Has anyone here heard of or used rubber roll roofing, that is sealed together by heat. If so how does it work. And is it a good choice or will it leak in a couple years? I am dealing with flat ‘roof’ that has one foot in the grave.
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Read this thread, esp #9
http://forums.taunton.com/n/mb/message.asp?webtag=tp-breaktime&msg=25365.1
Excellence is its own reward!
"The first rule is to keep an untroubled spirit.
The second is to look things in the face and know them for what they are."
--Marcus Aurelius
It works better than double coverage and goes on fairly easy. We use a propane torch on a wand to heat the current roof and the roll of rubberoid, roll it out with your foot (it does warm up your feet pretty well though). The rolls are heavy so I would go with a roof drop if available. ABC Supply Co. out of Beloit Wisconsin has several tools for this type of application.
Since it is a single ply membrane, the greatest weakness is at the seam. Another place folks go wrong with it is in not heating enough or too much. Not enough and you don't get a good seal. Too much and you change the properties of the bitumen, making the roof more brittle and short lived.
It can be extremely dangerous if you have sidwall application and catch it on fire. Flashings can be harder with this product than most materials for flat roofs. Life expectancy is only ten years but can be extended with perfect installation, five year clean and re-coat schedule, and good luck..
Excellence is its own reward!
"The first rule is to keep an untroubled spirit.
The second is to look things in the face and know them for what they are."
--Marcus Aurelius
Tell me about the fire hazard. We were placing this type of roof on a lawyers office renovation, three stories up. I notice a wisp of smoke along the edge about ten feet behind me. We put a little to much heat to an old facia board. It never flamed up but it sure got my attention. I yelled for my coworker to get some water, the only water we had was a five gallon water jug on the ground, two ladders away. After we dumped our ice water on it, we still had smoke and was sure that it was about to flame up anytime. Back down the ladders I went, going where I don't know but the lawyers son was over seeing the project and knew of a fire extinguisher in the building. Back up the ladders I went, set up the upper ladder under the smoke and put the glowing embers to bed. That was more excitement than I care for, plus we didn't have any drinking water the rest of the day. This office building was on the corner of the court house square, I'm sure glad that it didn't turn into a three sided square!
I once did some with a sidewall of cedar shingles with my butt crack stitched together so tight from nerves...
Had them stripped three feet up but still...
Then there was the time that I did a little porch roof with an overhanging eave about 2-3 feet above the deck. Old house had a crack there between the pitched soffit and the facia board. Squirrels had built a nest up between rafters and a lot of tinder in there. I didn't know all this until too late...
I keep a bucket of water on jobs like that for quick cools to be able to walk certain places and for safety.
I grabbed the fascia and ripped it off with my hands(nothing like a good adrenaline surge) and started splashing water up in with same hands (which was good because I burned them pulling on the fascia)all the while screaming for help. After I used up the buckeeet of water the flames were gone but there was still embers glowing. I headed down the ladder for the hose I had seen and a guy was on his way up with it. He had been driuving by and seen smoke. Never did need the fire dept
That was the last time I torched down a modified roof. Never cared much for them except as a porch/garge/shed quality anyway..
Excellence is its own reward!
"The first rule is to keep an untroubled spirit.
The second is to look things in the face and know them for what they are."
--Marcus Aurelius
scrap ends are great for mulching under my fruit trees though.
Excellence is its own reward!
"The first rule is to keep an untroubled spirit.
The second is to look things in the face and know them for what they are."
--Marcus Aurelius
Here is the link http://www.abcsupply.com/index.html to ABC Supply. I had to dig out my catalog and thumb through it, there are several tools in there to apply roll rubber with.