Sunday, November 25, 2012

16 Degrees South of East

When I first moved here there was a nice high and wide car port that was connected to my garage.  The roof was rather flat and covered with rolled roofing.  It leaked in several spots and the sheathing was rotting out.  It was time to fix it before it collapsed, so I increased the slope so it would have a faster run-off and I topped it with corrugated metal roofing.  Within the next year we had a wind storm and it pealed the metal roof off in one sheet and deposited it on the lawn behind the garage.  I learned that the screws that came with the roofing were too small, so I reattached the roof with much longer screws.  Though even with longer screws the wind would lift panels and the metal would rip around where the screws were attached  There were other problems with the metal roof where the seams would leak and then there was the dripping condensation.  Nothing beneath would ever remain dry.

Later when we got horses I decided to go back to a plywood roof with rolled roofing.  I converted this car port into two horse stalls and a room to store hay, feed and saddles.  The first wind storm that came up after I made the change ripped all the rolled roofing off, so I put down a new roof and I nailed the living crap out of the windward edge.  It felt good to know that it would never blow away again.

Then there was the great storm of 2007 where we had 100+ MPH winds for three days.  This storm didn't mess with the rolled roofing; instead it removed the entire roof, plywood, joists and everything.  I rebuilt it, but the next year the new rolled roofing was once again pealed off.

No matter how I attach this roof it finds a way of blowing off.  This roof had been good for the last two years however the storm last week deposited the rolled roofing in a pile on the lawn.  I am now replacing the rolled roofing one more time, but this time rather than rolling it out horizontally I'm rolling it vertically and I'm adding a lot of sealer to the seams.  I'm curious to see if this is the final fix.

By the way, a neighbor has the back end of his garage roof that faces the same direction, and there is a one-square section (10' X 10') that he can't keep a roof on either.

8 Comments:

Blogger g said...

Increase the pitch.
Use 12" standing seam metal.
Roof joists at 2' oc.
Hurricane anchors at all joist to beam/wall connection.
1x4 skip sheeting at 16" oc - screwed to joists with 2" screws.
30lb astm felt.
Blind screw metal into skip sheeting w/1.75" screws.
Make sure to use stainless or galvanized screws.

1:01 PM  
Blogger Auntie said...

I knew that G would have a plan.

4:43 PM  
Blogger The Guy Who Writes This said...

After 2007 I reframed it with hurricane anchors and this is the last time I'm going to use rolled roofing. I hope I won't have to go to metal, but if I do I will.

5:35 AM  
Blogger JustRex said...

Have you thought about brick? That might work.

Or proposals for taxing the rich. Those things never fly.

7:06 AM  
Anonymous gearhead said...

You wil never, ever, EVER win the battle with rolled roofing where you live in the shower.
The metal roofing that you show pictured is junk. Might as well use tin foil.
You can purchace western rib metal roofing in 2' or 3' widths and more importantly in different guages.
As you price around, ask about the heavier guages.
Then, pick out THE CORRECT fastener Here:
www.atlasfasters.com
The sealing washer / screw combination together with real metal roofing in the right guage will not move up to a calculated mph.
While you're at it; remember this?:
www.westcoastwashersusa.com

:-)

10:23 AM  
Anonymous gearhead said...

I'll try again:
www.atlasfasteners.com

10:25 AM  
Blogger Allison Wunderland said...

"Peal" is what bells do. "Peel" is what you do to oranges, bananas, and what the wind does to roofing in Assholia.

I have a pole barn with 60' of metal roofing eave facing directly into the SW. When it blew loose a bit in 2007 the insurance contractor remarked that it wasn't properly secured. His crew secured it. No problems since.

The recent blow we had late in 2012 left the roof on the barn out by the recycle center / fort Clatsop peeled off completely, metal roofing strewn all over the pasture. It's a new barn, less than two yrs. old.


2:47 PM  
Blogger The Guy Who Writes This said...

I saw that barn. This is the third tarp they've had on it since the metal blew off. Nice bunch of farmers. There is nearly always someone there though they don't live on the property.

8:11 PM  

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