Problems with lead coated copper roof
Hello. With much effort and expense, the former owner of our house had a lead coated copper roof installed a few years ago. This portion of our 1880 house has a low pitch such that the alternative roofing material probably would have been to install a rubber roof.
About three years after installation, this roof is leaking and the installing company is so far unwilling to even inspect their original work.
A roofer who has done skillful work for us in the past found several problems:
1. improperly soldered seams that the solder was not fully drawn up in to the seams,
2. copper snow guards that were nailed through the metal roof (some nail pops and gaps seem likely here), and
3. one flashing issue that seems minor considering the other problems with the roof.
Here is my question. What are my options for repair? The roofer who looked at the roof for me believes that correcting a poorly soldered seam will involve dismantling that part of the roof, cleaning the metal and re-soldering. [This repair method is not affordable for us at the present time.]
Less attractive and less expensive fixes mentioned include installing a rubber roof over the failing areas and/or using geocel and a nylon type fabric to paste over the leaking seams. Both the rubber roof and the geocel fixes would involve clipping off the snow guards.
The lead coated copper roof is attractive and fits the age of our house; however, it has all of the problems that I have described above. Please advise. Thank you.
Replies
1. improperly soldered seams that the solder was not fully drawn up in to the seams,
It's possible to re-sweat the seams, depending on how well they were soldered initially. Without seeing the roof, it's hard to say. Dismantling and re-using the copper sounds like foolishness to me. I suspect there maybe other problems. How big is the roof (LxW) and how big is each individual pan?
2. copper snow guards that were nailed through the metal roof (some nail pops and gaps seem likely here),
This alone makes me suspect that little, if anything else, was done properly.
Geocel 2315 painted over the bad seams would be the least expensive and easiest fix. It also will need to be re-applied over time.
Good luck.
Birth, school, work, death.....................
Each pan is a rectangle of about 12 inches by 18 or 20 inches. I may have estimated the pan incorrectly, but I think that the pan size is considered appropriate for this purpose. [I have been told that larger sheets or pans of metal would expand and contract too much to serve as a roofing material.]The size of the roof is one low gable of about 22 feet by 13 feet. In addition one half of the gabled roof extends to cover about another 12 by 8 section of similarly sloped roof. I am having most of my troubles with the half of the gabled roof that does not have the extension and so its dimensions are about 11 feet by 13 feet.Finally, the installers did fabricate a metal ridge vent on the gable.Thanks for your interest.
bit...if you can post a picture..i'm sure you'll get much more reliable responsesMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
I'd think the downside to a paint-on sealant is that it makes it even more work to go back and do it right. You'd have to scrape the stuff off before you could solder.
-- J.S.
If it wasn't sweated correctly the first time, it's almost impossible to get it to sweat right the second time. I sure wouldn't guarantee it if I had to re-solder another's crappy work. A resolder would also involve wire brushing, which would take any sealant off as well as the tarnish. I could probably make it better, but I couldn't make it right.
The poster said a redo was not in the budget. The geocel will make the bad seams stop leaking for now. Not the best solution, but "A" solution. Birth, school, work, death.....................
> If it wasn't sweated correctly the first time, it's almost impossible to get it to sweat right the second time.
Thanks. I'll remember not to try that.
-- J.S.