goes down with no wrinkles that way.
YOU ONLY NEED TWO TOOLS IN LIFE - WD-40 AND DUCT TAPE. IF IT DOESN'T
MOVE AND SHOULD, USE THE WD-40. IF IT SHOULDN'T MOVE AND DOES, USE THE
DUCT TAPE.
Here's an instruction book: http://www.watertighttech.com/products/roofing/installation/manual/index.shtm. Get 60 mil rubber and make sure and do what the instructions say and let it "relax" for a few hours or overnight after you roll it out. That helps a lot to get a wrinkle free roof.
EPDM roofing comes in sheets and each sheet is sealed to the one beside it. This is done with the help of rubber roofing sealant e.g., EPDM Liquid Rubber, and same sealant can be used to make repairs when needed. The right way to install this material is to strip everything right off the roof, apply an adhesive then roll out the roofing. Because there are few seams, leaks are fairly rare and a good quality EPDM roof can last up to 20 years.
If it’s not a vented roof with proper insulation methods you’ll need to install insulation board on top of the sheathing or you’ll have a ton of dry rot in no time. Ask the owner how to do it all, he sounds really smart and knows what he’s doing 😀.